Back Stage vs Front Stage

Some of our EOS clients confuse the terms Core Process and Proven Process.

For EOS companies, Core Processes are those six to 12 processes that need to be documented in an entrepreneurial way (document the 20% of the processes which yield 80% of the benefit) and which then need to be followed by all employees. This is the secret to scaling your business profitably, while enjoying yourself and allowing enough time for the leaders of the business to look beyond the day to day. These Core Processes typically include,- HR, Marketing, Sales, Operations (how you deliver; there may be several of these), Finance, and Customer Service.

About half of our EOS clients have a Proven Process. Their Proven Process is their way of doing business with their clients. It is the cycle of life with your clients. It is how you win them, deliver your goods or services to them and ultimately delight them – thereby retaining them as clients for as long as you add value. It’s unique to your company. There are no minimum or maximum number of steps to a Proven Process. It can begin with prospects or only after you have won a prospect over into becoming a client.

In the restaurant business they refer to it as the working in the Back of the House vs in the Front of the House – cooks vs waiters.

Dan Sullivan, of Strategic Coach, refers to it as Back Stage vs Front Stage – stage hands vs actors. You can imagine lots of activities going on behind a stage curtain, can’t you? Sometimes we even get a peak – scenery changes, actors coming and going, clean up from some unexpected breakage or spillage – and so on. And then, when the curtain goes up, what we see is the perfect delivery (or near perfect, after all – it’s live) of the same play that was delivered last night and will be delivered tomorrow night. The delivered play is the Proven Process. It’s the same every time.

I like the Stage analogy because it reminds us that Core Processes, if done well, are unseen but are the reason why our customer facing behavior, our Proven Process, is so appreciated by our loyal customers.