By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
Jung Sung-rak, a financial planner of Korea Life Insurance, invited his customers to a very special concert last Friday. It was a concert of Jung himself, a former member of the prestigious Graz Opera in Austria.
Jung is a very successful insurance salesperson who joined the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), an organization of top 1 percent insurance salespeople around the world.
Even Jung himself didn't expect he would be so successful in insurance industry as his past career had nothing to do with insurance.
Majoring in vocal music at Presbyterian College, he went to Germany to study further at the national university in Leipzig. He was more than happy to study there which is also known as the city of Bach, but things were very difficult financially. His wife supported him working, and he also had to make money as a tour guide or interpreter.
He even had to send his baby son to his parents in Korea right after birth as the couple was hit by the Asian financial crisis. ``The financial burden was so huge that I sometimes wanted to give up. But I made it through thanks to my dream, passion and family,'' Jung said.
After completing his study, he worked as a music director for Brooklyn Conservatory and a church in New York. He joined Graz Opera in 2003 and had his heyday as an opera singer, but decided to come back to Korea to take care of sick parents.
He worked as a professor at a music academy of a church, but found the classical music segregated from ordinary people here. The expensive tickets for concerts were not affordable for many.
He decided to switch career and joined the Korea Life Insurance in September last year. It was not easy for Jung who dedicated whole his life to classical music and stage. Jung tried to build up trust between customers and himself, and it worked. He made a considerable progress, finally reaching the MDRT. Jung said his good manners and voice as a former baritone singer seem to give good impressions on customers.
He invited around 400 customers, singing refined classical music and providing explanations.
Jung said he had dreamed of holding a concert for customers from the time he started insurance career. The dream came true earlier than he has expected. For this first solo concert of his own in Korea, he practiced pieces by Schubert, Mozart and Bizet while driving. He said the concert is a cultural marketing for his customers.
``Do you know that Lucciano Pavarotti once worked as insurance salesperson for living? He later became the best vocal singer. Then maybe I should be the best financial planner,'' Jung said.