GANPAT SATOSKAR

Pradip N Joshi a well-known name in most households of Goa is a story of determination, hard work, patience and success. Working as a LIC agent, he achieved the heights that most working professionals can only dream of. Working from a four storey plush corporate premises and driving a luxury SUV, this person can only make you envy him.
Born in a family of very humble background, Joshi’s father was a taxi driver. After doing his initial schooling in Saraswat Vidhyalaya, he joined St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary School on a scholarship for economically backward students. In a bid to support his family, Joshi used to also work as a part time accountant for shops in Mapusa market. While perusing his education in 12th he joined LIC as an agent and there was no looking back for him from thereon.
In the very first year of joining LIC, he became No. 1 agent of Mapusa branch followed by beingNo.1 in Goa the very next year and since then, for the last 29 years, he has been the No. 1 agent in Goa.
Joshi completed his B.Com from DMC College Mapusa and became a full time agent. First thing he did after that was he sold off his father’s taxi so that he never works again and enjoys a beautiful retired life. Today, Joshi operates from a four storey corporate office which is completely dedicated to the service of the customers, which was inaugurated by the chairman of LIC.
Year after year Joshi performed, breaking stereotypes and setting new benchmarks. “Systematic working style, dedication to the job, hard work and patience is the key to my successes,” says Joshi.
Joshi says that his customer base is from the GM of a company to a peon. “The key is to understand their needs andselling what is required by them according to their needs rather than selling what you want to,” reveals Joshi.
The fact that Joshi has over 30,000 policies from over 20,000 customers, all in force with zero lapsation, only reaffirms that. His customers list is huge which includes names like Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, businessman Dilip Salgaocar and many more.
After the privatisation in the insurance sector there were a lot of companies which entered the market,offering lucrative jobs and pay packages, but Joshi remained faithful with his organisation. “Trust your organisation and do your job with complete dedication. Don’t get involved in monkey jumps from one company to the other,” he says.
“Selling is a tough job; it requires complete knowledge of all the products, understanding the customer’s needs, hard work and above all patience. I have sold a Jeevan Anand policy worth Rs five crore after a follow-up of 10 years with nearly 300 to 400 telephonic calls and meetings,” recalls Joshi.
Reaching the top of the ladder is a challenge, but to maintain it year after year requires a huge amount of dedication and self-motivation to perform better every single day, says Joshi, who has qualified 29 times for MDRT, and is the only person from Goa to be the TOT which is the highest recognition in the world for the insurance industry. Last financial year Joshi ranked No. 5 in the whole country and No. 7 in terms of premium collected.
Joshi who just celebrated his 50th birthday is an idol for many people. A journey which started many years back is full of success stories. “My journey so far has been very satisfying.As a young boy,I had not even seen the whole of Goa but today I have visited 21 countries. I would want to thank Mrs Suchita Shinkre and MrRamchandra Shirsat my development officer and all my ex branch managers, marketing managers and senior divisional managers. A special thanks to my wife Varsha Joshi who kept me on my toes always, and the biggest thanks to the people of Goa and especially the people of Mapusa who have loved me and supported me always,” said Joshi.