Process Management is one of the six core service offerings of netlogx. So, we naturally take pride in our ability to put Lean Six Sigma training we receive from our Master Black Belt colleagues into practice. After receiving that training, it’s striking to me how it influences the way you look at the activities of your life, both professional and personal. Suddenly, your mind seems to address every task through the lens of productivity and removing wasted time through unnecessary steps or re-work.
As an Outreach Consultant, much of my day is spent corresponding with potential clients, partners, players in the community, and my fellow team members. So, you may think that “process” is not very important to my everyday activities. However, I would argue that it is paramount to creating solid, trusted, long-term relationships that our Outreach Consultants are called to do.
Perhaps, more importantly, if you are not focused on the process in this role, you will likely become inclined to worry or even despair when those efforts to develop relationships do not create the ultimate result that you seek.
I tend to steer clear of calling my efforts “sales” because, usually, that term has a selfish connotation that suggests that I or netlogx are trying to entice a potential client to purchase services or products that they either don’t need or aren’t in their best interest. But at netlogx, we are focused on serving others, and the majority of this service is not tied to billable work to the client. Because of that, it would be easy for an Outreach Consultant who is not focused on serving the client first, to become disenchanted when they discover the client is not interested in buying services from them that day.
Since many business days during the year will not result in a contract or purchase order being executed, the Outreach Consultant must remain focused on the process of building a strong relationship and not on whether an order was secured.
The outreach process of serving the multiple internal and external stakeholders is continuously being reviewed, challenged, and updated, not only by myself as the Outreach Consultant, but also by the feedback received from those stakeholders and the internal netlogx team members. To have the greatest impact, create the strongest relationships, and be prepared to provide the right services from the right resources at the right time, the outreach process requires adherence to the process of planning, focus, and cadence.
To do that well, you must document, review, monitor, and follow up to ensure that you are producing the kind of results that you are seeking. It also requires a bit of humility to confess your mistakes or missteps in the process. By doing so, you can gain the support of the stakeholders to help you hone your craft.
Developing great relationships to fulfill the goals of your organization is, indeed, a process. It is essential that you discover how to maximize your productivity in that process to create the most significant impact and to best serve your clients, partners, and your organization.
