I am opening this up to discussion. What do you think is the best way to drive adoption in Salesforce.com and why?
- Training?
- Data Quality?
- Ease of Use?
- Required Use for Compensation?
You tell me…
Some admins say that training is most important for adoption. They say that if you train the users correctly, they will use the system. If you have trainings on a regular basis, then the users will log on consistently and use Salesforce.com correctly. Complement that training with regular communications like tips of the week, monthly newsletters and update notifications and adoption will skyrocket.
Then there are other admins that say that data quality is most important. They say that with accurate data the users will want to use the system because it has the data that helps them sell. If inaccurate data is an adoption stopper (which it is) then isn’t accurate data an adoption driver? The best adoption driver?
Still others recommend that making Salesforce.com easy to use is the best driver of adoption. They say that if only Salesforce.com could do this or that, my users would use it. And that, with how easy Salesforce.com is to use, adoption will be easy. They implement Outlook Edition, Salesforce Mobile, Custom Links, Office Edition, Offline Edition, etc. to drive adoption. They think that there will be no excuse not to use it because it is so easy and integrated with the daily tasks of sales users.
And, finally, there are other admins that say that the best way to drive adoption is through making adoption required. This includes paying commissions off of Salesforce.com data, making Salesforce.com usage part of performance reviews and inactivating users if they are not logging in. There are firm believers that adoption is only accomplished if you tie money and compensation to the use of the system.
So, what do you think? What is the best way to drive adoption? Comment below!
3 comments
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September 25, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Ryan Klein
All of the above in differing doses. And what the dose is will be driven on where you are at in your adoption level.
Mandating might be needed at first. Once (and while) its mandated, show the great data that is in the system. Training will help them know how to get to obvious (and not so obvious) data. And Ease Of Use will help keep them from getting frustrated.
February 7, 2008 at 4:03 am
Ken Knickerbocker
I suspect this question would be moot if more CRM companies looked at the world from the salesperson’s point of view and found a way to deliver instant, immediate and continues value to the salesperson.
Training?, Data Quality?, Ease of Use?, Required Use for Compensation?.
All good ideas and worthy of consideration for sure.
I’m surprised though “make the application compelling” isn’t included in the list. By compelling I mean use a carrot as opposed to a stick.
What drives sales people? Closing more deals, making more money, adding value to his client interactions is what drives most of us. So why not start there when designing a CRM.
CRM companies should focus on delivering greater value to the salesperson by giving him or her the tools needed to look better, be more persuasive, and integrate more substance into his proposals and presentations.
March 11, 2008 at 12:42 am
Dan Loo
The best way to drive Salesforce adoption at our organization was to give our sales force the tool that eliminates the need in training at all. InvisibleCRM’s Outlook add-in is easy to use and it provides access to all Salesforce objects right from the Outlook interface. As a result, data quality is significantly improved, because all customer related information (contacts, emails, calendar, etc.) is invisibly synced to Salesforce without any efforts from users.