Drive Long-Term Adoption
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe how and why to gather feedback on Salesforce.
- Understand how to tell users about new features.
- List adoption resources available to you.
Keep the Party Going
Great job making it this far, Trailblazer! You’re past the hard part, but there are still a few steps you can take to make sure your efforts are cemented. This unit covers a few ongoing efforts you can undertake to ensure your reps keep using Salesforce for years to come.
Gather Feedback
The pilot was hugely important for understanding how your ideas worked when your sales team actually used Salesforce. Now that you’ve deployed Salesforce to a larger group, you have an opportunity to learn even more and improve Salesforce. Gather feedback from reps, both on ideas for improvement and reports of things that aren’t working properly. Both are equally important.
Create a process for reps to submit this feedback. This can be as simple as a Google survey, or as sophisticated as an app built in Salesforce (that’s what Salesforce does for our own feature enhancements, in case you’re wondering). This process ensures reps feel heard, and it helps you keep everything organized.
Also take some time to check in with your pilot team periodically. They’re still an excellent source of feedback, and as practiced evaluators, they’ll be up-front with you about what can be better.
Innovate
Along with the feedback you hear from your team, you can also get new feature ideas from Salesforce itself. Three times each year, Salesforce releases new features and improvements, and we always include Release Notes about what has changed. Make a point to look through these and evaluate which features you can add to help your company.
Maintain Excitement
A big part of your launch is making your team feel excited about Salesforce, but that enthusiasm naturally wanes over time. Keep it up so reps remain intrigued by Salesforce.
As you add new features to Salesforce, shout it from the mountaintop. Train your reps on the new features using that same formula we talked about earlier: What it is + what it can do for your reps + how to use it = adoption. This not only shows them how to use it, it reminds them that you’re constantly making this tool better, and it’s worth returning to.
As more people use Salesforce, you’re going to have more fans. If someone is particularly excited, share their story with the company. Make sure that story includes what features they like and the results they’ve gotten. The authenticity of hearing from a peer is what makes this powerful, so try not to editorialize too much. Just share real stories of success.
Benchmark sales performance pre-Salesforce, then track how that performance has changed since launching Salesforce. This is important to share with your stakeholders to prove value and get a continued investment, but it’s also great to share with reps. If a sales rep hears that reps using Salesforce are 38% more productive, they’re going to want that, too. (This is a real stat about Salesforce customers, by the way.)
Utilize the Experts
Managing a Salesforce org is a big job, and you do not have to do it alone. Salesforce has an incredible ecosystem of customers, partners, and employees with all sorts of expertise to share. There are no awards given for doing this by yourself. Tap into the resources available to you. Even superheroes need sidekicks.
- Trailblazer Community: One big online party for the entire Salesforce ecosystem, with subgroups for specific topics. A great place to post questions and hear answers from the community.
- Premier Success: The Salesforce experts who have been there, done that, and now devote their entire jobs to helping other people do it well, too.
- Trailhead: The free learning tool for you, your execs, and your reps. Get inspiration and how-tos.
- Adoption Webinars: An entire series of webinars dedicated just to helping you with adoption. Join live or watch a recording.
Adoption is a huge topic, and we commend you for jumping in and taking it on. Trust us, your company will thank you. And while it can feel a bit daunting at times, know that we’re here with you.
Resources