Selling more, selling better: A microinsurance sales force development study

Selling microinsurance is not easy. Convincing low-income clients of the value of insurance is difficult, especially when sellers have no previous insurance experience or have other responsibilities in addition to selling insurance. Adequate training, incentives, and monitoring of the sales force are indispensable for selling microinsurance effectively. Properly trained and motivated sales staff can ensure that clients have a positive experience with the sales process and a better understanding of how insurance works, leading to improved demand for insurance amongst low-income communities. Cost-efficient sales methods can enable microinsurance programmes to reach scale and become viable. This study provides lessons for microinsurance providers for the four main steps in salesforce development: recruit, train, incentivize and monitor.