Collaborative approaches to increasing sales amid the pandemic: Proposing a multi-dimensional framework for Sun Life’s sales units

• Main Author: Dayag-Redulla, Mary Jean J.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Selling—Insurance—Philippines; Insurance companies—Philippines—Automation
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_manorg/80
• Institution: De La Salle University

In 2020, Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. (“Sun Life”) suddenly found itself dislodged from its long-standing perch as first-in-rank in one of life insurance industry’s key categories: Number of New Business Generated. This category measures the new life insurance policies taken out by Sun Life’s so-called foot soldiers—the insurance Agents or Advisors—and thus encapsulates how much of the proverbial life blood is infused into Sun Life. The consensus blamed the abrupt shift to digitization (i.e. mandating the use of software and electronic application for client engagements and new application submissions) coupled with an unchanged annual sales target and pandemic-caused quarantine and distancing protocols. This paper sought to propose various frameworks, including Coghlan and Brannick’s (2014) Action Research Cycle framework, frameworks based on the different types of inquiry, and the quantitative and qualitative-centric operations framework, in terms of their collaborative effectivity in increasing the sales performances of Sun Life’s Agents or Advisors. In testing and implementing the frameworks, the Action Researcher secured the cooperation and support of Sun Life’s Unit Manager for the Sales Unit, Red Amethyst, and two other veteran insurance Agents from the same Unit. The first cycle delved on understanding the challenges and issues faced by the insurance Agents, communicating and executing the proposed tools under the different frameworks, and evaluating the results. The part-time nature of the insurance Agents’ involvement with Sun Life affected the collection of quantifiable data, although the results for the first cycle showed marked improvement in their sales performance. This limitation was factored in for the second cycle, which while slightly modifying the tools used in the first cycle, was meant nonetheless to improve on the latter’s results. The data results for the second cycle, however, reversed the gains of the first cycle, suggesting that additional cycles and frameworks might still be needed to comprehensively address the issue of increasing sales amid a pandemic backdrop. These evolution and improvements of cycles, as one succeeds the other, are integral to the success of any Action Research. By way of conclusion, the Action Researcher recommends the continuation of the use of the tools under the frameworks in both the first and second cycles, albeit strongly suggesting the inclusion of two other frameworks that would take into account the psychological or mental aspect of the affected insurance Agents and the perspectives or policy-direction from top management.