So you convinced the Powers That Be that Salesforce is the enterprise-level answer to all your business’s needs. You signed the paperwork, engaged a Partner to help you implement the platform, and are eagerly sifting through the blogs and Trailhead videos.
So why is there such low engagement in your workplace? Why are people still sticking to Excel when so much CRM beauty lies at their fingertips?
We recently blogged about some of the Top 10 Tips For User Engagement With Salesforce. Today we’re looking at 3 of the common ‘Pain Points’ for user engagement, and how you as a business owner can address them.
Common Salesforce User Engagement Issues in the Workplace
“We don’t know what questions to ask!”
All Salesforce customers have access to the huge functionality of the program, which can be daunting for many. But, for users to use Salesforce to its fullest you do need help to navigate it.
Salesforce offers heaps of free tools and tricks to help end users find their feet, and in some cases (such as non-profits) will offer 10 licenses free of charge. The latter is somewhat like being given a puppy for Christmas: that furry ball of happiness still needs to be fed, loved, and walked every day!
Experienced Salesforce consultants know how the platform can be adapted to their unique needs, and they already know their own business inside-out. So should you!
Business processes are a good place to start. Look at your workflow, staff, and sales channels and ask: “How do your business functions get you from A to B? What information do you need along the way to get there? Are they easy to access when staff are sick or on leave, or are they all in one staff member’s head?”
Your answers will tell you what questions must be framed when engaging your users.
“What’s in Salesforce for me, the end user?”
In other words: Why should staff care what Salesforce is doing for the business, as long as they’re doing their jobs well? Any lack of visibility, however, will affect everyone – from the end user of Salesforce to the manager overseeing the work.
Salesforce integrates both your business aims and everyday data entry with more proactive technology. In moving from the traditional CRM approach (which is reactive), this requires a shift in thinking – from both business owners to their staff. This shift will let your technology react to the business needs, and not the other way around.
Shift your thinking and get proactive with your data. Your performance is only as good as the data going into your system. It’s therefore vital for all users to unify their data, not to fragment it into different documents across different systems
With proactive, integrated data entry in Salesforce, employers have better visibility across the board. They can chart sales growth, can see how staff are meeting targets, and of course, celebrate the wins. With Salesforce, normally time-consuming KPIs and forecast reporting is instant – so there’s no more end-of-month reporting to do.
“Admin Schmadmin”
No sales rep ever relished the time they spent on data entry. In fact, some teams report their sales staff spending up to 28 hours a week answering emails, updating spreadsheets, and following up on leads. This is not helped by the ‘traditional’ CRM focus on doing admin to keep data current.
Consider what you’ll do with all the time saved on data entry. The recent Salesforce Advantage Tour 2015 introduced the new Salesforce IQ for Sales Cloud as ‘a PA in your pocket’.
Designed to assist business owners who work largely from their phone, this tool enables all Salesforce data from leads, contacts and opportunities to integrate with email and calendars, so that all data and follow-up happens on the go. Not only will it accelerate the time from lead to final sale, it also drastically cuts down on administration time.
With customers now much better informed, often well before they make a final purchase, it’s vital that your business buys the best CRM tools and uses them to their fullest. Are your staff using Salesforce to its fullest? And if not, how are you getting them engaged?