Who do you plan for ?

Its been 2 days over an year since i have written last on my Blog. Before i move on to write I would like to thank my team (now my ex-team) and friends for pushing me to start writing again and so here i begin next stint to blogging with a commitment to write once every week.

After more than 8 years into sales and BD, I've moved out of sales. A lot of people keep asking me if i feel a difference, if I long for sales etc., my answer is Yes and No. 

Yes because i do miss out the daily action (and that month/Quarter sales closing frenzy).

No because selling is a part of everyday life ( does that sounds cliche ? yes it does but that's a fact). In my previous jobs i've been selling in 2 ways

a) To customers directly

b) To my internal Team members.

When it comes to selling customers there's a lot of planning that happens everywhere, however, I've hardly seen anybody planning their internal selling in the same manner. Vineet Singh (Business Head, www.99Acres.com and www.naukrigulf.com)being a strong exception to this, who i think has mastered this art and a lot that i've learned about managing big teams has come from his people management skills.

Around 2 years back Will Burns asked a question on linkedin about the team dynamics.

Question: What different skills are needed for managing small teams as opposed to large ones?

Are the skills different or are they fundamentally the same? Do you just need to demonstrate the same skills on a larger scale? And are the two skillsets suited to different types of managers?

In response to this i wore the following answer and Will was kind enought to mark it as Best Answer. 

The answer to this question lies in observing the relatioship dynamics amongst a small team and a bigger team. The biggest of the differences between a small and a big team are 

1) Smaller teams are closely monitored and therefore have stronger emotional bondage. In larger teams the team leader isn't that accessible (or doesn't have enough time for all team members) and therefore the emtional attachment is usually absent. 

2) Dependability on the resources is much higher and therefore they feel responsible and important in the organisation. Whereas in a larger team every member has a back-up and therefore one feels less important and detached from the organisation and team. 

Now, emotional attachment is a double-edged sword and in certain situation managers are in a better position to take decisions if they don't have such a pressure on them. On positive side, emotional attachment with the team helps you handle issues in a much smoother way. 

In my opinion, the skills needed while handling a smaller team are 

a) Maintaining appropriate distance from each member so that you are not too close to one of the team members. In small teams every team member understands his/her importance in the system and if you are emotionaly close to them they might try to take undue advantage of this by influencing your decisions. 

b) You have to ensure that your dependability on 1 member isn't too high to affect your business decisions. There is no back up available for key people in smaller teams and therefore too much of dependability on certain people puts pressure on you. 

On the other hand in case of handling a large team, things actually take a U-turn. 

a) You need to make sure that you develop an emotional bond with most of the team members (as they find themselves as a very small entity in the system) to make them feel important. 

b) Unlike small teams, here you need to increase dependence on certain bright people so that you develop a clear succession plan amongst the big team. You make everybody realise who's going to be whose boss in next 1-2 years, this helps you handle a big team with the help of some reliable people. Others can be handled because of emotional involvement. 

However, this is my practical approach to team handling which i've developed after 6 years of team management, handling teams ranging from 2 - 40 people, and for me it has always worked. I think people...before i think of bigger concepts like prioritisation, delegation, leadership etc. 

I hope my experience may be of some help to your guys !

Looking at it after 2 years the answer seems to be much more relevant to me now and dependable as well. What i mentioned in this answer is actually the planning for your sales team. In the managerial capacity, in sales, I've observed that most of the superstar sales performers who fail to deliver as a Sales manager are a victim of complete lack of understanding of how to plan sales internally. Some fail when their teams grow in size and (after they've understood the dynamics of managing a small team) all of a sudden everything looks unmanageable. For a lot of managers a team remains a team, they wouldn't classify it as a small, medium, large team and hence never have a different approach to the problems.

If you can manage your sales team well, the sales will be on track on its own. In fact, a well managed team can throw some (nice) surprises to you as a gesture.

Start Selling Internally ! 

Be Glorious !