Interaction with Mr Rakesh Goyal – Director Probus Insurance Broker Ltd.

Probus Insurance is one of the Tech Solution Providers that serves as the one point solution for all your insurance related queries and needs. It offers products online/Offline for Indian customers across categories in General & Life Insurance (Health, Car, Life, Travel and Home Insurance).

With over 1200+ insurance plans & 230cr Insurance premium in FY 16-17, customarily from retail clients, and 1,29,799 policies sold, Probus has established a significant performance and growth rate.

To comprehend the company’s strategies, views and to get a glimpse of their journey so far, we had an interaction with Mr Rakesh Goyal – Director, Probus Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd.

He is the man behind the success of Probus. An MBA degree with a diploma in International Trade, Mr Goyal has been in the field of financial services since 1996, his thorough understanding of the market and sharp thinking that has been the reason behind the continuous growth and success of Probus.

Excelled in the fields of general and life insurance distribution, channel management and relationship management Mr Goyal has implemented pioneering strategies for distribution and has helped build corporate relationships and management skills.

With his cosmic background and an array of experiences with multinational companies, he has worked in various utilities.

His previous work experiences include several prestigious Brands; Bausch and Lomb (India), World Index Investment, International Foreign Currency Market & Gogia Capital Ltd. An avid reader and a travel junkie, Mr Goyal in his free time love to explore new places

Probus has completed 17 years and it is in a growth trajectory in a competitive industry – Insurance. How has the journey been so far?

Probus Insurance Broker Limited started in the year 2002, and we got our License of operation in April 2003 for the commencement of business. Since then, we have grown from issuing policies offline to being a completely online portal with more than 2.6 lakh policies issued online in the first half of 2019 alone.

We have grown tremendously in the last five years to go on to be awarded as the “Digital Broker of the Year” by the ABP News and ET Now BFSI awards 2018-19.

Our operational excellence and superior customer service, which is backed by technology and risk management advisories have been a pivot for us to be recognized as one of the leading insurance solutions providers in India.

Probus Insurance Broker Limited is now one of the leading Insurance firms in India with 230+ Crore annual premium, primarily from the retail clients paired along with its Pan-India presence to provide a superior customer experience in providing Life and Non-Life Insurance.

How the idea of setting up Insurance broking firm came in?

The word ‘uncertainty’ is probably the best way to define my journey of starting my venture. And what better way there is to manage uncertainties in life than having the right insurance plan as a shield.

Most people are not prepared for uncertainties that life may present. Insurance is one way to equip yourself financially to face life’s uncertainties, however, there was a lot of misselling around insurance products, which ended up them in buying the wrong products as there was lack of information, knowledge, and transparency.

Products were sold purely based on commission rather than guiding the customer or understanding their primary needs to prepare them for uncertainties with insurance.

Looking at this huge gap, and a way to increase the insurance reach even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, a platform that handheld customers with a holistic approach and transparency took off as Probus Insurance.

What have been the Probus insurance achievement so far and what are your future plans?

We have bootstrapped our business right from providing a minimal viable online product to offering 1200+ Insurance plans which include Car, Two-wheeler, Health, Life, Travel, Goods Carrying, and Passenger Carrying-vehicles from over 22 insurance companies.

Probus Insurance is now heading to offer complex insurance products like Home and Business Insurance, online and directly to end customers.

We are focusing on making our product simple, seamless, and customer-centric. And today, with recent changes in our product, it stands out, making it intuitive and straightforward.

The insurance reach in India is just 3.69 per cent, which indicates a huge gap. There’s still an untapped insurance market in India with a scope to increase the insurance reach. Insurance in India is still a long way to become a pull product.

With our team of experts having 17 years of market experience, and by leveraging technology, we are focusing our efforts on making it a pull product. We are developing a seamless process for buying insurance products online.

How is the Insurance broking firm Industry in India shaping up and how is Probus placed?

With the Budget 2019, 100% FDI will be permitted for insurance intermediaries. Earlier, it was only 49% of FDI in the Insurance industry, this relaxation will definitely boost up the insurance sector and will make it on par with other financial services in India.

After the relaxation by IRDA around the Point of Sale (POS) for insurance distribution as sub-brokers, Probus Insurance has opened doors of their platform to more than 25 lakh registered insurance agents to use their proprietary technology.

With our technology and support, all from a single platform, POS can now compare and issue policies on our website and mobile app. This way, Probus Insurance has increased the reach of insurance even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India.

Moreover, Probus Insurance is leveraging technology to reduce the buying cycle, delivering superior customer experience and providing hassle-free claim process.

In what way, you are using technology? How do you differentiate with Insure Tech Brands of the Industry?

Bootstrapping the business right from a minimal viable online product to offering not just General and Life Insurance but also, complex products like Home and Business Insurance online, Probus Insurance has come a long way.

At Probus Insurance, we are leveraging Data-driven technologies to provide an enhanced user experience. We are working on AI-based voice and text assistant Chatbot and on a Recommendation Engine to improve the overall customer experience.

Often customers are not sure about the right cover and plan to opt. For which, we are investing in our product development that would handheld customers in choosing the right plan with the right cover. This feature will be driven by both Data and Expert’s advice to recommend and guide customers in opting the right cover and plan for them.

The pillars on which our brand stands out today is our team of experts, speedy online support facility, handheld claim support, and customer-centric product development. We ensure that our customers get active support even after post-sales.

We help customers who earlier had ended up buying the wrong product or who may need expert’s advice on active policies to meet their ever-changing demands. To help such customers, Probus Insurance has implemented customized systems for auditing and analyzing existing Insurance portfolios of the clients.

What are your Future Plans?

At Probus Insurance, we are channelling our efforts to embrace the latest technology and digitization to expand our product portfolio so that we bring niche customized solutions directly in the hands of customers. Probus Insurance has recently launched online insurance solutions for Home and Business Insurance.

Although these are now available only to POS on both website and Android app, it will be soon available directly to the end customers. Likewise, we are working on launching products like Fire, Marine, Workmen Compensation (WC) Policy, and Personal Accident Cover (PA) on our online platform.

We have taken initiatives on one-click renewal process for motor insurance. With this service, instant motor policy renewal will be possible just by uploading the previous year’s policy.

Furthermore, our Digital team is gearing up for institutional sales, SEO and digital marketing for B2C, and enhancing the user experience on our Android App.

In India, the percentage of people managing and buying their insurance policies online is still quite low, how do you plan to grab this market segment?

For now, Probus Insurance has unlocked the doors of their platform to POS and has increased the reach of Life and General Insurance in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India.

Also, looking at Indian mobile data users, the consumption is 8.3 gigabits (GB) of data each month. On an average Indian internet, a user spends 17 hours a week on social media platforms. And India is expected to see the growth in internet users by 40% to around 800 million by 2023.

In this rapidly growing market, new-age consumers (Millennials) now seek customized products and pricing with superior services. Probus Insurance is focusing on providing solutions to the needs of these new-age consumers (Millennials), the next millions of users in India.

Today, we don’t just need to bring awareness, but also, handheld the customers in providing the right solutions. Probus Insurance is putting efforts to bring such solutions with superior customer experience.

We have taken initiatives by providing Home and Business Insurance solutions online, which will help people to quickly get back on their feet in case of loss and damages caused to their home, business premise or shop due to floods, cyclones, or by other such natural calamities.

We need to make today’s customers aware that solutions are available with ease and on fingertips.