IASL says Life Insurance Sales Awards will raise industry standards

By Harshana Sellahewa
The Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) declared the lunch of Life Insurance Sales Awards 2018 at a press briefing held this week.

The idea for this awards scheme was initiated in 2017 and implemented in 2018, with the aim of improving and raising the bar in insurance sales professionalism by recognising and rewarding insurance sales professionals based on their performance and potential to purportedly improve the penetration level of the life insurance market in Sri Lanka.

Explaining in detail about the criteria and conditions of the competition, IASL Marketing and Sales Forum Chairman Hashra Weerawardena said, “This year, the annual awards, Life Insurance Industry Sales Awards 2018, was themed as ‘Celebrating Life’s Superheroes’ by the Marketing and Sales Forum of the IASL. This is the first year we are having this annual awards ceremony for the life insurance industry and we hope it will be a major success.”

“The Life Insurance Industry Sales Awards will go for a period of one year, starting from January this year,” Weerawardena 
further stated.

Weerawardena went on to explain that there are two main award categories, namely Category level and National level.

Under the Category level, the 15 total companies that specialise in life insurance will be divided into three sub-categories, which count five Large Category companies, five Medium Category companies and five Small Category companies. This separation of participants is done in accordance to each company’s gross written premium (GWP) as per 3Q17.

The National level category differs by individuality, as: “Any person who wins a normal category, even someone from a small category, can aspire to become a national level winner provided he/she achieves or meets the Large Category criteria.”

“Under Category level as well as National level, we would be honouring and awarding Gold, Silver and Bronze in all three categories and honouring the best sales advisor in each category, the best supervisor and also the best branch manager,” said Weerawardena.
The three key value drivers of the whole competition are:

1. Quantity - The number of policies sold (NOP).
2. MCFP - The value of the insurance premium production (Monthly Converted First Premium).
3. Quality - The continuity of the business.

Reviewed under several benchmarks, the awards will give an opportunity for nominees to be highlighted in their careers and build a strong professional personality, which will enable them to perform better.

“The IASL’s eventual aim is to make not only 2018 a success but to ensure that our industry wins. If our industry wins, eventually the country wins,” said IASL President 
Deepthi Lokuarachchi.