January 2018 is Month of Adoption, if you haven’t already heard! We’re going deep on all things adoption; providing Admins with all kinds of resources to help drive adoption at their company.
As part of Month of Adoption, we want to take a look at what “adoption” means in the industry. So, I did some research and talked to some experts about how CIOs and IT teams think about driving adoption in their companies. Here are 5 articles I think will give you a great baseline understanding of what it means to drive adoption:
1. Have a clear vision and strategy
This may seem obvious at first glance. But, there’s more to it. Chuck Schaeffer talks about the importance of creating alignment through communicating a clear vision and strategy while implementing SMART goals and continuous assessment. Doing this enables you to build a strong connection between using the software (adoption) and company goals. Read more about this in his article Best Practices to Rally CRM User Adoption.
2. Share success stories
Yes, you need to train your users. But, while you have their attention, give them hope by sharing success stories. Andy Wolber suggests in his article, 5 steps to help your employees adopt new software to have super users share their stories and focus on the organizational benefits of using the software. Invite them to share how the software has helped them meet their goals.
3. Focus on the carrot, use the stick as a last resort
One key takeaway I found in Rebecca Knight’s HBR article, Convincing Skeptical Employees to Adopt New Technology, was that you should always focus on the positive approach to adoption (the “carrot”) before resorting to using the “stick.” Reward people for using the tool through whatever rewards work best in your company culture. Creating excitement and happy feelings associated with the software is way more beneficial than negative feelings!
4. Make data-capture effortless
Jeffrey Fotta talks about the importance of making using the system easy and effortless in his article, Is Your CRM User Adoption Low? Here’s Why and How to Fix It in Entrepreneur Magazine. This means systems are integrated and basic company data populates automatically. Users want to spend time doing their jobs, not entering data. What can you do to improve that?
5. Make it mobile friendly!
Building upon number 3, another way of making data entry easy is by making it easy to access. Sales reps are often on the road, so a mobile-friendly system helps with this. In his article, The Biggest CRM Pain Points for Sales Reps, and How to Solve Them, Darya Yermashkevich talks about the benefits of CRM access on the go among other tips.
MOAR Resources
These are the 5 resources I used to drive my knowledge of adoption. But, I’d love to hear from you! What tips and tricks have you applied? What resources have you used to drive adoption? Comment below!