running in SSMS isn't always the same as running from an application, the set options might be different for example.

if it's only a couple of procs why not profile to capture the stats when they run - you could also extract the plan from cache when it's bad and compare to the plan you get when you run it.

Sorry don't have the book so have no idea what all the steps there might be.

probably a silly question but the procs don't start sp_ ??