From accountant to insurance salesperson
What you need to know:
- Her proudest accomplishments so far are founded on mentoring a number of career agents, unit managers, agency managers in the insurance industry, “and several successful businessmen and women who were once my agents”.
- “Over the years, the biggest lesson I have learnt is that sales is an art and anyone willing and passionate can do it,” she says.
When Annflorence Makanga resigned from her job as an accountant to sell insurance covers, it was mostly to support her husband, Bishop Francis K Njoroge, nurture the young ministry he had just started. Little did she know that making that decision would change the course of her career trajectory for the better.
Ms Makanga is now an agency manager at Kenya Orient Life Assurance Limited, a position she has held for the last 10 years.
She is also an Associate Insurance Institute of Kenya finalist with the College of Insurance.
Further, together with her husband of 20 years, they founded the Christ’s Assemblies Church.
“My childhood experience was quite the normal rural childhood. Born and raised as an eighth child in Laikipia County’s Ol Kalou, I attended Manyatta Primary School and later joined DN Handa Secondary School in Naivasha, Nakuru County. I then transitioned to Dima and Focus College for my CPA part 1 and 2,” starts the mother of two young adults.
“Venturing into the insurance industry after spending time studying accountancy in college came with some challenges as I felt guilty of letting my parents down. They had sacrificed a lot of their resources to see me through school. Luckily, they supported my change of career, which turned out to be very successful and I am glad to have taken this move which has seen me excel in so many aspects while at the same time enabling me to impact young people,” she says.
Now in her late forties, Ms Makanga seeks to demystify the stereotype that selling insurance covers is impossible, while also acknowledging that it requires diligence.
“Selling life insurance and pensions is not easy, but it is a possible business. All one needs is to be diligent, aggressive, and at the same time patient. Keep in mind that days are different.
Sometimes you will meet tonnes of clients while on other days you will (not be so lucky). All in all, keep pushing yourself for a better tomorrow and at the end of the day, your persistence and hard work will eventually pay off.”
Before joining Kenya Orient Life Assurance Limited as an agency manager in 2014, Ms Makanga worked at Jubilee Insurance from September 2006 as a financial planner before rising through the ranks to become a unit manager in 2010 and later an agency manager in 2013.
She also served for seven years at Unicover Insurance Brokers as an accounts assistant.
She also did a year as an accounts assistant at Courtyard Properties.
Her proudest accomplishments so far are founded on mentoring a number of career agents, unit managers, agency managers in the insurance industry, “and several successful businessmen and women who were once my agents”.
“Over the years, the biggest lesson I have learnt is that sales is an art and anyone willing and passionate can do it,” she says.
“If I were to take back the hands of time, I would embrace technology earlier in my line of work. Today, running a successful insurance business calls for one to be well-equipped with tech knowledge. The analogue ways of running insurance businesses are gradually being phased out. The world is changing every day and young people, whom I work very closely with, prefer when work is done digitally,” she says.
The changing trends in the insurance world also form part of what keeps her awake at night.
“There are so many emerging issues in insurance yet the industry is not changing to accommodate them. For example, the question of whether deaths as a result of suicide or depression should be payable in case of loss of life from the onset of the policy. Also, should the waiting periods in medical cover for chronic diseases be waived since everything is changing, including the diets and lifestyles of the population we are insuring? There are just so many gaps that are emerging,” she quips thoughtfully.
On the kind of leader she is, she says she is affiliative leader, a policy pegged on putting people first.
“My leadership approach relies on flexibility, which allows me to promote team spirit instead of competitiveness among my team members. I heavily centre my leadership style on emotions and thus, I gauge my success as a leader on my emotional intelligence and feedback from my team members.”
For fun, she loves going out with her family and friends. During get-togethers, she also preaches.
Her future plans are to facilitate and engage in more financial training in churches and other institutions, and at the same time advance her mentorship programmes for young people and upcoming sales agents in the life insurance industry.
She urges young people to give the best of their ability in everything they put their minds to.
“During family and friends’ get togethers, we chat, make merry, and above all, reach out to them for salvation. These are the most fulfilling moments for me,” she notes enthusiastically.
