Insurer Sun Life Indonesia values qualified agents

Life insurer Sun Life Indonesia aims to have more qualified agents to market their products rather than just make the numbers, the company top executive has said.

The firm gathered on Friday 1,000 of its most high-achieving agents for the annual “Year Start” event in Jakarta to brief them of the insurer’s vision this year and to ensure them to be ready to face a more competitive insurance industry.

“We are launching several new initiatives in 2017, which are designed to improve our marketing agents’ productivity and to also encourage them to develop their skills and capacity,” Sun Life president director Elin Waty said.

She added that the agency’s contribution reached around 55 percent of the firm’s insurance distribution last year and the company planned to have a similar share this year.

The insurer uses a contract maintenance system, which obliges its agents to achieve certain targets or their contracts will be terminated to ensure the company has capable agents.

“If this contract maintenance system wasn’t implemented, my agents would probably number 100,000,” Elin said.

Currently, Sun Life has around 10,100 agents nationwide, a steady increase from its 9,000 agents in 2015.

“We aim to do better in 2017 by focusing on our human resources, technology and brand,” said Sun Life Asia president Kevin Strain.