Kathmandu. Purnakala Sharma is a woman who made her mark in the insurance sector by facing various obstacles and obstacles in search of opportunities. Now Purnakala is firmly entrenched in the insurance sector. She is an agent by profession. Purnakala, who believes that she should do something for herself and not live on the support of others, is currently working as an agency manager at Citizen Life’s Kushma branch. She has now succeeded in making her mark in the insurance sector as a courageous woman.
Purnakala is now busy selling insurance policies as an agent and spreading insurance awareness. More than selling insurance policies, she feels that insurance education should reach everyone and everyone should understand insurance.
Purnakala was born in 2044 BS in Kurgha, Falebas Municipality-10, Parbat. Her workplace is in Mahashila Rural Municipality-5 of Parbat. Purnakala, who spent her childhood in a normal family, has studied up to Plus Two. Purnakala says that she spent her childhood helping her parents by doing housework in the morning and evening.
Purnakala, who has been facing various obstacles, worked as a teacher in Balakota in 2070 BS. After that, she also worked in an NGO. While working in an NGO, she met the Branch Manager (BM) of National Life. During that time, the BM asked her to work as an agent. At that time, Purnakala wondered what it would be like to work in insurance, and she started working as an agent in National Life in 2072-73 BS. There, she managed to insure only a small amount of her relatives.
After that, Purnakala thought of running a fancy shop and opened one. Dipendra Sharma Lamsal, the Dhaulagiri branch manager of Citizen Life, is her relative. While running the same shop, Lamsal also offered her to work as an insurance agent. Then she also met Sunil Pokharel, the current CBAO of Citizen Life. And they informed Purnakala about Citizen Life’s policies and everything else.
Purnakala, who already had knowledge of general insurance, said to Lamsal and Pokharel, “You can do insurance by running a shop and share insurance knowledge. This profession is a good and virtuous profession.” Purnakala said, “Yes, I will.” Purnakala liked Citizen Life’s policies and the special features of the policies more than National. She started working with Citizen Life in February 2074 with the aim of selling customer-oriented policies.
After joining Citizen Life, Purnakala insured the housewife she was living with. ‘I initially did not accept the insurance offer when I offered it to the housewife, but later when I told her that our company is good and that we have brand ambassadors, artists Madan Krishna Shrestha and Harivansh Acharya, the housewife agreed to take out an insurance policy of Rs 5 million,’ she said. ‘I then thought that the company’s team would also be comfortable with getting insurance. After that, it became easy for me to pay for the insurance. Later, the housewife decided to get her entire family insured. In the days that followed, I got more energy to work.’
Purnakala, who is very satisfied with this profession, said, ‘I already understood insurance in general. However, after joining Citizen, I got the opportunity to understand and explain insurance even more. It has been very good since I entered this profession. I have become financially strong and the future of the family I have insured is secure. I am happy with this. When I used to run a fancy shop, I used to get a margin of Rs 20, but now I have a good income from insurance. The more I work, the more money I get. When I look at the income from an insurance agent rather than the income from my shop, I am impressed by the agent profession.’
Purnakala has been able to pay a person’s claim. The insured she insured had a claim of Rs 1 million. ‘The company easily paid the claim and it was easy for me to get insurance too,’ she said, ‘That also made me feel that insurance is a very good profession. I felt that it could be a source of comfort in times of trouble.’ After paying the claim, Purnakala felt that the agent profession was a profession of pure social service.
After joining the agent profession, Purnakala’s life changed a lot. ‘After joining this profession, I got the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. That is why I got the opportunity to be active in the political and social sectors. Public relations increased. I learned who to talk to, how to behave with everyone,’ she says, ‘It was a bit awkward to talk to people at first, but now I can talk openly with everyone. This business has brought me immense success.’
Purnakala, who was financially weak before entering the agency profession, has become prosperous after entering this profession. She has started a business in Pokhara from this profession. She is also running the shop with her own employees.
Reminiscing about the past, Purnakala said, ‘My family’s financial situation was very weak. If I had not entered the agency profession, I would probably be shedding my blood and sweat in a foreign land right now. Today, this profession has created an environment for me to live in Nepal. I am very happy about it. The agent profession has become like a branch of a tree for me to lean on.’
Purnakala believes that insurance is much better for those who have nothing than for those who have nothing. ‘For those who have, money will be available even when things go wrong, but for those who have nothing, if you take out a small insurance policy, you will be a guardian in case of an emergency tomorrow. It provides relief. That is why insurance is very indispensable for people. Everyone should have insurance.’
Purnakala says that a successful insurance agent should have many qualities. ‘The agent profession is a profession of selling trust. Therefore, it is difficult to sell trust these days. This is also the reason why a person who joins this profession should be honest, dedicated to his profession, patient, hardworking, tolerant and able to pay the insurance premium,’ she said.
Purnakaala has met every target given by the company. She has received the Gold Club scheme and award 6 times in a row. She has also succeeded in becoming an MDRD. She has achieved various goals of the company and has had the opportunity to travel abroad and visit various places in Nepal. She said that the gift of all this success is Citizen Life. The company has provided various capacity building training to the agents from time to time. Expressing her gratitude to the company for this, she has committed to performing even better in the coming days.
