‘The faculty at ASM helped me learn the intricacies of management’

Aman completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from ASM (2010-12). He says Target Integration provides web based business management applications. In a candid interview, Aman talks about his job profile, the lessons he learned at ASM, his advice to freshers, and more. Edited excerpts:

Please tell us a bit about your current work profile?

We are a CRM-ERP (Customer Relationship Management- Enterprises Resource Planning) software implementation company. We implement software such as Zoho and Vtiger for companies like the OLX Group Company, HCL Technologies, Sony Corporation and Zomato. We have roughly ten thousand customers in India with a growth rate of 700 customers per year. We have branches in four nations namely USA, Ireland, England and India. In India, we operate in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai.

What’s a typical day like in your office?

Well, it is a very long day.  I spent almost 14-15 hours in front of my laptop at the office. My role is more of a person who is getting queries from the team members and giving them direction regarding their work. If it requires then at times I also talk to customers. It is more of team management and man management work that I do.

What was the inspiration behind choosing this field of work?

I think the inspiration came during the childhood years. My mother, Mrs. Usha Thakral, was responsible for making me understand the responsibility and ownership I should have towards my life. She gave me the right direction in life but it was my eldest brother Mr. Rohit Thakral (CEO of the Target Integration). It is because of these two people that I am where I am in my life.  I think family plays a very crucial role in life and I have good role models in my personal life who have pushed me to be where I am today.

Please tell us some of your best memories from the ASM campus?

I have so many beautiful memories from the ASM campus. I came from a government Boys school and then an engineering college. So, the moment I got into ASM, I realised that it was now the time to relax and enjoy. Of course I was always serious about the course and my life but things look more colourful in MBA when compared to school-life and engineering college days. At ASM, I was heading the marketing club as well as the IT club, I participated in numerous dance shows and I was also the second runner up in Mr. Fresher event. I think, if I ever get the chance to go back in life, I would love to relive those two years of my time pursuing MBA at ASM.

How did ASM help you in pursuing your passion in life?

ASM was able to bring in a lot of clarity in terms of what I was supposed to do. I was an engineer and came from a computer background. One in such a case moves towards an IT company but when I joined the MBA course at ASM, I realized that there is so much more than I can do. I do a lot of man-management now as a part of my work, I learned all this at ASM. 

The faculty at ASM helped me learn the intricacies of management.  Ms. Shweta Jha, my college professor, taught us organisational behaviour, need-hierarchy and conflict- management. Prof Chirag Malik taught us how one should manage the sales team. Prof Jyoti taught us business communication, in which she had also taught us the art of writing good business emails. I remember that, in one of the bigger deals that I had achieved at work was because of the fact that the customer loved the way I had written the email. I followed the email structure Prof Jyoti had taught during ASM days. Mr. Etinder Pal Singh (he is still teaching in the college) taught us marketing while Ms. Priya Gupta taught us accounting. Then we had Ms. Chhaya Wadhwa, Ms. Monica, all these professors were very kind and generous.

I still remember their names and lessons. I do not remember the names of all my professors from the engineering college because in ASM the entire faculty was so kind and true to their work. They invested a lot of time on us and we got a lot of clarity about many concepts. Without a doubt ASM is responsible for where I am today.

What are some of your future targets?

I am planning to expand the company. I wish to reach 10 countries within the next half of a decade. I have the intention for the staff to grow from 250 to at least 500 people. We have the ambition to be the one stop shop for CRM-ERP sales and implementation.

Your advice to freshers.

I would just say follow your heart and trust your strengths. If you follow your heart, everything will fall into place. Trust your gut. You may fall, but so what everyone falls. There’s no one formula of success but if you keep doing what you believe in and be a self-critic then you will surely figure out your own way.