Implementing a new CRM system such as Salesforce is a challenge in itself. Motivating one’s team members to embrace the software is an even more herculean task. With the right training techniques and user adoption strategy, your business will be on the road to success by utilizing Salesforce’s CRM benefits to its fullest advantage.
Why Salesforce Adoption Rates Decline
Your business may have spent heaps of time, energy, and money on Salesforce, which can boost efficiency and increase profits, but your team refuses to use it. A quick Google search shows that many are frustrated by a lack of ‘user-friendliness’, hindering their interactions with CRM tools. According to a report by Forrester on CRM adoption, “22% of all reported problems were people-related or linked to user adoption. While many often cite the technological difficulties in implementation, the real obstacles are in winning over non-believers”. These problems may have more to do with the individual or non-believer than with the tool itself, and with all software, there is a learning curve.
Users and process alignment to Salesforce must be addressed at every stage of an organization’s implementation from pre-Go-live to post Go-live. If adoption issues go unnoticed, it can lead to sizeable scale consequences on the delivered value to end-users.
5 Training Techniques to Drive Salesforce User Adoption
There are numerous free training resources available on Salesforce Trailhead. However, if your organization is looking for training techniques to enhance and increase user adoption within your team, read the below for five approaches to drive Salesforce User Adoption forward.
1. Hands-On Training
Let’s face the obvious: individuals typically do not learn as well from reading information as they do from hands-on experience and practice. Use a classroom environment to its full effect by having users practice their CRM skills as they learn them. The instructor, in a supporting role, can iron out any issues that pop up. Leveraging Salesforce Sandbox is an excellent tool to experiment with different configurations, new apps, or changes to your setup. It’s a testing environment that runs independently of your current Salesforce production Org, ultimately allowing for hands-on experience within a safe space.
2. Group Training
When first tackling an unfamiliar CRM topic, it can be beneficial to group people into small teams. This way, they can discuss what they’re learning about, the logic behind it, and work through problems with peers. Also, having a manager present will ensure everyone that the training isn’t “just another meeting” and show how serious the company is about improving its CRM adoption.
3. Scenario-Based
Training should be comprehensive without being exhaustive. Instead of showing your team every feature, teach them how to work through a specific task by finding and implementing the right steps for that particular task. Set up realistic scenarios for the small teams at hand. Working through tasks that they’d encounter in their everyday positions will help them transfer the skills to memory and learn how to apply them.
4. Role-Based
Not every member of a team needs to be familiar with every function within the system. Training should, therefore, focus on the specifics of each person’s responsibilities. For example, start with the managers or Super Users as they’ll be the ones you teach to teach others. Show them the value of CRM logic by pointing them to the data and reports that will serve their role best, then continue with the rest of the team.
5. Hit the Refresh Button
You know what they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Even the best and brightest have difficulties recalling the skills they’ve learned in the absence of the occasional refresher. One way to help your team retain training knowledge long term is to send out a survey checklist to determine what trainees remember and what they don’t. Use feedback to structure a review session followed by group calls where a specialist shares his or her screen and answers all questions quickly and effectively.
Teams across your organization should be able to take full advantage of every part of your CRM software, Salesforce. Your staff can achieve this by holding thorough, timely, and ongoing training sessions across your business. Keep in mind, a training technique that may be ideal for one team or team member may not be suitable for another. It may be best to switch up training techniques depending on each team’s unique learning process.
Salesforce implementations are typically a long process, which could take between four months up to a year. To ensure a successful implementation, invest time designing a communication and training plan and user feedback processes. These five training ideas will significantly increase your CRM user adoption rates and ultimately maximize your Return on Investment (ROI).
If your team is looking for additional resources to increase Salesforce user adoption, it may be helpful to run through Salesforce specific lingo. You can find a Salesforce terminology glossary here.
Madison lives in Denver, CO. Before her content creation career, Madison received her Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing from Marquette University. Working at Provisio Partners, her responsibilities include strategic planning, coordination, and execution of campaigns. Assist in content creation, social management, email marketing, and event planning.
