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A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

(With reference to IndiaFirst Life Insurance Co., LTD, Jeypore)

A project report submitted to the GITAM UNIVERSITY in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PPRROOJJEECCTT RREEPPOORRTT

BBYY

SIMHADRI SANDEEP LAGUDU (1225108149)

Under the guidance of

Dr. U.V. Adinarayana Rao

Associate Professor

GITAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

GITAM UNIVERSITY,

VISAKHAPATNAM

2008-2010


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1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

1.1 MARKETING CONCEPTS

Marketing is to provide essentials goods & Services with Changing Consumer

Need & wants. Means the offering should be change as per changing Scenario.

It is an integrated process through which companies create value for customers

and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from

customers in return.

Marketing is used to identify the customer, to keep the customer and to

satisfy the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be

concluded that marketing management is one of the major components

ofbusiness management. The evolution of marketing was caused due to mature

markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries. Companies then shifted the

focus from production to the customer in order to stay profitable.

The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals

depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the

desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational

objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers

and satisfy these more effectively than competitors

Todays companies must urgently and critically rethink their business

mission and marketing strategies. Instead of operating in market place of fixed

and known competitors and stable consumer preferences, todays companies

work in a war zone of rapidly changing competitors, technological advances,

new laws, managed trade policies, and diminishing customer loyalty.

Companies find themselves competing in a race where the world signs

and rules keep changing, where there is no finish line, no permanent win.

They simply must keep racing: hopefully in a direction where the public wants
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those to go in the days when it was Business as usual, companies could

succeed by producing and supporting them with hard selling and heavy

advertising. This was called Marketing.

Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing,

promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that

satisfy individual and organizational goals. According to AMA, Marketing

consists of the business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from

producer to consumer.

Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association [AMA] as

"the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,

delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,

partners, and society at large." The term developed from the original meaning

which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services.

Seen from a systems point of view, sales process engineering views marketing

as "a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with otherfunctions, whose methods can be improved using a variety of relatively new

approaches."

The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as "the

management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying

customer requirements profitably." A different concept is the value-based

marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing

shareholder value. In this context, marketing is defined as "the management

process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing

relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage."

Marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry in the past,

which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the

academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences,
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psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and

neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing

numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programmes. The

overall process starts with marketing research and goes through market

segmentation, business planning and execution, ending with pre and post-sales

promotional activities. It is also related to many of the creative arts. The

marketing literature is also adept at re-inventing itself and its vocabulary

according to the times and the culture.

1.1.1Evolution of marketing:

An orientation, in the marketing context, relates to a perception or

attitude a firm holds towards its product or service, essentially concerning

consumers and end-users. Throughout history marketing has changed

considerably as consumer tastes are changing faster.

The marketing orientation evolved from earlier orientations namely theproduction orientation, the product orientation and the selling orientation. With

the rapidly emerging force of globalization, the distinction between marketing

within a firm's home country and marketing within external markets is

disappearing very quickly. With this occurrence in mind, firms need to reorient

their marketing strategies to meet the challenges of the global marketplace, in

addition to sustaining their competitiveness within various markets.

1.1.2Marketing Environment:

It consists of the Task Environment and Broad Environment. Task

Marketing includes immediate actors involved in producing, distributing, and

promoting the offering. The main actors are the company, suppliers,

distributors, dealers, and the target customers.
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Broad marketing consists of six components:

Demographic environment Economic environment Natural environment Technological environment Political-legal environment Socio-cultural environment.

Customer orientation

A firm in the market economy survives by producing goods that persons

are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is

vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern. Many

companies today have a customer focus (or market orientation). This implies

that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands.

Generally there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the

sense of identifying market changes and the product innovation approach.

In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic

marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer

research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product

itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is alwaysthe consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no point spending

R&D funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to

many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological

breakthrough.
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The Four P Components of the Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix

Target MarketPRODUCT PLACEPROMOTIONPRICE

ProductVariety

Quality Design Features Brand Name Packaging Sizes Services Warranties Returns

Channels Coverage

Assortments

Locations Inventory Transport

Sales Promotion Advertising

Sales force

Public relations Direct Marketing

List Price Discounts

Allowances

Payment Period Credit terms


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1.2 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CONCEPTS

Customer satisfaction refers to how satisfied customers are with the products

or services they receive from a particular agency. The level of satisfaction is

determined not only by the quality and type of customer experience but also by

the customers expectations.

A customer may be defined as someone who:

Has a direct relationship with, or is directly affected by your agency and

Receives or relies on one or more of your agencys services or products.

Customers in human services are commonly referred to as service users,

consumers or clients. They can be individuals or groups.

An organization with a strong customer service culture places the customer at

the centre of service design, planning and service delivery. Customer centric

organizations will:

determine the customers expectations when they plan

listen to the customer as they design

focus on the delivery of customer service activities

Value customer feedback when they measure performance.

There are a number of reasons why customer satisfaction is important in

Insurance Sector:

Meeting the needs of the customer is the underlying rationale for the existence

of community service organizations. Customers have a right to quality services

that deliver outcomes.


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Organizations that strive beyond minimum standards and exceed the

expectations of their customers are likely to be leaders in their sector.

Customers are recognized as key partners in shaping service development

and assessing quality of service delivery.

The process for measuring customer satisfaction and obtaining feedback

on organizational performance are valuable tools for quality and continuous

service improvement.

1.2.1 MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers

while targeting non-customers; measuring customer satisfaction provides an

indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or

services to the marketplace.

Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual

manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and

product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a

number of both psychological and physical variables which correlate with

satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of

satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have

and other products against which the customer can compare the organization's

products.

Because satisfaction is basically a psychological state, care should be

taken in the effort of quantitative measurement, although a large quantity of

research in this area has recently been developed. Work done by Berry (Bart

Allen) and Brodeur between 1990 and 1998 defined ten 'Quality Values' which

influence satisfaction behavior, further expanded by Berry in 2002 and known

as the ten domains of satisfaction. These ten domains of satisfaction include:
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Quality, Value, Timeliness, Efficiency, Ease of Access, Environment, Inter-

departmental Teamwork, Front line Service Behaviors, Commitment to the

Customer and Innovation. These factors are emphasized for continuous

improvement and organizational change measurement and are most often

utilized to develop the architecture for satisfaction measurement as an integrated

model. Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L) between

1985 and 1988 provides the basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction

with a service by using the gap between the customer's expectation of

performance and their perceived experience of performance. This provides the

measurer with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature.

Work done by Cronin and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation"

theory of combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry

as two different measures (perception and expectation of performance) into a

single measurement of performance according to expectation. According to

Garbrand, customer satisfaction equals perception of performance divided by

expectation of performance.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set

of statements using a Liker Technique or scale. The customer is asked to

evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of

performance of the organization being measured.

1.2.2 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN 7 STEPS:

It's a well known fact that no business can exist without customers. In the

business of Website design, it's important to work closely with your customers

to make sure the site or system you create for them is as close to their

requirements as you can manage. Because it's critical that you form a close

working relationship with your client, customer service is of vital importance.
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What follows are a selection of tips that will make your clients feel valued,

wanted and loved.

1.2.2.1. Encourage Face-to-Face Dealings

This is the most daunting and downright scary part of interacting with a

customer. If you're not used to this sort of thing it can be a pretty nerve-

wracking experience. Rest assured, though, it does get easier over time. It's

important to meet your customers face to face at least once or even twice during

the course of a project.

My experience has shown that a client finds it easier to relate to and work

with someone they've actually met in person, rather than a voice on the phone or

someone typing into an email or messenger program. When you do meet them,

be calm, confident and above all, take time to ask them what they need. I

believe that if a potential client spends over half the meeting doing the talking,

you're well on your way to a sale.

1.2.2.2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep Your Clients Informed

This goes without saying really. We all know how annoying it is to wait

days for a response to an email or phone call. It might not always be practical to

deal with all customers' queries within the space of a few hours, but at least

email or call them back and let them know you've received their message and

you'll contact them about it as soon as possible. Even if you're not able to solve

a problem right away, let the customer know you're working on it.

A good example of this is my Web host. They've had some trouble with

server hardware which has caused a fair bit of downtime lately. At every step

along the way I was emailed and told exactly what was going on, why things

were going wrong, and how long it would be before they were working again.They also apologised repeatedly, which was nice. Now if they server had just


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gone down with no explanation I think I'd have been pretty annoyed and may

have moved my business elsewhere. But because they took time to keep me

informed, it didn't seem so bad, and I at least knew they were doing something

about the problems. That to me is a prime example of customer service.

1.2.2.3. Be Friendly and Approachable

A fellow Site Pointer once told me that you can hear a smile through the

phone. This is very true. It's very important to be friendly, courteous and to

make your clients feel like you're their friend and you're there to help them out.

There will be times when you want to beat your clients over the head repeatedly

with a blunt object - it happens to all of us. It's vital that you keep a clear head,

respond to your clients' wishes as best you can, and at all times remain polite

and courteous.

1.2.2.4. Have a Clearly-Defined Customer Service Policy

This may not be too important when you're just starting out, but a clearly

defined customer service policy is going to save you a lot of time and effort in

the long run. If a customer has a problem, what should they do? If the first

option doesn't work, then what? Should they contact different people for billing

and technical enquiries? If they're not satisfied with any aspect of your customer

service, who should they tell?

There's nothing more annoying for a client than being passed from person

to person, or not knowing who to turn to. Making sure they know exactly what

to do at each stage of their enquiry should be of utmost importance. So make

sure your customer service policy is present on your site -- and anywhere else it

may be useful.


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1.2.2.5. Attention to Detail (also known as 'The Little Niceties')

Have you ever received a Happy Birthday email or card from a company

you were a client of? Have you ever had a personalised sign-up confirmationemail for a service that you could tell was typed from scratch? These little

niceties can be time consuming and aren't always cost effective, but remember

to do them.

Even if it's as small as sending a Happy Holidays email to all your

customers, it's something. It shows you care; it shows there are real people on

the other end of that screen or telephone; and most importantly, it makes the

customer feel welcomed, wanted and valued.

1.2.2.6. Anticipate Your Client's Needs & Go Out Of Your Way to Help

Them Out

Sometimes this is easier said than done! However, achieving this supreme

level of understanding with your clients will do wonders for your working

relationship. Take this as an example: you're working on the front-end for your

client's exciting new ecommerce endeavour. You have all the images, originals

and files backed up on your desktop computer and the site is going really well.

During a meeting with your client he/she happens to mention a hard-copy

brochure their internal marketing people are developing. As if by magic, a

couple of weeks later a CD-ROM arrives on their doorstep complete with highresolution versions of all the images you've used on the site. A note

accompanies it which reads:

"Hi, you mentioned a hard-copy brochure you were working on and I wanted to

provide you with large-scale copies of the graphics I've used on the site.

Hopefully you'll be able to make use of some in your brochure"


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Your client is heartily impressed, and remarks to his colleagues and

friends how very helpful and considerate his Web designers are. Meanwhile, in

your office, you lay back in your chair drinking your 7th cup of coffee that

morning, safe in the knowledge this happy customer will send several referrals

your way.

1.2.2.7. Honour Your Promises

It's possible this is the most important point in this article. The simple

message: when you promise something, deliver. The most common example

here is project delivery dates.

Clients don't like to be disappointed. Sometimes, something may not get

done, or you might miss a deadline through no fault of your own. Projects can

be late, technology can fail and sub-contractors don't always deliver on time. In

this case a quick apology and assurance it'll be ready ASAP wouldn't go amiss.

1.2.3 IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Published standards exist to help organizations develop their current

levels of customer satisfaction. The International Customer Service Institute

(TICSI) has released The International Customer Service Standard (TICSS).

TICSS enables organizations to focus their attention on delivering excellence in

the management of customer service, whilst at the same time providing

recognition of success through a 3rd Party registration scheme. TICSS focuses

an organizations attention on delivering increased customer satisfaction by

helping the organization through a Service Quality Model.

TICSS Service Quality Model uses the 5 P's - Policy, Processes, People,

Premises, Product/Services, as well as performance measurement. The

implementation of a customer service standard should lead to higher levels of
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customer satisfaction, which in turn influences customer retention and customer

loyalty.

1.2.4 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT:

Customer relationship management is a broadly recognized, widely-

implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a companys interactions with

clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate,

and synchronize business processesprincipally sales activities, but also those

for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to

find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already

has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing

and client service. Once simply a label for a category of software tools, today, it

generally denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing

departments and even beyond. When an implementation is effective, people,

processes, and technology work in synergy to increase profitability, and reduce

operational costs.

Benefits:Streamlined sales and marketing processes

Higher sales productivity

Added cross-selling and up-selling opportunities

Improved service, loyalty, and retentionIncreased call center efficiency

Higher close rates

Better profiling and targeting

Reduced expenses

Increased market share

Higher overall profitability

Marginal costing
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Challenges:Tools and workflows can be complex to implement, especially for large

enterprises. Previously these tools were generally limited to contact

management, monitoring and recording interactions and communications.

Software solutions then expanded to embrace deal tracking, territories,

opportunities, and at the sales pipeline it. Next came the advent of tools for

other client-facing business functions, as described below. These technologies

have been, and still are, offered as on-premises software that companies

purchase and run on their own IT infrastructure. Perhaps the most notable trend

has been the growth of tools delivered via the Web, also known as cloud

computing and software as a service (SaaS). In contrast with traditional on-

premises software, cloud-computing applications are sold by subscription,

accessed via a secure Internet connection, and displayed on a Web browser.

Companies dont incur the initial capital expense of purchasing software;

neither must they buy and maintain IT hardware to run it on.

Despite all this, many companies are still not fully leveraging these tools

and services to align marketing, sales, and service to best serve the enterprise.

Often, implementations are fragmented; isolated initiatives by individual

departments to address their own needs. Systems that start disunited usually stay

that way: Siloed thinking and decision processes frequently lead to separate and

incompatible systems, and dysfunctional processes.

1.2.5 CUSTOMER LOYALTY:

The term customer loyalty is used to describe the behavior of repeat

customers, as well as those that offer good ratings, reviews, or testimonials.

Some customers do a particular company a great service by offering favourable

word of mouth publicity regarding a product, telling friends and family, thusadding them to the number of loyal customers. However, customer loyalty
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includes much more. It is a process, a program, or a group of programs geared

toward keeping a client happy so he or she will provide more business.

Customer loyalty can be achieved in some cases by offering a qualityproduct with a firm guarantee. Customer loyalty is also achieved through free

offers, coupons, low interest rates on financing, high value trade-ins, extended

warranties, rebates, and other rewards and incentive programs. The ultimate

goal of customer loyalty programs is happy customers who will return to

purchase again and persuade others to use that company's products or services.

This equates to profitability, as well as happy stakeholders.

Customer loyalty may be a one-time program or incentive, or an ongoing

group of programs to entice consumers. Buy-one-get-one-free programs are

very popular, as are purchases that come with rebates or free gifts. Another

good incentive for achieving customer loyalty is offering a risk free trial period

for a product or service. Also known as brand name loyalty, these types of

incentives are meant to ensure that customers will return, not only to buy the

same product again and again, but also to try other products or services offered

by the company.

Excellent customer service is another key element in gaining customer

loyalty. If a client has a problem, the company should do whatever it takes to

make things right. If a product is faulty, it should be replaced or the customer's

money should be refunded. This should be standard procedure for any reputable

business, but those who wish to develop customer loyalty on a large-scale basis

may also go above and beyond the standard. They may offer even more by way

of free gifts or discounts to appease the customer.
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1.3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

An investigation onto the determinants of customer satisfaction

-Gilbert A. Churchil, JR., and Crol Surprenant

The authors investigate whether it is necessary to include disconfirmation

as an intervening variable affecting satisfaction as is commonly argued, or

whether the effect of disconfirmation is adequately captured by expectation and

perceived performance. Further, they model the process for two types of

products, a durable and a nondurable good, using experimental procedures inwhich three levels of expectations and three levels of performance are

manipulated for each product in a factorial design. Each subject's perceived

expectations, performance evaluations, disconfirmation, and satisfaction are

subsequently measured by using multiple measures for each construct. The

results suggest the effects are different for the two products. For the nondurable

good, the relationships are as typically hypothesized. The results for the durablegood are different in important respects. First, neither the disconfirmation

experience nor subjects' initial expectations affected subjects' satisfaction with

it. Rather, their satisfaction was determined solely by the performance of the

durable good. Expectations did combine with performance to affect

disconfirmation, though the magnitude of the disconfirmation experience did

not translate into an impact on satisfaction. Finally, the direct performance-

satisfaction link accounts for most of the variation in satisfaction.

Human resource practices, organizational climate, and customer

satisfaction -Kirk L. Rogg , David B. Schmidt , Carla Shull

The degree to which organizational climate mediates the relationship

between human resource practices and customer satisfaction is investigated for

351 small businesses in the same industry. Results indicated support for the


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hypothesized mediated relationship. The indirect effects of HR practices on

customer satisfactionwere significant and relatively large while the direct effect

was no significant and near zero. The results were supportiveof a social context

model of the impact of human resource practices on organizational outcomes.

Limitations of the study and implicationsfor future research are discussed.

Assessing the Effects of Quality, Value, and Customer Satisfaction on

Consumer Behavioural Intentions in Service Environments

-J. JOSEPH CRONIN, JR.,Florida State University,

MICHAEL K.BRADYBoston College & G. TOMAS M. HULT, Florida State

University.

To date the study of service quality, service value, and satisfaction issues

have dominated the services literature. The crux of these discussions has been

both operational and conceptual, with particular attention given to identifying

the relationships among and between these constructs. These efforts have

enabled us to better discriminate between the three variables and have resulted

in an emerging consensus as to their interrelationships.

This interest has certainly not escaped practitioners attention, as they

have tied these variables to service employee evaluations and compensation

packages. This is no doubt due to the implicit assumption that improvement in

perceptions of the quality, value, and satisfaction in a service encounter should

lead directly to favourable outcomes. Neverthe less,it is here where confusion

remains.

Service managers who refer to the literature to help evaluate the

effectiveness of firm strategies or to set employee goals will find conflicting

information as to which of these variables, if any, is directly related to a service

firms bottom line (Bolton, 1998). Indeed, even a cursory evaluation of the

literature reveals a myriad of conflicting results, as no research has


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simultaneously compared the relative influence of these three important

constructs on service encounter outcomes. This gap in the literature has

generated a new call for research. Referring to the effects of quality, value, and

satisfaction on consumer purchase intentions, Ostrom and Iacobucci (1995)

report . . . it would be interesting to examine these consumer judgments

simultaneously in one study to compare their relative effects on subsequent

consequential variables

This leads to a number of unanswered questions. Is it necessary to measure all

three of these variables or, as is suggested in the literature, will a subset of the

three suffice? Do greater levels of service quality only indirectly encourage

patronage by increasing the value and/or satisfaction associated with an

organizations services? Are there other indirect effects on behavioral intentions

that may have been overlooked? The purpose of this research is to answer these

questions, and others.

The different roles of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer

relationships:

-Ellen Garbarino and Mark S. Johnson

Several theories of relationship marketing propose that customers vary in

their relationships with a firm on a continuum from transactional to highly

relational bonds. Few empirical studies have segmented the customer base of an

organization into low and high relational groups to assess how evaluations vary

for these groups. Using structural equation analysis, the authors analyze the

relationships of satisfaction, trust, and commitment to component satisfaction

attitudes and future intentions for the customers of a New York off-Broadway

repertory theater company. For the low relational customers (individual ticket

buyers and occasional subscribers), overall satisfaction is the primary mediating

construct between the component attitudes and future intentions. For the high


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relational customers (consistent subscribers), trust and commitment, rather than

satisfaction, are the mediators between component attitudes and future

intentions.

Affirmative idea in the development of relationship marketing thought

states that there is a continuum of customer relationships, ranging from

transactional to relational orientations was one of the first writers to suggest that

the applivation of transactional or relational marketing should depend on the

customers orientation to a relationship. Following jacksons ideas anderson and

narus propose that organizations should analyze the position of their customers

on a continnum of transactional to collaborative exchanges. These authors argue

that an organization may need pursue both transactional and relational

marketing simultaneously because not all customers want the same working

relationship.

Dwyer schurr and oh also emphasize the importance of a

transactional/relational continnum by incorporating macneils writings on

contract law. Macneil argues that transactional exchanges are discrete buyer and

seller exchanges of a commodity or performance for money with minimal

personal relationships and no anticipation or obligation of future exchanges. At

the other end of the continnum or the relational exchanges, which are

characterized by cooperative actions and mutual adjustments of both the parties,

a sharing of the benefits and burdens of the exchange, and planning for futureexchanges. Mavneil maintains that purely transacional or discrete exchanges are

rare and that some aspect of relationalism permeates most contractual changes

between buyers and sellers.


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2. THE PRESENT STUDY/ METHODOLOGY

2.1 NEED SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY:

Insurance is just creating a protection for you and your family.

Indian insurance offers immense market potential due to the fact that of the total

population, only 11%of the insured their lives. Having realized their immense

market potential, many new companies entered into the insurance business. It is

a fact that 13 insurance companies have already entered into the insurance

market and a few more companies are planning to enter to tap the insurance

market. In the light of the above an attempt is made to know the satisfaction

levels of the customer on different aspects of the life insurance regarding

Indiafirst life insurance.

2.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

To know the feedback of customers regarding the services which arebeing provided by the company?

To understand the importance of client relationship with the company. To understand customer satisfaction regarding the products offered by the

company.

To understand the reasons for demand of a particular product. To understand what the customers are expecting additionally apart from

the service provided by the company.

To analyse the quality of service the customers are getting from thecompany.


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2.3 SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of study is to the extent of the customer satisfaction of the insurance

products provided by the company, which has helped me to gain the knowledge

about the insurance industry in India and also at the global level. The scope of

the study extends to all the aspects of the customer satisfaction. The study has

provided an immense knowledge about the products and the difference of

attitude in the customers of this particular industry.

The study helps the company to improve the productivity in the providing

better service through the findings and suggestions. The company can have

more scope to know about the various opinion of the customer in the market as

the survey was conducted without usage of the companys brand or name . The

study has covered all the aspects that are useful for the companies coming under

the same segment.

2.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

2.4.1 Data collection methods

Primary source:

The data was collected through a well designed structured questionnaire

consisted of both Closed-ended questions and open-ended question. And also

direct interaction with the Professionals helped a lot to gather more

information regarding the study.


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Secondary source:

Much of the information was collected from the various other websites,

books and journals.

2.4.2 Sampling technique:

The sampling technique used was simple random sampling. To have

relatively homogeneous groups.

2.4.3 Sampling Area:

The sampling area was limited only to the Jeypore city.

Sample size: 100.

2.4.4Analysis of Data (Statistical Tools)Data was analyzed by using various statistical tools like bar chart, pie chart,

Column chat and Doughnut chart.

2.5 PRESENTATION OF THE STUDY:

The study has been presented in the organised structure or the format

which has been provided by the respective authority. In the first chapter under

the theoretical framework the concept of marketing has been described in detail

with its meaning, definition, evolution and the various modern and thetraditional approaches in the field of marketing. In the column of topic related

concepts there was a detailed description about the topic of study which is

customer satisfaction. In its context it was detailed allot the process and the

importance of customer satisfaction in the organization. It was also made clear

how the organisations are concentrating much on the retention of the customers

rather than going to capture the new customers for its products, where as in the

case of the industry like insurance it is more important that the companies have


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to retain their existing customers by satisfying their expectations. In the column

of review of literature the relation and the importance of the customer

satisfaction with the company, customer value, etc has been presented with the

reviews of the various scholars in the field of marketing.

There was a clear description about the importance and the scope of study

and the main objectives for the purpose of conducting the study were made

clear. The research design adopted with different methods and tables and there

was clear presentation of the limitations of the study.

In chapter three the overview of the whole industry at global level and

also at the country level has been mentioned with actual facts and figures which

were done same in the case of the company profile. Once the topic profile in the

organisation was made clear the study was supported with clear analysis of data

and the fair presentation of the findings, suggestion and the conclusion at the

end of the details presented for the study.

2.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

The study was limited to only Jeypore city, so the scope to meet more

number of customers was reduced.

It was very difficult to get the appointments of the customers.

The time period was very short to fix the appointments and meet the

customers

Due to shortage of time could not cover more number of customers of

different brands

Sample size of 100 has been used due to time limitations.

Majority of customers shows lack of cooperation and are biased towards

their own opinions.


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3 ORGANIZATION PROFILE

3.1 INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIA

INSURANCE

Insurance is a contract whereby, in return for the payment of premium by

the insured, the insurers pay the financial losses suffered by the insured as a

result of the occurrence of unforeseen events. With the help of insurance, large

number f people who are exposed to similar risk make contributions to a

common fund out of which the losses suffered by the unfortunate few, due to

accidental events, are made good.

Insurance or assurance is a device for indemnifying or guaranteeing an

individual against loss. Reimbursement is made from a fund to which many

individuals exposed to the same risk have contributed certain specified amounts,

called premiums. Payment for an individual loss, divided among many, does not

fall heavily upon the actual loser. The essence of the contract of insurance,called a policy, is mutuality. The major operations of an insurance company are

underwriting, determination of risks the insurer can take up on and decisions

regarding the price to be fixed for such risks.

The underwriter is responsible for guarding against adverse selection,

wherein there is excessive coverage of high-risk candidates in proportion to the

coverage of low risk candidates. In preventing adverse selection, the

underwriter must consider physical, psychological, and moral hazards in

relations to potential policyholders. Physical hazards include those dangers,

which surround the individual or property, jeopardizing the well being of the

insured. The amount of the premium is determined by the operation of the law

of averages as calculated by actuaries.


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By investing premium payments in a wide range of revenue producing projects,

insurance companies have become major suppliers of capital, and they ranks

among the nations largest institutional investors.

3.1.1 NEED FOR INSURANCE

The need for insurance arises due to the risk associated with life, trade and

other commercial activities of which the future is known. This, in order to

protect oneself from the loss arising out future uncertainties, one has to go for

insurance. The reason for buying an insurance policy, whether life or non-life, is

to protect oneself from vagaries of life. One does not invest in insurance for

returns; rather one invests in it for regrettable necessities. Some people do look

for tax concessions, but things have changed now. Concessions are limited and

tax saving schemes like public provident fund societies offers better returns.

Various scams in financial sector and ups and downs in share market tend to

make insurance safer option. Also natural calamities like earthquakes, floods,

etc., add to the peoples perception of the need for insurance.

3.1.2 HISTORY OF INSURANCE IN INDIA

People facing common risks come together and make their small

contributions to a common fund. The contribution to be made by each person is

determined on the assumption that while it may not be possible to tell

beforehand, which person will suffer, it is possible to tell, on the basis of past

experiences, how many people, on an average may suffer losses.

In India Insurance came into vogue only at the beginning of the 19 th

century. There is some evidence that between 1797 and 1810, marine insurance

companies were established in Calcutta, which was the centre of the East India

Companys trade and commerce. It may, therefore be said that marine insurance


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was the earliest form of insurance, which was introduced by the Alliance

British, and Foreign Insurance Company, which established an agency office at

Madras in 1825.

By the year 1885 nearly 50 foreign offices commenced insurance

business through agency houses and majority these offices were British and a

few were from Australia and New Zealand. It was only in 1850 that an Indian

insurance company was formed to transact general insurance, namely the Triton

Insurance Company.

Towards the end of the 19

th

century, the Indian businessmen in westernIndia started taking active interest in insurance business as brokers. During this

period, fire insurance transactions were confined to the metropolitan cities of

Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. These truncations were gradually extended to

the other areas as industries were developed outside these cities. The Indian

brokers however operated only in western India and their growing influence in

the local mercantile community, they began to virtually control the business.

The period between the two world wars was a period of struggle for

the newly established Indian Insurance Companies who with their limited

experience had to face severe competition from foreign insurers who had

superior technical expertise and huge experience.

The position was further aggravated by the fact that exchange banks did

not accord recognition to the insurance policies issued by Indian insurancecompanies except to smaller limits. Under these distributed conditions,

Government intervention became inevitable.

Accordingly, in 1935 a special officer was appointed to investigate and

report on insurance reforms ad in 1938, the Indian Insurance Act was passed

and brought into force in 1939. This Act incorporated the principle of uniform

governance overall insurers, both foreign and Indian. The Act was an important


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landmark in the history of insurance and it was amended a number of times and

the most important amendments being made in 1950 and 1968.

Need for Global Integration

The economic liberalization, which started few years ago, started

bringing in few investments from global giants and the government was hard

pressed to facilitate global integration eliminating trade barriers for the free

flow of technology, intellectual and financial capital.

Additionally, reforms are essential if the Indian economy is to achieve

and sustain a growth rate of 7 to 8 percent per annum. Reaching a faster path

also implies attracting direct investment inflows of $10 billion every year, up

from the current level of $3 to 3.5 Billion. Thus liberalization of insurance

creates an environment for the generation of long-term contractual funds for

infrastructure creates an environment for the generation of the long-term

contractual funds for infrastructure investments.

3.1.3 EVOLUTION OF INSURANCE MARKET IN INDIA

The evolution of insurance market dates back to 1818. The business of

life insurance in India in the year 1818 with the establishment of the Oriental

Life Insurance Company in Kolkata. Some of the important milestones in the

insurance business in India are:

1912: The Indian Life Insurance Companies Act enacted as the first statute to

regulate the Life Insurance business.

1928: The Indian Insurance Companies Act enabled the government to collect

statistical information about life and non-life insurance business.

1938: Earlier legislation was consolidated and amended by the Insurance Act

with the objective of protecting the interests of the insuring public.


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1956: 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies taken over by the

Central Government were nationalized. LIC formed by an Act of parliament,

viz., LIC Act 1956, with a capital contribution of Rs 5 crores from the

Government in India.

Prior to 1956, a large number of organizations were managing life

insurance and general insurance business. But in 1956, the life insurance

business was nationalized and monopoly was vested with Life Insurance

Corporation (LIC). Similarly in 1972, the general insurance business was

nationalized and started to be managed by General Insurance Corporation (GIC)

and its four subsidies namely National

Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited,

Oriental Fire and General Insurance Company Limited and United Company

Limited.

The governments concern about the state of the insurance industry was

revealed in the early nineties, when an expert committee was set up under the

chairmanship of late R.N.Malhotra. Amongst the various recommendations put

in by the Malhotra Committee, the most important recommendations was the

opening up of the insurance industry, subject to the conditions that a private

insurer should have a minimum paid up capital of Rs.100 crores, and that the

promoters stake in the otherwise widely held company should not be less than

26 percent and not more than 40 percent.

Subsequent to the submission of its report by the Malhotra Committee,

Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Bill was introduced in the parliament. In

November 1998, the Central Cabinet approved the Bill, which envisaged a

ceiling of 26 percent for non-Indian stakeholders.

The committee has also recommended that the minimum paid up share

capital of the new insurance companies be raised to Rs.200 crores, double the


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amount proposed by the Malhotra Committee. Today, due to these

developments, the Indian Insurance market stands wide open and has attracted a

host of global players.

MALHOTRA COMMITTEE

In 1993, Malhotra Committee headed by former finance secretary and

RBI governor R.N.Malhotra, was formed to evaluate the Indian Insurance

industry and recommended its future direction. The Malhotra Committee was

set up with the objective of implementing the reforms initiated in the financial

sector. The reforms were aimed at creating a more efficient and competitivefinancial system suitable for the requirements of the economy keeping in mind

the structural changes currently underway and recognizing that insurance is an

important part of the overall financial system where it was necessary to address

the need for similar reforms...

RECOMMENDATIONS

Malhotra Committee made some recommendations to improve the

penetration of insurance. They include:

Government stake in the insurance companies to be brought down to

50%.

Government should take over the holdings of GIC and its subsidiaries

so that these subsidiaries can act as independent corporations.

All the insurance companies should be given greater freedom to

operate.

CompetitionPrivate companies with a minimum paid of Rs.1 billion should be

allowed to enter the industry.


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No company should deal in both life and general insurance through a

single entity.

Foreign companies may be allowed to enter the industry in collaboration

with the domestic companies.

Postal life insurance should be allowed to operate in the rural market.

Only one state level life insurance company should be allowed to operate

in each state.

The insurance Act should be changed and an insurance regulatorybody should be setup.

Controller of insurance should be made independent

InvestmentsMandatory Investments of LIC Life Fund in government securities to

be reduced from 75% to 50%.

GIC and its subsidiaries are not to hold more than 5% in any company.

Customer serviceLIC should pay interest on delays in payments beyond 30 days.

Insurance companies must be encouraged to set up unit linked

pension plans.

Computerization of operations and updating of technology to be carried

out in the insurance industry. The committee emphasized that in order to

improve the customer service and increase the coverage of the insurance

industry should be opened up to competition. But at the same time, the

committee felt the need to exercise caution as any failure on the part of new

players could ruin the public confidence in the industry. Hence, it was decided

to allow competition in a limited way by stipulating the minimum capital


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requirement of Rs. 100 crores. The committee felt the need to provide greater

autonomy to insurance companies in order to improve their performance and

enable them to act as independent companies with economic motives. For this

purpose, it had proposed setting up an independent regulatory body.

3.1.4 TYPES OF INSURANCE COMPANIES

Insurance companies are classified as

1.Life Insurance Companies2.Non life or General Insurance Companies

LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIESThey sell life insurance, annuities and pension products.

NON-LIFE OR GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANIESThey sell non-life insurance plans

In most countries, life and non-life insurers are subject to differentregulations, tax and accounting rules. The main reason for the distinction

between the two types is that life business is a long-term contract. By contrast,

non-life insurance usually covers shorter periods, such as one year. Companies,

which sell both life and non-life insurance, called as composite insurance

companies.

REINSURANCEThese companies sell insurance to cover other insurance companies. This

helps insurance companies to spread risks, and protects them from very large

losses.


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INSURANCE BUSINESSLife insurers transact life insurance business; general insurers trasact the

rest. No composites are permitted as per law.

3.1.4.1 LIFE INSURANCE

Insurance that guarantees a specific sum of money to a designated

beneficiary upon the death insured or to the insured if he or she lives beyond a

certain age.

A contract between an owner (often the insured person) and a life

insurance company that guarantees the payment of a stated amount of money on

the death of the insured.

A protection against the lost income that would result if the insured

passed away. The named beneficiary receives the proceeds and is thereby

safeguarded from the financial impact of the death of the insured.

Life insurance, originally conceived to protect a mans family when his

death left the family without income, has developed into a variety of policy

plans. In a whole life policy, fixed premiums are paid through the insureds

life time. This accumulated amount, augmented by compound interest is paid to

a beneficiary in a lump sum upon the insureds death; the benefit is paid even if

the insured terminated the policy.

TYPES OF LIFE INSURANCEWHOLE LIFE INSURANCE

Whole life is a type of permanent life insurance. It is called permanent

because a whole life policy provides life-long protection and is guaranteed to do

so by the insurance company. With whole life, one pays a fixed premium for

life instead of the increased premiums on renewable term life insurance policies.


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Since the word term in term life insurance means a period of time one could

say that the term for whole life insurance is the term of all of the life. It is not

technically called lifetime term insurance, but in a way it could be described

that way. There is non-participating whole life insurance issued by a stock life

insurance company.

Term Insurance

Term insurance is life insurance coverage for a specified period of time.

This can be at a guaranteed rate or in some cases a guaranteed rate for a period

of time and then a projected rate. Term periods can be for 1 year, 5 years, 10years, 15,20 and even 30 years. For example, 30 year level term would

guarantee a level premium for 30 years based on a specified death benefit. Term

life insurance is usually the least expensive form of life coverage, at least

initially. After the initial term period of years, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 etc. The policy

could renew it at a higher premium; it is called renewable term life insurance.

Universal life insurance

Universal life insurance is permanent life insurance with premiums that

are not guaranteed. To a certain degree one can design a premium on this type

of policy. Universal life insurance often can be set up with a lower premium

initially than whole life insurance. Premiums and values are based on

projections of assumed interest rates, the cost of insurance(also known as

mortality cost) and the insurance companys expenses. The actual premium paid

may increase because interest rates may go lower or the projected cost of

insurance may increase.


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3.1.4.2 PRINCIPLES OF INSURANCE

Economic principle

Actuarial or mathematical principle

Legal principle

Economic principleThe concept of law of large numbers forms the economic basis of life

insurance. The law of large number states that the larger the number of

separate risks of a like nature combines into a group, the less uncertainty there

is as to the relative amount of loss that will be incurred with a given period.

Actuarial or mathematical principleContribution of each individual in insurance is called premium. To be

equitable, every individual should contribute a premium proportional to the risk

he brings into the fund. The process of fixing the contribution or premium is

done through actuarial principle.

Legal principleThe relevant laws have to be abided by establishing a legally acceptable

understanding, relationship and mutual responsibilities between individual and

the fund.

3.1.5 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

Reforms in the insurance sector were initiated with the passage of

the IRDA bill parliament in December 1999, the IRDA since its incorporation

as a statuary body in April 2000 has fastidiously stuck to its schedule of framing

regulations and registering the private sector insurance companies. The other

decision taken simultaneously to provide the supporting systems to the

insurance sector and in particular the life insurance companies was the launch of


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the IRDAs online service for issue and renewal of licenses to agents. The

approval of institutions for imparting training to agents. The approval of

institutions for imparting training to agents has ensured that the insurance

companies have trained workforce. Since being set up as an independent

statutory body, the IRDA has put in a framework of globally compatible

regulations. In private sector 12 life insurance and 6 general insurance

companies have been registered.

3.1.5.1 Regulatory Issues for private Insurance Companies

The IRDA Bill lies down that the Indian promoter must dilute the stake inthe private insurance firms from 74 percent to 26 percent in ten years. The bill

stipulate tough solvency marginsRs. 500 million for net premium income for

general insurance and Rs 1 billion for reinsurance.

The insurer has to maintain separate accounts relating to fund of

shareholders and policyholders. The fund of policyholders should be retained

within the country but does not cover repatriation of profits and dividends.

Insurance companies under the new regime will have to expose to Rural and

social sectors. Foreign investment in insurance is crucial to financing

infrastructure and better insurance cover.

The key success is opening up of the insurance sector in India. An

example of how poor regulation can destroy a market is the mutual fund

industry. A combination of improper marketing practice and unfullfilable

promises has resulted in a loss of investor faith in that industry. Incidentally, the

insurance industry in India itself has gone through the phase. One of the reasons

for nationalization of the insurance industry (LIC in 1956 and GIC in 1973) was

the mismanagement and malpractice of erstwhile private players.


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Private players in Indian insurance market:

S.No Company name

1 HDFC standard Life insurance company limited

2 Max New York Life insurance company limited

3 Indiafirstlife insurance company limited

4 Om Kotak Mahindra life insurance company limited

5 Birla sun life insurance company limited

6 Tata AIG life insurance company limited

7 SBI life insurance company company limted

8 INDIAFIRST Life insurance company limited

9 Allianz bajaj life insurance company limited

10 Met life insurance company privet limited

11 AMP sanmar assurance company private limited

12 AVIVA(Dabur and aviva,uk)

13 SHARA life insurance

14 Indiafirst life insurance


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3.2 PROFILE OF INDIAFIRST LIFE COMPANY:

Indiafirst Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between Bank of

Baroda, Andhra Bank a core banking groups headquarters in plc, and Legal &

General a leading international financial service group headquartered in the

United Kingdom.

Indiafirst was amongst the youngest private sector insurance companies

to begin operations in December 2009 after receiving approval from insurance

regulator development authority (IRDA).

Indiafirst life equity base stands at Rs.1 billion with bank of Baroda,

Andhra bank and Legal & General Group plc holding 44%, 30% and 26% stake

respectively. In the financial year ended march 31, 2010, the company garnered

Rs 200 crores. The company has a network of about 750 business development

managers. Indiafirst life insurance is the fastest company to get 200crore

premium in the private life insurance, with a wide range of flexible products

that meet the needs of the Indian customer at every step in life.

Our vision:Become a life insurance and pensions business leader in providing significant

value for all stakeholders through true customer delight

We intend to achieve our vision by-

Offering a wide range of value for money products in the protection,

savings, and investments health and pension segments.

Developing cost effective and consumer friendly distribution channels.

Cultivating outstanding service quality leading to impeccable market

reputation.

Nurturing a distinct cognizable and well admired brand identity.Attracting, engaging and retaining high quality people.


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Our strengths:Indiafirst brings the strengths of the three strong promoters. Our Indian

partners bring together their extensive knowledge about the Indian markets,

financial stability, credible brand presence and wide distribution reach. On the

other hand, the legal & general group, our third partner brings international best

practices in global insurance, saving and investments to facilitate the formation

of a world class life insurance company in India.

3.2.1 PROMOTERS:

Bank of Baroda is the 3rd largest public sector bank in the country with

an enviable network of over 3000 branches that spreads across the geography of

India and over 70 branches across 22 countries globally! This behemoth

financial institution is over 100 years old and has been built on financial

prudence, corporate governance and most importantly the trust of valuable

customers like you.

Andhra Bank has been serving the Indian customer for over 85 years and

currently has a network of over 1500 branches. The bank has developed best in

class deposit and lending schemes for its valued customers.

Both the banks are nationalized and provide best in class products and services

to every Indian citizen.

Legal & General is one of UKs leading financial institutions with a

heritage of over 150 years. It provides life assurance, pensions, investments and

general insurance plans to over 5 crore customers across countries. Legal and

General brings rich fund management and insurance experience into India and

aspires to provide first-rate products and services to the doorstep of every Indian

customer in conjunction with the 2 trusted public sector banks


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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Indiafirst life insurance company Ltd board comprises reputed people from

the finance industry both from india and abroad.

Shri M.D.Mallya, Chairman

Shri Anil Girotra, Director

Shri S.Bhattacharya, Director

Shri N.R.Badrinarayanan,Director

Shri Rakesh Sehi,Director

Mr. Gareth Hoskin, Director

Mr.Ian Viney,Director

Mr. Manohar Bhide, Independent Director

MANAGEMENT TEAM:-

Mr. P.Nandagopal, Managing Director & CEO

Mr.Chandan Khasnobis, Appointed ActuaryMr.Kamalakar Sai, Chief Distribution Officer

Mr.Varij Pujara, Chief Marketing Officer

Mr.Karni Singh Arha, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. A.K.Sridhar, Chief Investment Officer

Mr. Ranjen Doshi, Chief Risk Officer

Mr. Mohit Rochlani, Head-Operations

Mr. B.Satishwar, Head-Finance

Mr. Ramaswamy Subramanian, Head-Business Process

Mr. Subhash Menon, Head- Human Resources

Mr. Vinayak Khadye, Head-Information Technology


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3.2.2PRODUCTS:3.2.2.1 INDIAFIRST SAVINGS PLAN:

"You dream, you aspire. And we help you achieve! "

Each of us aspires to own a house, dreams of exotic overseas vacations,

wishes to fund our children in all their lifes events, hopes to have

sufficient retirement funds

The Indiafirst Savings Plan helps you grow and develop a body of wealth

through market linked investments. We help you save systematically andprovide you avenues to invest your savings in funds, on the basis of your

risk appetite.

FEATURES AND BENIFITS:You can build your savings corpus systematically, through investments in

various funds.

You secure the future of your family, as they get an assured lump sum

benefit immediately, in case of your untimely death.

You have the option to invest in debt, equity or a balanced fund, where

you choose the proportion of your investment into each!

You can make the most of your investmentsby switching from one fund

to another.

You have the option to build up your corpus through additional deposits.

You get easy access to your money by being able to withdraw partially.

Under Section 80C you can enjoy Tax Benefits on the premium you

invest. You also get tax benefits on the benefits you receive at maturity of

your policy, under Section 10(10D).


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3.2.2.2 INDIAFIRST EDUCATION PLAN:

"Your child, your pride Our responsibility"

We understand that, as a parent, you want to give nothing but the best toyour child. Be it your childs education or any dream. You will not allow

anything to come in the way of your childs success.

To help you give your child everything that you have dreamt of, we have

introduced the Indiafirst Education Plan.

FEATURES AND BENIFITS:Your child will always receive funds at every momentous occasion in

his/her life.

Be it High School / College/ Professional course or any other life event!

Your child gets financial securityeven if any untoward incident results in

your death / disability.

We will do this by paying the remaining premiums into your policy.

Your child, who we may also refer as the Beneficiary , receives the

Fund Value at Maturity even if the Sum Assured has been paid out on

the unfortunate incident of your demise.

You have the option to invest in debt, equity or a balanced fund, where


You can make the most of your investmentsby switching from one fund

to another.

You have the option to build up your corpus through additional deposits.

You get easy access to your moneyby being able to withdraw partially.

Under Section 80C and 10(10D) you can enjoy Tax Benefits on the

premium you invest.


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3.2.2.3 INDIAFIRST FUTURE PLAN:

"You evolve, you mature... And we help you prosper"

The best years of Life ought to be your retirement years. You haveworked hard all your life, and you deserve the best things in life in these

golden years.

We identify with you. We are therefore presenting the perfect plan that

will empower you for this golden period. The Indiafirst Future plan helps

you set-aside money in your prime years when are generating income and

enjoy a healthy lump sum or a steady income in your retirement years.

FEATURES AND BENIFITS:You can choose the age at which you want to retire.

You have the option to invest in Debt, Equity or a balanced fund, where


You can make the most of your investments by switching from one fund

to another.

You have the option to build up your retirement corpus through

additional deposits.

You get easy access to your money by being able to withdraw partially.

You can enjoy tax free returns up to 1/3rd of the fund value as at your

chosen date of retirement (called Vesting Age).

HOW DOES THE PLAN WORK?The plan starts with you choosing the age at which you wish to retire.

You also choose the amount you wish to contribute towards your

retirement corpus as premiums. The premiums contributed by you are

invested in funds of your choice. At the vesting age, the fund value is

paid to you in lump sum.


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CHAPTER 4

4.1 ANALYSIS

4.1 previously are you insured.TABLE NO: 4.1 previously insured

Particulars No of Respondents

Yes 74

No 26

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.1

INTERPRETATION:

From the data we clearly observe that more than half of sampled respondents

are insured earlier and very few respondents were not insured. It resembles that

maximum respondents are aware of the insurance products and their uses. This

reveals that insurance is gradually penetrating into the market.


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4.2] Main concern while choosing Insurance

TABLE N0: 4.2 concern about insurance


Tax benefit 9

Security 31

Return on investment 44

Saving 16

Total 100

CHART NO: 2

Tax benefits SecurityReturn on

InvestmentSavings

Concern while choosing9 31 44 16

0

5

10

15

20

2530

35

40

45

50

No

ofrespon

dents

Concern while choosing Insurance

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows Most of the respondents consider return on

investment as their main criteria while choosing an insurance policy i.e. more

respondents are concerned about money rather than their lives and they gave

second importance to security, and then comes saving and tax benefits.


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4.3] Awareness of Indiafirst life

TABLE N0: 4.3 Awareness of the Company


TV advertisement 13

Through Bank 34

Agent 49

Word of mouth 3

Others 1

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.3

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows Major Number of respondents came to know

about the company through the agents of the company, and then through banks.

(Andhra Bank) and also played a major role in creating awareness to the

customers, TV advertisements and word of mouth also created awareness.


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4.4] Opinion on Indiafirst Life Insurance products

TABLE N0:4.4 Opinion on products

particulars No of Respondents

Highly Satisfied 28

Satisfied 53

Moderate 15

Unsatisfied 4

Highly Unsatisfied 0

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.4

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows Half of the respondents are satisfied with the

product i.e. with the benefits , while one fourth are highly satisfied with

companies products and their benefits, moderate are about one by fifth of the

respondents.


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4.5] Opinion on the more beneficiary plan in Indiafirst life

TABLE N0:4.5 Beneficiary Plan


Saving plan 32

Education plan 59

Future plan 9

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.5

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows that Most of the respondents think Education plan

is more beneficiary because it provide more benefits like wavier of premium

and less charges, coming to Savings plan some of the respondents think it is

also an beneficiary product and only very few respondents opted Future plan.


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4.6] Rating of the Indiafirst life products on basis of satisfying the financial

need

TABLE N0: 4.6 Satisfaction Levels on Financial Needs


1 5

2 12

3 53

4 22

5 8

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.6

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows many of the respondents rated 3 as satisfactory,

one fourth of the respondents rated 4 as satisfactory about the company and

there are nearly same rating on 1 and 5.


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4.7] Opinion of the respondents on the premiums of Indiafirst life

TABLE N0: 4.7 Opinion on Premium


Highly Satisfied 8

Satisfied 11

Moderate 48

Unsatisfied 28


Total 100

CHART NO: 4.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

Highly

satisfied

Satisfied Moderate Unsatisfie

d

Highly

unsatisfie

dOpinion on premium 8 11 48 28 5

noofrespon

dents

Opinion on premium

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows major number of respondents having moderate

opinion on the premium offered by the company, there are one fourth

unsatisfied and some respondents who are satisfied with the premium and

almost the same number of highly satisfied and highly unsatisfied with the

premium paid.


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4.8] Opinion on Indiafirst life maturity benefits

TABLE N0: 4.8 Opinions on Maturity Benefits


Highly Satisfied 17

Satisfied 53

Moderate 28

Unsatisfied 2


Total 100

CHART NO: 4.8

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shoes half of the respondents are satisfied by the

maturity benefits and more number of respondents are moderately satisfied and

few are highly satisfied and a very less number of respondents are unsatisfied.


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4.9] Areas to be improved

TABLE N0: 4.9 Areas to Be Improved

Particulars Respondents

Rider benefits 21Transparence 13

More returns 23

Fewer premiums 36

Less complicated procedure 7

Total 100

CHART NO: 9

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows many respondents want improvement in fewer

premiums because many of the rural people cant effort high premiums, then

respondents are opted for return on investment to improve, rider benefits are

also opted by many respondents, then transparency and procedures.


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4.10] Flexible term of the policy

TABLE N0: 4.10 Flexible Terms


Short term 66

Long term 34

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.10 Terms of Policy

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows comparatively, short term plans seem to be better

suited to respondents, though there is a critical section opting for long term as

well.


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4.11] Introduction of policies apart from ULIP

TABLE N0: 4.11 Needs of New Products


Yes 62

No 22

Cant say 16

Total 100

CHART NO: 4.11

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows major number of respondents are interested in

taking new plans other than ULIP because in this the return is volatile, and one

fourth of respondents said its not needed and remaining said cant say.


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4.12] Opinion on post sales services

TABLE N0:4.12 Post Sales Service


Highly Satisfied 18

Satisfied 64

Moderate 14

Unsatisfied 4


Total 100

CHART NO: 4.12

INTERPRETATION:

From the above data it shows Maximum respondents are satisfied by the

services provided by the company after post sale, good number respondents

who are highly satisfied with the service provided by the company, few

respondents feel moderate with the post sale service and there is less number of

persons who are unsatisfied.


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5.1 FINDINGS:

Most of the respondents were focused on return on investment, and the

second major option was security to their future.

Major number of respondents came to know about the company through

the agents of the company, and then bank (Andhra Bank) also played a

major role in creating awareness to the customers, TV advertisements and

word of mouth also created awareness.

Half of the respondents are satisfied with the product, while one fourth

are highly satisfied, moderate are about one fifth.

Most of the respondents think Education plan is more beneficiary, then

Saving plan is also have been said as beneficiary and only some of them

opted Future plan.

There are major numbers of respondents having moderate opinion, there

are one by fourth unsatisfied and some respondents who are satisfied and

almost the same number of highly satisfied and highly unsatisfied.

Half of the respondents are satisfied by the maturity benefits and more

number of moderate and highly satisfied and a very less number of

unsatisfied and no highly unsatisfied.

Many respondents wants improvement in fewer premiums, return on

investment is also is opted to improve, rider benefits are also opted by

many respondents, then transparency and procedures.

Comparatively, short term plans seem to be better suited to respondents,

though there is a critical section opting for long term as well.

Major number of respondents was suggested to introduce new products,

and one by fourth of respondents said its not needed and remaining said

cant say.


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Maximum respondents are satisfied by the services provided by the

company, and good number respondents who are highly satisfied and

moderate; there is less number of persons who are unsatisfied.

5.2 SUGGESTIONS:

The company should also concentrate on all the consumer segments. The company should create new policies that are meant to lower middle

class people.

The delivery expectations of the customers have to be satisfied by thecompany so that the customers satisfaction can be improved further

Some of the customers have rated satisfactory for the customer supportpeoples competence and response time.

Along with selling the products of the company the advisors should alsocarry out good relationship activities with existing policyholders.

The company should take adequate measures to get the feedback fromcustomers in modifying and developing the policies.

Finally the company has to improve in two of its aspects which aredelivery of policies at right time and competence of customer support

people.


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5.3 CONCLUSION:

Working with Indiafirst Life Insurance for two months was a very

nice and a good learning experience. It has helped me a lot learning about

different kinds of inv

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