May 19, 2023
Listen to this articleWe all know that there’s a lot that Salesforce CRM has got to offer businesses in different industry segments. But all those features and functionalities that you might have got customized for your Salesforce solution might not be of any good if the potential users are not able to use them right. That’s the kind of situation for which you need a Salesforce certified partner for the rescue.
According to CSO Insights’ Sales Operations Optimization Study, in a survey of 300 companies, it was found that only 45% of the companies were able to achieve their CRM user adoption rate of 90%. That means more than half of the companies are still struggling to make full and efficient use of their CRM solution.
The numbers clearly show us that organizations need necessary support post-Salesforce implementation so potential users can adopt the platform and use it to run their operations. The need here is to have a Salesforce certified consultant who can make the Salesforce user adoption process smooth, ensuring the end users are able to access Salesforce features in the intended way.
Many companies are considering Salesforce implementation to improve workflows and customer relationships. But implementing the solution successfully doesn’t mean that work is done. The real value of Salesforce implementation can only be derived if the potential users can use it efficiently.
Moving to any new system is tough for employees. Thus, it is essential to hire Salesforce partners to guide the users and provide the necessary training to improve user adoption. From providing training sessions to manuals on Salesforce usage, an experienced team of professionals can help you in different ways to ensure your employees can use Salesforce the right way.
Let’s understand the importance of Salesforce user adoption better, along with the challenges companies might face to achieve it.
Implementing Salesforce isn’t enough. You need to make sure the Salesforce solution is adopted by all of their potential end users. Here’s why Salesforce user adoption is so important:
Improve data management: If Salesforce adoption in your company is good, it will empower your employees to manage data over a centralized platform efficiently. This will save them from manual processes and updates they struggled with while using a legacy system.
Increase productivity: Higher user adoption means employees can efficiently use Salesforce to manage operations. This could help them improve their productivity by five times the productivity they delivered before using CRM.
Get returns on the implementation cost: Companies can spend a lot to implement a customized Salesforce solution. But that expense will only be worth it if the potential users of Salesforce are using the solution the right way.
Although there can be many reasons that might lead to struggles in Salesforce user adoption, we’ve mentioned a few common challenges that most companies face.
Lack of involvement during implementation: Companies often make the mistake of not involving stakeholders and potential end users of the Salesforce solution during the early implementation stages. That’s why they get confused and unable to understand the usage of Salesforce functionalities.
Irrelevance to the needs: It doesn’t matter how good the Salesforce solution is; if it is not relevant to users’ needs, it’s of no good, thus leading to unsuccessful user adoption.
Resistant to change: It is human nature to resist any new change. Employees who are very familiar with and comfortable using legacy systems usually resist the change of moving to Salesforce.
Even if you have achieved a successful Salesforce implementation, that doesn’t mean that the work of Salesforce experts is finished. You need to ensure that your employees can use the solution the right way. This is where Salesforce professionals can help, ensuring successful user adoption using the following steps.
1. Audit user needs
It is a lot to ask employees to leave their legacy systems and use the new solution suddenly. Salesforce certified partner helps to avoid this by taking time to understand the challenges users face with their legacy systems and present how the Salesforce CRM can overcome those challenges, thus improving their productivity.
2. Create a 6-month strategy
It can certainly be overwhelming to adopt new technologies. But Salesforce partners can make this easier by planning a six-month strategy, including roll-out, user training, and acquiring feedback to make the user adoption process easier and smoother. This way, users would be able to share their doubts and get their issues resolved so they can start using Salesforce for their daily operations.
3. Consolidate legacy solutions
As end users start adopting CRM, Salesforce experts can help phase out legacy systems. They can even help in integrating Salesforce solutions with some existing applications that will make it easier for teams to access their previous applications too within their Salesforce org.
4. Track adoption and usage rates
Salesforce professionals also help by measuring and tracking Salesforce usage per user through user adoption metrics. In case there is low adoption, they survey the users to find out the reasons and issues they face and help users resolve them.
5. Continue upskilling
When you hire experienced Salesforce Platinum Partners, they’ll help you by providing documentation and manuals and even sharing upcoming Salesforce updates to help them upskill with time and work more efficiently with Salesforce.
It is clear now that Salesforce implementation, followed by user adoption training, will ensure that teams in any company are using Salesforce efficiently. It is common to face challenges when moving to an entirely new system, but with the right support from a Salesforce partner, the transition could become easier.
Providing necessary attention to Salesforce user adoption would ensure that the company is making the most of its investment in Salesforce implementation. If you want help with Salesforce implementation and adoption, contact us and get the best Salesforce certified partner onboard to assist you.
