Janashakthi Life sales force excels, 8 qualify for MDRT in US

Thursday, 29 January 2015 00:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Janashakthi Insurance has constantly propelled its sales staff along the path to career success and as the company celebrates 20 years of leadership in the insurance sector, eight members from its Life Insurance team have qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table in the US. Prominent among this group of individuals is Ruwan Kumara who has worked at Janashakthi for 18 years and has qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) an impressive 10 consecutive times, earning himself lifetime membership. Not only was he the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the MDRT ten times, he was also the first Janashakthi employee to ever qualify for the MDRT USA Club.

However, looking back Ruwan said that he faced many challenges entering the insurance industry. The biggest challenge he faced was introducing the concept of insurance to a great number of people who did not properly understand its importance. Kumara hails from Hatton, an area where few people wanted to sign up for insurance policies at the time he started his insurance career. Rather than being discouraged, Kumara worked hard to educate and persuade people from his hometown about the importance of having an insurance policy. It was an uphill battle – Kumara’s father, a farmer, wanted him to follow in his footsteps. Yet Kumara persevered even in trying circumstances. Working hard, he persuaded many of the people in his area of the need for insurance. Janashakthi supported him in this endeavour and rewarded him for his hard work. Over the years, Kumara was able to purchase a bike, a car, a new home and an office for himself. “I would like to thank Janashakthi for providing me with the support I needed to achieve my dreams. Janashakthi has so many superior products which really made it easy to achieve the target I needed. Attending the MDRT forum is also a valuable experience as I am able to represent Sri Lanka and share experiences and learn from other professionals. I’ve been to US eight times now,” Kumara said. Janashakthi also supports up and coming employees, giving them the chance to shine. Manel Rajapakse from Wellawaya qualified to attend the MDRT summit last year in a remarkably short space of time, achieving the MDRT annual target within nine months. She attributes this to Janashakthi’s superior training programs. Rajapakse said she felt the drive to succeed, watching colleagues qualify for the MDRT. Like Ruwan, she too worked with people in her area, and counts a wide range of people from policemen to teachers as her customers. “Janashakthi has brought me to the highest level in my career and I’d really like to thank the company for that,” she said. Other than Kumara and Rajapakse another six members of the Janashakthi life sales force, S. Theepa, R. Rabithvajan and V. Pirabaharan from Jaffna, Amila Harshana and M.A.S.T. Prasanna from Head office – Life, and S. Pradeep Jayawardane from Maharagama will be attending the MDRT summit, in Louisiana, US this year. At the event, they will meet international sales heroes from across the globe. Of the eight qualifiers, three are from Jaffna, three from Colombo, one from Hatton and one from Monaragala, which showcases Janashakthi’s vision to provide equal opportunities for their sales force across the island. Janashakthi consistently recognises the importance of its employees, investing Rs. 50 million on training and development each year. Recently, the company won a coveted Silver Award at the SLITAD People’s Development Awards in recognition of this. The company also conducts an internal Million Dollar Round Table Winning Club which ensures that high earners receive specialised training in sales, professionalism, sharing best practises and providing exposure in international forums in order to groom them to be highflyers in the industry.