Improve your CRM adoption rate

This is a question which occupies a lot of bandwidth for the management after a CRM app has been deployed company-wide, and the worry is not completely unfounded too, CRMs carry a whopping, 63% failure in adoption rate!

So you ask, first the fight to get the CRM deployed after the entire procedure of selection of the right CRM product and then getting the right implementation partner on board and even after all this the success rate is less than 50%, why even have a CRM in the first place?

The answer is simple, its a fact that organizations with proper adoption of CRM outperform those without a CRM by a ginormous margin.

Surprising as it is, that a platform as productive as a CRM can have such a high rate of failure, this situation of despair can be avoided altogether.

The following are some of the most virulent reasons that are most often at the core of abysmally low CRM adoption:

• Super low adoption rate by users
• Absence of internal power user committee to lay down, oversee and steer the adoption process
• Underwhelming CRM adoption mandate by the upper echelon of the management.

So you ask, how to go about boosting the CRM adoption at your organization?

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”

― Peter F. Drucker

Just like everything else, there must be a conscious mandate and a plan in place to achieving the levels of adoption that are being targeted. Organizations must expand the focus of their looking glass and see more than just the temporal and budgetary aspect of the CRM implementation project.

It is absolutely important to understand right from the beginning that CRM adoption is a stand-alone project. The skill sets required to drive this project to success are different than the ones necessary for successful CRM implementation and deployment. Simply put, unless your system integration partners have dedicated team for managing CRM adoption, they may not be a fit for leading this project.

That being said, here are steps to ensure that the CRM at your organisation functions to its fullest extent.

Early Engagement

Know your users. The process of CRM implementation must account for the users who are to work on it. CRMs tend to change the way businesses processes are followed and change is something that humans don't take to easily. This situation is best-taken care off by involving the users right from the beginning of the project. As a part of the CRM mandate, the users must be given clear and precise information on the value that the CRM is going to bring to them, the ways in which the pre CRM processes will be changed to take the CRM in the fold. The shock of embracing a new system can only be dampened by clear and concise information. Close cooperation with users creates a valuable feedback channel which results in the creation and implementation of processes that work for the users and not vice versa.

Power Users   

From within the ranks of user representing different departments, select a group of users based on roles and propensity towards technology. These users are to be drilled/trained more extensively compared to the general population. These power users are the hub around which you will build the wheel of solid CRM users. The power users work with the general users and help prepare processes and protocols which will be followed after the CRM implementation. These powers users are always available and are much more approachable internally to handle queries and questions.

Documentation

The cornerstone of CRM adoption is the CRM Adoption Manual. In simpler terms, this document contains all the processes handled and the steps to achieve each process along with do’s and don'ts associated with the process. This manual is a fall backreference which is readily available for all users. Proper documentation ensures continuity of information in the organization and as such must be kept updated with the CRM updates.

Proper Implementation

While all the above is being done to ensure proper CRM adoption, it is important to make sure that the implementation part is being done properly. Processes must be created to suit the CRM users and not the other way round. The system needs to work for the people and not the other way around. This point is directly connected with the point of “Early Engagement”. The CRM system must have clear navigation through the processes and should be forgiving for easy recovery from errors.

User Specific Training Sessions

Training and knowledge sharing sessions must be segregated as per departments addressing processes and modules specific to the department. The power users (selected earlier) will be of great use to ensure compliance and query resolution. Sessions should be concentrated at the beginning of the adoption and should gradually taper down was the adoption progresses. Once the adoption process has achieved its goal these training sessions can be arranged on request, or on induction and/or one a quarter.

Endnotes

CRM implementations don't have to be tough and fraught with risks. If you follow these guidelines, you are well on your way for successful implementation and adoption of a CRM system at your organization.

If you want to know more of CRM systems or other enterprise software solutions get in touch with us.

Evomatiq Business solutions is a lithe and boutique enterprise software solutions based in Dubai. We are extreme proponents of service with accountability.