The Biggest Myth Around Following a Sales Process (and what strong forecasts have in common with Shakespearean theatre.)

I recently had a conversation with a salesperson at one of our prospect companies, and he said something that caught my attention.

He said, "Well, I follow a little bit of this sales process, and I follow a little bit of this selling system, but really each salesperson needs to, you know, find whatever works for them."

Not long after, I was in a discussion with other sales professionals and was asked "Jennica, how do you balance between having a sales process to follow and allowing the salespeople to really individualize their approach?"

And I had to wonder: Why are we assuming we need to individualize the sales process?

I understand that we're all terrified of sounding like script-bound telemarketers or used-car-lot salesmen circa 1976. But that fear has led to a misconception in the sales world that following a sales process is somehow dry, boring, or inauthentic, and that it will strip all personality out of the process.

As a result, "sales" is often a free-wheeling talent show with inconsistent results and fiction-filled forecasts.

To be fair, in too many companies, there is no consistent, replicable, scalable sales process for salespeople to follow. And so they have to do their own thing. But that shouldn't be the norm.

Because sales is a division of the enterprise with a goal, just like any other division with a goal: manufacturing; engineering; operations; sales.

Every other division has processes to ensure its goals are met, with rigorous accountability to ensure execution. Sales shouldn't get a "pass", or else the pipeline will be a mess of unqualified opportunities and the forecast will be full of fiction.

The sales division should have a consistent, replicable, scalable sales process to follow. This ensures salespeople know what to do and sales leaders know how to forecast results.

And here's the most important part: the sales process must be the process that works for the company -- not the salesperson.

The sales process must work for the company, because the right sales process feeds the forecast. How the salesperson feels about it is immaterial.

The sales process is the foundation of the sales forecast. What's happening next? Where is each opportunity in process? What's the likelihood of closing?

The likelihood of closure on the forecast is based on where the deal is in your sales process. How accurate is that at most companies? How often are you surprised by a deal that doesn't close?

The biggest complaint we hear from CFOs at prospect organizations is, "We can't trust our sales forecast." A simple, replicable, scalable sales process can fix that.

But there's this nefarious misconception floating around that if we establish a sales process, our salespeople won't have room to be "authentic".

Do not be afraid that it will somehow strip all the personality of your beautiful salespeople out of the whole sale. It won't.

Here's how I know it won't: theatre.

People pay a lot of money to see actors like Ian McKellen deliver Shakespeare's lines, which have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. When Ian McKellen is playing the same role again and again, night after night, he doesn't change the script -- he brings himself to the script. 

Following the sales process is like following a theatre script: you know your lines, you know your blocking, you know the plot, you know where it's going, and you know the other characters' likely next steps. When you memorize your lines, you internalize the blocking, you know the plot, you know where it's going, and you anticipate the other character's next moves, THEN you can bring your whole self to the role.

Salespeople can still bring their whole personality to the role. They can create an incredibly authentic delivery and still follow the plot as it's written -- the way the enterprise needs it to be written. And with practice, they can hone their skills to Globe-level delivery.

When they do, the enterprise will have a scalable, replicable way to consistently produce fiction-free forecasts -- and the prospect will experience an authentic human being in every encounter.

So please don't buy into the lie that if we follow a sales process, we'll strip all the authentic personality from our sales team.

Get a great sales process first -- one that works for your enterprise, because it will feed your forecast.

And then have your salespeople learn the steps of the process, the way incredible actors memorize their lines and the blocking and the role they're playing. When that's internalized, they'll be able to bring their whole selves to the role.

Your sales approach can still be absolutely authentic and natural, and feed an accurate forecast.

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