“CRM projects fail for a variety of reasons. In the North American market, a recent study estimates that over half of all CRM implementations fail to meet their objectives.” –CRMsolution.com. This stunningly high failure rate can be largely attributed to inefficient+ or non-existent training programs.
So you’ve taken on a great new hire. They are resourceful, qualified, and eager to take part in your enterprise.
You’ve also found the perfect partner – Salesforce CRM. Naturally, you can’t wait them to begin ‘collaborating’, but you must ensure that your new employee knows how to work with the software. It can be a real catch 22 to strike the balance between comprehensive training and timely adoption, full of tradeoffs and unsatisfactory compromises. Here are five tactics to effectively and quickly onboard new employees to Salesforce.
1. Start With Daily Goals
It’s a conundrum: Planning toward the long term is necessary, but too much focus on the future may hinder results in the here-and-now. Starting with small-scale goals gives employees the feeling of accomplishment.
Teresa Amabile, a researcher from Harvard University, has found that the best motivation in the workplace is daily progress—there’s a certain amount an employee can accomplish in a day and unrealistic expectations get in the way of that. Amabile’s work also shows that motivation suffers most from setbacks—again, this is the direct result of unrealistic expectations. You will see better results if you work on facilitating progress. Additionally, while training, emphasizing best practices and correct routines will minimize mistakes from new employees, promoting a healthy confidence and reducing training costs.
Here’s another great way to make Salesforce training simpler.
2. A Curriculum of Continuous Learning
Employers need to think outside the box when they’re onboarding new employees. Just droning on to new staff on Salesforce practices won’t result in good outcomes.
In actuality, recent studies have shown that learners forget far more knowledge after conservative pedagogical teaching, in comparison to more concrete styles. The most effective preparation for the real thing is to expose members of your team to real world situations. Flight simulators are well and good, but they’re no substitute for flying.
That’s why it’s critical to double check that the knowledge employees are acquiring is relevant to their day-to-day tasks.
In terms of connecting learning to Salesforce user performance, a performance support application and knowledge management aid such as WalkMe can provide a great deal of assistance.
SFDC Demo from
Alex Whitby on
Vimeo.
Most vitally, this makes workers more in line with Salesforce practices, and more flexible to adapt to shifts in market factors and technological changes.
3. Bring In Veteran Team Members to Lead By Example
The most effective way to get all your team on the same page is to provide them with models to look up to. Look for veterans that are highly competent at Salesforce software and point new employees over to these veterans for queries and guidance. View these experts as potential goldmines of feedback. Not only will this technique distribute the labor of training more equally, it will also promote team bonding.
Don’t ignore how employees’ view of the higher ups affects their productivity. Managers send a message to employees that their training is ultimately not important when they are uninvolved with the Salesforce platform and continuous learning. Bring all of the staff into the onboarding process.
4. Look For Internal Feedback
Solicit useful feedback on the Salesforce system from your staff. Look for a mix of targeted feedback and open comments. The sales team will have the most valuable insights, because they will be using Salesforce more than anyone else. Modify sales tactics in accordance with new ideas that your team comes up with. Present them with specific queries about their time with the onboarding process.
Feedback is also useful because it facilitates discovering areas of improvement, leading to even more feedback in a more refined system. This is known as a feedback loop, and it is perhaps the most effective way to improve Salesforce onboarding.
5. Be About the “Why”, Not the “How”
While it’s important to know how to use Salesforce to do a certain job, encouraging employees to investigate the methodology and necessity will lead to a better understanding of the underlying system, resulting in onboarding that is more efficient.
Indeed, workers who view training like this might in reality be more efficient than employees who stay inside the box. A new study in the
Journal of Consumer Research states that those who focus on
how to accomplish a goal may have more difficulty reaching their targets than those who view it abstractly, pondering
why they wish to do something.
Taking heed of this advice will facilitate smooth Salesforce onboarding, with a quantifiable positive effect on workplace output. Correct Salesforce practices are key to keeping your clients and sales team satisfied. You will be giving your enterprise and your new hires the best shot at success by following the above steps.
