The Policybazaar Success Story with Jerry Bhutia on CNBC TV18

Excerpts from the interview: 

Q. Let me start from the very beginning. In 2008, you and two of your friends who were also your colleagues got together and thought that you want to bring insurance online in India. How did that idea come into being?  

A. It wasn't just the three of us. There were a lot of people involved. Initially, there were about 10-15 including the Co-founder. It goes way back to 2001 when some of us worked with Yashish in a company called E-Bookers which was an online European travel comparison portal. That is where we saw the power of comparison. Since insurance is a complex sector, we thought why not make insurance the hero of the new venture that we are planning to start. At that time, we were obviously young and driven. We wanted to make a difference in people's life. We were very passionate about what we were setting up. As a result, everything else in our life took a backseat and that is how we started our journey. When we started off, our monthly salary, perks of working in a plush office and normal nine to six routine- all went for a toss. 

Q. But why insurance at that point in time? It was a time when customers really looked at the insurance sector with a little bit of disdain. There was rampant mis-selling, lack of transparency, and lack of information for the consumer. 

A. Everyone loves simplicity and the idea of Policybazar is quite simple. Back in 2008, there were about 12 to 15 general insurance companies and another 15 life insurance companies. There were about 150 to 200 insurance products for a consumer to choose from. How do you choose the right product? All we did was creating a comparison or a chart. We simplified the fine prints and made it easy for the customers to understand.  

Q. You started out with a handful of people. Today, you're a family of over 13,000 employees. How do you really align all of these 13,000 employees to a common goal of Policybazaar? How challenging has this scale-up journey really been? 

A. When you look at the last sales organization, the biggest challenge industry-wide is hiring, retention, and leadership. We were very clear when we started off. We wanted to ensure we empower our people. Just to let you know we have the lowest attrition rate in a management team. There are certain things which are quite sacrosanct for me. These are discipline, ownership integrity, and drive to do well. These are traits that I look forward to when we hire people. 

Q. Tell us a little bit about the big innovations that policy Bazaar has been able to bring in terms of operations, managing the whole scale that we just talked about. 

A. If you talk about the operation, there is no one innovation. It is a serial of innovation that happens every day, month, and year. I would like to point out one idea about team leaders to trainers approach. Insurance is complex and technical and on the other hand, you need great convincing skills to sell. Our team leaders had the latter part and we had to put them to rigorous training to make an expert in product. In the end result, we had expertise and sales. These are the qualities that are required to train and drive your people.
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Q. How big is India’s opportunity in the online insurance space? The market has expanded since you all started out. We've seen the whole internet revolution. We have a smartphone revolution. The median ages are touching 29 years in India next year which is possibly the youngest that we've seen across many generations now. So, how big is the India opportunity for Policybazaar? 

A. If I look at it is humongous. India is under-penetrated for insurance. It's about five percent of the entire GDP, so there's a humongous opportunity. Like you are saying that with the Internet coming in, I see in the long run, and in the future in a few years, it's going to be a huge opportunity for everyone.

Q. Going forward, what is the strategy that you are charting for Policybazaar? What is your vision for the company in the long term? 

A. When I look at it operationally, there are certain things you can't go beyond. For example, I just can't keep adding people. The next step would be supporting the workforce that I have with technology. We are working a lot on Artificial Intelligence to help improve efficiency, identifying those customers who are willing to buy, identifying customers who have queries, and then supporting them accordingly. I think that is the next stage which is supporting the workforce with technology.

Q. You mentioned earlier that your attrition rate is pretty low. How do you ensure that? What is the people's culture that you've built at Policybazaar?

A. It's been over 11 years and I still love waking up to go to work. It's always busy but we have fun and we also have our own share of stress. However, at the end of it, when you see what you've achieved and the difference that you've made in people's lives, it's all worth it. I think our employees do understand that. Especially with the product like insurance which really comes in handy when you need it the most. The feeling that you are doing something really good for the people is what drives to be.

Q. As co-founders do you all worry about the numbers and profitability quarter-on-quarter?

A. We worry about the numbers but knowing Yashish and it all flows from the top, what he is really worried about is that whether he is changing lives? Is he making a difference? Is he helping people? 

Q. Insurance in India or in most emerging markets is also a function of awareness most of the time. Are there significant efforts that Policybazaar puts into spreading financial awareness of insurance? 

A. We have a lot of programs. We have a lot of coverage in the print media and a lot of TV programs where we talk about the need to be protected against unforeseen circumstances through insurance, the new products in the market, and their benefits. Even the insurance companies are putting a lot of effort into this. Social media is quite catching up with almost everyone. People are more aware and therefore, it helps us that way. 

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