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ynamic nature of the economy. Prudential is one such company which focuses on all the customer segments at various stages of their life cycle unlike Zurich Life Singapore which mostly caters to high net worth individuals. Prudential has a set of products which are based on the needs of its customers such as Protect and Save segment caters to the risk averse customers and Invest segment caters to the investment needs of its customers. How does the insurer get there?

To achieve targets, insurers should evaluate the opportunities in each market segment, current marketing channels, and the marketing mix. Additionally, metrics can be used to measure profitability from the customer and the insurer's point of view. Lastly, the insurer should adopt strategies to change the organizational culture by training its employees to be not just product centric but also customer-centric.

Market Segment: To evaluate the available value opportunities, the insurer creates a profit tree, highlighting the profitable branches. The tree also helps in understanding the bottlenecks in achieving the desired objectives. The insurer focuses on the various customer segments to promote its products and services tailored to the needs of the customer segment.

For example, an available value opportunity for the insurer in Singapore is to target the aging customer segment. The insurer should focus on the retirement plans for the aging population along with personalized customer management services such that the aging customer recommends the insurer to his family and friends. The insurer's long term strategy should be such that its customers become the seller thereby reducing the new customer acquisition cost.

Marketing Mix: Today, the average insurer has evolved from the traditional product based company to a service based industry and to improve profitability the focus needs to be on improving the experience of the customer at various stages of the customer's life-cycle using the desired touch-points.

As such, advertisements need to be strategically placed, brochures be informative and carry no hidden clauses, and products should be easily available through multiple channels such as online, financial advisors, brokers etc. [39]

Several insurers have also launched loyalty programs to acquire and retain customers. Based on our discussion with a senior representative from a leading European insurer in Singapore, the insurer provides bonuses to its policy holders who are registered with them for a particular product for a particular period of time. This has helped the insurer in retaining customers and improving the share of the wallet for the company.

Insurers can also use database marketing programs to improve the response rate from their marketing campaigns. Insurers can apply statistical models and scoring methods to identify and target profitable customers. These models can also be used to cross sell different products based on the customer's past buying patterns.[40]

Customer Focussed Metrics: Customer focussed metrics evaluate the product and service value to the users and include measures such as awareness, association, attitude, trial/usage, loyalty, and word of mouth referrals. These metrics should be given importance as they could lead to higher profitability. For example, before selecting between mass marketing and target mailing an insurer can