Let’s start this off with a banger…
Less than 40% of companies have achieved adoption rates of over 90%.
(G2 Learn Hub)
But why is it so difficult to encourage adoption?
It’s because achieving change in an organization requires a relentless commitment to include people and their thoughts in the process.
Plus, when you’re thinking of implementing major changes (even if it’s not about Salesforce), the most important part is the ‘’Selling’’ of it.
Think of when you’re launching a new product or service, do you force it down your customer’s throats or do you sell the benefits first? So why should it be any different for Salesforce adoption?
End users need to understand how that change benefits them!
Here are 5 ways to increase marketing technology adoption:
Find a champion
Amongst the employees that got trained by the implementation team, did one of them:
- Stand out
- Like the solution more than others
- Immediately adopted the new solution
- Clearly noticed the benefits of the new technology on their day-to-day job
Find that person and make them a ‘’Change champion’’. They should be tasked to become the first level of contact for end-user training.
Your change champion should spread the word amongst their peers. By spread the word, we mean: the benefits of the solution and the disadvantages of not using it.
While you do not want to punish your team for resisting, highlighting the disadvantages of not using it can be an incredibly effective motivation technique.
And just like when your marketing team shares testimonials or success stories, your change champion could do the same thing to promote adoption. People are less likely to resist change if their peers constantly share positive feedback about it.
Non-boring training
There’s an old marketing saying: ‘’Whatever you do, don’t make it boring’’.
It’s obvious that Salesforce training is a must if you want to increase adoption. That doesn’t mean that it needs to be traditional, boring training.
Make it fun to be a part of! Maybe incentivize it or make it into a friendly competition.
Be a lighthouse, not a tugboat
What’s the difference between a lighthouse and a tugboat?
The lighthouse stands tall, shows the way, leads by example. The tugboat fatigues itself by going around pushing or pulling other vessels.
This translates to: instead of micromanaging and forcing employees to use your new martech, lead by example and start using it too. Therefore, the leadership team also needs to go through the same training as end-user.
From there, they can also become change champions and evangelize the usefulness of the new marketing technology.
Change the scenario
Before force-feeding new marketing technology to your team, try to understand your end-users. At the end of the day, you’re empowering them to work more efficiently.
So first things first, talk to all end-users to learn:
- What they need on the new system
- What they don’t like about the current system
- Which challenges are they facing with the current system
From there you can make a list of all the challenges that the new solution will address and how it will benefit end-users.
Doing this will make them see that your new tech is a solution to common problems as opposed to another tool they’ll be forced to use. Now you’ve changed the scenario from “It will benefit the company’’ to ‘’It will benefit you’’.
Invest in the Right Technology
This goes without saying, to invest in technology that can provide real value.
Avoid investing in marketing technology without really understanding how it works or how it can help you achieve your goals. Review it in detail to ensure that it is the right fit for the company’s needs!
This step isn’t to be taken lightly, it’s an intricate process, one that requires an understanding of the many options that are available and the potential implications of each.
- To start, you should consider your organization’s unique needs and objectives.
- Identify what features and capabilities you need to achieve your objectives, and consider the cost of each technology.
- Once you have narrowed down the list of potential technologies, do additional research to identify which ones offer the features you need.
- You can also look for user reviews to get an idea of how well each technology works.
- After selecting a technology, make sure you have a thorough understanding of how it works and any limitations it might have.
- Finally, ensure that you have the resources to properly implement and maintain the technology.
To Wrap-up
To increase adoption, it’s important to:
- Find someone to be a champion (usually your best performing expert)
- Lead by example and learn how to use the solution.
- Provide non-boring training
- Invest in the right technology
- Understand the needs of the end-users and make sure the new technology is a solution to their current challenges.
PS. If you already implemented Salesforce and are having issues, click here to book a meeting with an industry expert to make the most of your investment and maximize ROI!
What our clients say 👇
I’ve been working with CRMs for several years (Sage, Dynamic) and our company, which operates in the steel sector, has decided to migrate with Salesforce. As with any change I had some concerns about whether this migration would be good and effective for our needs. After only a few days, I really appreciated Salesforce. Easy to use, but above all, it is highly adapted to my needs and very efficient. The management of opportunities and events is really productive and the follow-ups are managed efficiently and easily.
Eric Moreau – Territory Account Manager at Groupe Corbec