To reach a client base of 5000 clients, Ramakant Mahawar of Kolkata has worked hard. Pallabika Ganguly tells you the story of how Ramakant has become one of the most successful IFAs in the East.
Ramakant Mahawar, a Kolkata based IFA wanted to be an entrepreneur from his college days. After completing his graduation in cost accountancy 1988 he did not join his family business but started scouting for some job which would also help him develop his entrepreneur skills. “During that time I came across an LIC advertisement for agents. I went for the interview and got selected,” Ramakant recalls.
From there began his journey. “During my early days of my business, I managed to create a small office in the same compound from where my family business used to be operated,” says Ramakant.
In the beginning, he was given a target of 12 clients a year. He immediately approached his friends and relatives and was able to get 14 clients. He found the job very interesting and therefore set a target of doubling the client count every year for himself.
It was easy to set a target but difficult to achieve. In the first year itself, he had covered all his family and friends. It became difficult to get clients in the second and third year. He then decided to do cold calling around his office area to expand his clientele. He used to approach people saying, “I am from LIC. I have some schemes to show you for risk coverage. Are you interested in taking a look?”
Most of them turned him down and were not ready to listen. Moreover, he found this technique was not yielding any result. He then thought of approaching his old clients for referrals. All his existing clients were eager to help him out with more clients. This clicked and helped him build a client base of 100 clients in five years.
His marketing punch line is – ‘Take life insurance first; other things can wait’. He has also printed it in his calendar and other stationery.
While he was selling insurance he noticed that some of his clients were interested in investing in mutual funds. “During 1988-89, Unit Scheme 64 was very popular as it was paying good dividends year after year. Since I was getting queries for mutual funds, I went ahead and took an agency for UTI,” he remembers.
In a span of three years, Ramakant was selling a basket of financial products and not just insurance and mutual funds.
Ramakant believes in doing proper needs assessment of his clients before recommending any investments. New clients have to fill up a questionnaire which would give some insights to their background and financial conditions. Ramakant says, “I never blindly suggest schemes to my clients. I always ask a few questions. This helps me to know my clients better and segregate them into different categories.”
In fact, it was his advisory approach that gave him the confidence to charge his clients a fee after the entry load ban.
He has been able to garner an AUM of Rs 20 crore and has a client base of 5000. He says, “My growth depends on how much work I have done for my clients. I should be able to cater to the needs of my clients.”
After the new SEBI concept paper which proposes that distributors will have to opt for being either an agent or an advisor, Ramakant sees himself as an advisor and plans to grow in this profession. “I liked SEBI’s new idea as I believe that one has to be clear in his mind on what he/she wants to be?”