Slow and steady

Om Kotak Mahindra Life marketing VP Ashutosh Bishnoi says patience and persistence in the insurance business will eventually benefit both the insured and the insurer

Ashutosh BishnoiChennai: For Ashutosh Bishnoi, vice-president (marketing), Om Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, selling life insurance policies is like indulging in farming.

"It takes a lot of patience to sell insurance due to people's attitude towards death and understanding of risks. It also takes time to train and tutor people to sell well," says Bishnoi, 42, an MBA with 10 years' experience in the advertising industry (da Cunha Associates, Trikaya Grey, HTA) and another 10 years in the capital markets (DSP Merrill Lynch, JM Mutual Fund).

"But most of all someone, sometime will be extremely grateful that I was persistent with his father or husband," he is optimistic. Well, that could be true; no widow refuses a life insurance settlement.

The company earned Rs 26.13 crore from new business during the first six months of this fiscal. After taking into account the renewal business, Bishnoi says the total premium income has crossed last year's annual figure of Rs 40 crore.