Till now I have been writing posts purely on Investment and Financial services. This post although concerned with the Financial services industry is a little different in nature. However with the incidents I have been witnessing on a regular basis since the last 9 years, just prompted express my views through this post.
I have been selling Mutual Funds and Insurance from the last almost 9 years and Banks have been a prominent channel for my dealings. It is a well known fact that Banks are one of the strongest distribution networks for sales of Financial Products. Their reach and advisory capability is well admired and therefore a big chunk of sales for Mutual Funds and Insurance happens through Banks.
The only sad part of this entire process I feel is the insensitivity of Bankers towards the Team members of Insurance and Mutual Fund companies. I agree to the fact that being a big channel generating huge sale Bank's have all the right to demand best of the services for their customers. And MF & Insurance companies take utmost care to provide their best services to the Bankers and their customers. Being manufacturers (Mutual Funds and Insurers) of products they need to ensure that their distribution channels and customer are well taken care off. But often I come across incidents where I see Team members of the manufacturers often belittled by the Bankers. At times it just looks like somebody in the bank is always waiting to belittle a team member from the manufacturer side.
It would be trivial to detail the reasons and go into the micro aspects. However it looks very sad when I see a banker shouting, belittling, misbehaving with a person employed with a Mutual Fund or Insurer. Reason could be trivial enough to be conveniently ignored still at times they are blown to the hilt. Mails are sent from Branches to National Heads and CEO's of the manufacturer side just to show the unnecessary importance and muscle. In this whole process many a times the junior and middle management team members are taken to the task and many times without their mistake.
A lot of times I have seen that instead of finding a solution a blame game starts without a reason. "Your services are poor", "We sell for you and you just enjoy the ready made stuff", "You are good for nothing", "Give me your CEO's mail ID and number", "We at Bank can do this .....that and you cant accommodate such a small request", "Your team doesn't work, change the people at our branch", "Your team member didn't come for the last one week", "Your person didn't come when I called him, what a slow service", "Go sit on the front desk and try convincing customers on your own...", "Don't expect any support from my side.....", "Don't try to teach me ....." ........................................The list of reasons is endless.
My view is simple on this. Bank's, MF's and Insurance are organizations. Bank's are huge as they play the role of Manufacturers and distributors whereas MF's and Insurers are purely manufacturers. Issues are bound to exist in organizations as all of us are humans, at times we tend to make mistakes and at times we may have difference of opinions or at times we may have various commitments wherein we may not be able to keep everybody happy.
Given these facts not every person employed in a Bank is rude, harsh and belittles the people from MF's and Insurance. But whosoever does it needs to understand that the person on the other side is also a human being just doing his job and also carries a self respect. Many a times he / she may not be able to retort or reply to the banker for the sheer fact that bank sells his product. He/she can also make mistakes. Agreed that it is not always the Banker who is wrong. The other side may also be wrong. But adopting a rude harsh behavior or belittling somebody just doesn't solve the purpose. The best approach lies in solving the problem rather than making an issue out of it.
My objective of writing this post is not to blame the Bankers. I have several good friends working in Banks and in my small career I have seen many good and excellent people working in Banks. Many of them have always stood by me and my team and supported us in a big manner to complete the sales targets and resolve issues. With many of them my relationship goes beyond the professional gamut and they are very good friends. I again repeat not all bankers are rude and insensitive. But a chunk of people I have seen in Banks are like that. Through this article I do not intend to show myself as a super human or a saint or a preacher. I am just a human being and through this post I intend to express my views for those insensitive people in Banks that please look at finding solutions rather than playing blame games and belittling and insulting people employed with MF's and Insurers. As a human being you will feel happier by adopting a soft and solution oriented approach. This is essential to take business and relationship to the next level.
