MARKETING MANAGEMENT FOR LIFE INSURANCE AGENTSPART- 9

(TARGET MARKETING- POSITIONING)

“WHEN AN INDIVIDUAL GROWS BIGGER, HE BECOMES AN ORGANISATION”

POSITIONING SELF - “EVOKING A SENSE OF REPAYMENT”

Mr. Customer, let me explain why you will need a trustworthy expert advisor?

Reason 1

Look at the maze of financial instruments available in the market. How can any customer possibly select the right product for himself, without the support of a learned financial advisor?

Look at the nature of financial instruments. Some products carry high risk in short term, whereas the same might be a safe bet in a longer term. Some products are highly liquid, you can very quickly and easily encash them, while some are very rigid, offer less or no liquidity. The various cycles of economies have triggered performance of some instruments in short term, while holding long term some other have given unimaginable yields.

Frequently i get asked “What is the best investment?”

In fact there is nothing called as best investment. It is in a mix and there is no standard mix. You will need someone who understands the financial products and also understands you to create the right mix for you.

To teach Johnny English, the teacher must know English and must also know Johnny. A doctor to give the right medicine to Tom must know medicine and also Tom.

I was listening to a phone-in investor program on a FM radio. A investor called and asked an investment he had made in Mutual Fund expecting good returns but in the last 18 months since he had invested, there is no growth, and should he continue to hold it or should he quit now. The reply given to him was, that the fund he is mentioning is investing in “a particular sector” and there is no scope of its growth, he had made a wrong selection and therefore he must quit immediately and invest in some other fund.

The person who is advising, does not know the age of the investor; does not know when he will require the money back; does not know if any major goals are to be fulfilled in the next two years; does not know what other investments the person is holding; does not know if the person is in business or is being employed earning some regular income; how on Earth can anybody give a correct advise without knowing some of these details?

But we have seen such type of advises being offered and also being accepted heartily. For many people are of the opinion that the one which gives (promises to give) the highest return is the best investment.

The more the person matures in the financial services industry the more he will realise that there is nothing called as the best investment, it is only in a mix that the client wins and also that there can not be any standard mix.

What is this MIX? Any investment has three dimensions a) Safety b) Liquidity and c) Yield. There are other aspects of an asset 1) How transparent is the price 2) How granular is that asset? 3) How easily can it be transferred to others.

If in a triangle with three sides being a,b and c, if any one of the side is altered, then it will affect any one of the other sides or both the remaining sides. Therefore what is the best for a client can be designed only by an advisor who is aware about all the three sides of various assets and also is sensitive to the clients needs and capacity.

There are two aspects of the client I mentioned here 1) Needs and 2) Capacity. Some people who feel they need high returns may not have holding capacity to get that yield. They will be exposed to double danger in a short term less returns and loss of capital as well.

There are times when Gold prices have shocked investors across the Globe. There are times when real estate prices have crashed leaving people gaping wide in disbelief. There are times when stocks have done this. The present crisis the globe is facing has been triggered primarily from the Debt instruments, banking products, which are normally considered to be the safest bets. But an investor who has taken advise from a good advisor has been protected from these shocks and some have even benefited hugely during those bad times.

You need a good advisor who know the financial instruments and also knows you well to design the right mix for you