When investing in Salesforce, a successful go-live is always your top priority. From there, your main concern shifts towards the customization and implementation of new business tools. But with all these new technologies, where’s the focus on the employees?! Every Salesforce rollout (especially a global rollout) is a complex project that only fully achieves success once changes have been accepted and adopted by all users.
At Bluewolf we believe it is the investment in your people that activates business change. We suggest a 2:1 investment ratio of people vs. technology—for every dollar you spend purchasing a new technology, consider spending two on the people who’ll use it. Success with technology adoption requires a strategic effort to engage and prepare your organization and partner ecosystem for change.
The importance of investing in Salesforce education and change management preparation can be analyzed in these four areas:
-
Change Management
Undergoing change within an organization can be challenging for all parties involved. If employees don’t understand the reason for the change and how it will benefit them directly, it’s difficult for them to adopt the new technology or process. That’s why when implementing Salesforce, investing in a change management strategy is essential to technology adoption. Here are a few key strategies for effective change management:
- An organization must align leadership goals with end-user needs to help mitigate the risks associated with technology deployments
- Try utilizing multiple media channels and a detailed, engaging communication plan to distribute important information and create excitement about the change
- Identify executive engagement metrics, which are important aspects to an effective change management
Keep these in mind and you’ll ensure a great system design and engaged employees that embrace new processes and technologies. Learn more about change management in the blog series 5 Keys to Effective Change Management.
-
Administrator and Developer Training
Technology is only an enabler, it’s your people that drive innovation. By investing in the basic education and training for new technologies you build the foundation for driving business value from any CRM instance. For example, consider the investment of an educated and engaged Salesforce Administrator—through managing the company’s feature requests, backlog, and timelines, Salesforce administrators control and communicate the changes that roll out to an organization. Their knowledge is key to delivering the agility, flexibility, and user adoption necessary to derive business value from your Salesforce instance.
?
Understand the capabilities of Salesforce before you start to invest. With training classes, you can deepen your understanding of Salesforce’s standard features and capabilities while getting a better understanding of what features need customized for your specific needs. Check out our schedule of classes available, or take a look at the blog 5 Reasons Why Getting Salesforce Certified Can Help You Get a Raise. -
End-user Training
The success of any organizational change is measured by end-user adoption. If your end users aren’t willing or able to engage a product, your investment could be in jeopardy. Invest in a training curriculum that is specifically designed to your business processes and customized to your Salesforce system. Understanding and tackling the different types of usage by executives, managers, and representatives within the system will ensure that all parties understand the value and functionality of the new system.
-
eLearning
To maintain growth and efficiency your business needs a training strategy that scales. As you roll out Salesforce, what is your cost-effective solution for training global employees on best practices for using the instance? By investing in eLearning modules, you can train employees anywhere, anytime, and in any language. This strategy will give you consistent messaging and education for new hires, or to simply communicate about or provide training on system updates.
Successful implementations blend many avenues of change management, employee education, and ongoing training. User adoption is a crucial component to the long-term success of a project. To ensure you are getting ROI from your Salesforce investment, gauge your user adoption with a free Salesforce Adoption Assessment.
