Sales is Not a Process

It’s amazing how many sales processes exist, are in development and have been rested on the dusty shelves of marketing departments and sales managers throughout the world. 

A Process, defined as ‘a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end’, is usually developed in order to ensure consistent outcomes, consistently. As we want consistent (successful) outcomes from our sales activity, on the face of it, it does seem correct to describe the series of sales activities as a process, but is sales really a structured repeatable process? 

What is actually going on whilst a supplier and a buyer are considering doing business with one another? Behavior is key (it usually is). Would you describe a typical characteristic of a successful salesperson as being ‘process driven’? Would a successful salesperson describe themselves as being ‘process driven? Do they even need processes to deliver the sale? 

Successful salespersons are typically very self-motivated, intuitive and socially outgoing. Does this sound like somebody who needs a process to achieve? 

The fact is, it is the organization that needs the process in order to ‘monitor and control’. Nobody likes to be controlled, particularly not salespeople (I speak from personnel experience here!) 

Maybe we should change that word to ‘support’. 

The organization needs the process in order to ‘support’, to know when to provide resources or information or to plan for supply. This feels better and is actually what the salesperson needs and wants. 

Nic Hallett of Excel Communications recently uses these analogies to illustrate the point. 

Analogy 1. You plan to drive from London to Paris. The night before you have printed off the route from Google Maps. You start your journey. 25 miles in you hit a diversion, one which is not signed very well!!...what happens? 

You probably get lost, lose time, get stressed, and lose control.

Analogy 2. You plan to drive from London to Paris. Before you start your journey you enter your destination into your GPS. 25 miles in you hit a badly signed diversion. What happens? 

The GPS system adjusts. It offers alternative routes. It updates the ETA. You can inform the person who is meeting you at the end of your journey about the delay. The system is supporting you to achieve your goal. You could say that it is intuitive. 

Salespersons and their organization as well as their client’s need a framework which keeps everybody informed about what is going on and what will happen next. Nothing more and nothing less. 

A goal driven selling framework always works better than an activity driven sales process. There are milestones and directions but enough flexibility to allow for detours and break downs along the way. 

Support your sales teams to do what they are good at, and they enjoy. Using their intuition, listening to their clients, adjusting as necessary, thinking on their feet, developing relationships whilst keeping one eye firmly on the goal. 

There are many roads to Rome….some may take longer than others, but enjoying the journey is as motivational as reaching the destination. 

Don’t stifle your sales people. 

Selling is Not a process but it Is a journey.