Once upon a time there was a king and he had a faithful slave. His slave would do everything for him and would go everywhere where the king went. He had so to say no own life – he was like the king’s shadow. The king loved him….and was also completely dependent on him. One […]

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Continuing the state of the Life insurance Industry… One very important part of this industry are the agents. Now the agents are of 3 types a. National Level Distributors (non banks), b. National Level Distributors (banks) and c. Individuals (largely local level). The N L D as they are called seem to be making money, […]

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Once upon a time not very long ago the MD of a company (who had never been in a sales function) was making a presentation. At this presentation he would put the Customer on top….and tell the world that the whole organization existed for the customer. Obviously in this diagram of hierarchy he would be […]

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When a salesman (by whatever name called – Financial Consultant, certified financial consultant, financial advisor, relationship manager, etc.) he feels he should get more commission than what he is currently getting. However, his immediate manager (from the manufacturer’s side or in his own company) feels – I helped him, so I deserve more credit. The […]

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Madhu Soman of Reuters writes well – and is a keen watcher of equity markets and real estate (especially in Wadala and Kerala!). He had written an article for REuters – on 16th October, 2008 –  and it was subsequently carried in ET.Here are the first 2 paras where Shankar Sharma….read on! “The world of […]

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I hope you are not looking for the ‘mea culpa’ message of Raju…of Satyam…this is different! I recently met the MD of a financial services company – obviously I am not naming him/her. It also does not matter whether it is a brokerage house, mutual fund, life insurance company, bank or a distribution house. So […]

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A couple of weeks back I had written a post about how the slow down will hurt some industries. Fairly clearly those companies (industries) which have a high cash burn ratio – and who cannot reduce fixed costs will bleed first. Financial services industry – life insurance, broking retail, general retail – are all vulnerable. […]

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