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Just for fun, I tried the phrase “sales process” in Wikipedia. I’m a big fan of Wikipedia (as you may have noticed) but while this entry was tightly and distinctly written, it felt so constricting. It’s no wonder that sales professionals and producing leaders have a love/hate relationship with the words - and implementation of - “sales process”.

If I’ve learned anything about professionals, it’s that people don’t like to feel constricted, trapped or mapped. They don’t like to feel that they must trod the exact steps of the guy or gal beside them to do the same numbers and to create the same relationships. In all of the “process” there has to be room for the “real” person to emerge or else that “real” person will eventually either come to deeply resent the process and leave sales, or clients won’t buy in because it doesn’t feel “real”.

Process isn’t the enemy. Only bad process.

Tiger is a great example of unique top performers with consistent process (see my previous posts).  All great athletes respect process- it’s their playbook!   Without it they would not have a baseline on which to innovate or a shared platform of words and behaviors with their team mates.

Have you ever watched the show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/whoseline/index.jsp). Those guys are brilliant. The audience experiences their work as spontaneous, unique-to-the-moment and full of personality engaging with the audience. Which it is.  Looks like there is no structure.

But don’t be fooled.

Great improvising also has a process, a set of rules that doesn’t restrict but allows players to roll action forward in fluid, split second reaction and timing. In his book Blink, author Malcolm Gladwell studies some of the process, discipline and practice of great improve troops and reveals that consistently great improvisational comedy stands on a firm foundation. There are rules that great improv artists practice interactively. Playing by these rules is what makes them great over and above pure talent.

Process is how to power yourself from good to great, from medium performer to top performer. Top performers have a process. But just like improv comics or Tiger Woods, you just don’t get that sense when you observe them or interact with them, because the process melds seamlessly with their “real” self.

Evaluate your process. Does it let you breath? Does it allow for your unique personality style? Does it enhance and support your strengths? Does it let you be more confident and certain in your strides without forcing you to take the already-trodden path?

Make it real. Make it yours. That’s one of the secrets to making it work.

Next post…the clients’ POV. How they experience process from their providers.