by Shawn Helwig

It’s a point of frustration for many organizations—either employees simply won’t use the CRM system or they fail to even come close to tapping into the system’s full potential.

Of all the factors that can impede a successful CRM implementation, none is more critical than end-user adoption. According to research, 70% of all CRM projects fail because of lack of user adoption. Even when organizations get a CRM system implemented, less than 40% of those organizations realize user adoption rates above 90%.

Whether an organization is just starting its CRM journey or reviewing investments in existing CRM systems that aren’t meeting expectations, it must take time to explore the necessary elements that can ensure strong user adoption. Considering the magnitude of its influence on success, companies can’t afford to ignore this key component of CRM execution.

Relevant Value + Ease of Use + Leadership Commitment = User Adoption

Relevant Value

User dissatisfaction often begins with the CRM system itself. Frequently, organizations are encouraged to use CRM systems in their out-of-the-box configurations and with small-scope implementations. Their rationale is that success will come by keeping things as simple and small as possible.

Regrettably, organizations that stick to the “vanilla” configuration approach can soon find themselves with many users who are less than impressed with the latest system. Users quickly determine that their CRM system doesn’t include enough relevant value to make it worth their time. In essence, the new CRM system has added more responsibilities to their already busy days than it has eliminated.

CRM systems should be deployed only after specific information requirements have been gathered from the users. Organizations must take the time to identify the “golden nuggets” of information their users deem both relevant and “value added.” Once identified, this information must be included in the CRM program. Doing so ensures that users who interact with the CRM system will indeed find information to help them be more efficient and effective.

Finally, many companies make the mistake of tracking information in a CRM system in which management is far more interested than users are. An example may be the close probability for a sales opportunity. Management may want this information to build a more accurate sales pipeline, but the individual user may be much less interested in taking the time to track this data.

Therefore, it is important that companies consider using the 3:1 rule. This rule states that for every one piece of information management wants to collect, the system should provide its users with three pieces of valuable information in return. The objective is to give users enough relevant value in the system to more than offset any additional administrative burden it may add. To do so, organizations must conduct a thorough analysis to determine what those pieces of relevant information should be and, thereafter, design their processes to satisfy the 3:1 rule.

Ease of Use

The second key driver of CRM user adoption is ease of use. Enhancements in technology over the past few years have helped make many CRM systems easier to use. Still, organizations must configure their CRM systems in ways that make it simple for their specific users to interact with information, further making it easier for them to perform their jobs.

Keep in mind that ease of use can be defined differently by different users. Sometimes, ease of use equates to familiarity. Therefore, configuring a new CRM system to function similarly to the former CRM system may increase user adoption. For other organizations, ease of use may be based on how users access the system. Microsoft CRM, for instance, can be configured as an extension of Microsoft Outlook, making the CRM system a more natural and simpler extension of everyday employee responsibilities.

Other CRM systems, like Sage SalesLogix, offer the ability to consolidate an array of different data into a single view, which can make the system more usable for some users. By minimizing the number of places an employee must access to gain the coveted 360-degree view of customer interactions, an organization further encourages higher user adoption.

Regardless of which CRM system is implemented, time should be spent with users configuring the specific forms that will become part of their daily lives. Getting users involved in selecting field names and picklist values can go a long way in helping them feel part of designing the final system configuration. Their pride and sense of ownership can translate into increased user adoption.

Leadership Commitment

The final core component to increased user adoption is a strong leadership commitment. This requires that an organization’s leaders not only say they are supporters of the CRM system, but also demonstrate they are active consumers of the data a system captures.

In fact, failure to use information from a system is one of the quickest ways to subvert user adoption. It is amazing how quickly users “catch on” when leadership fails to pay attention to the reports, dashboards, or scorecards that result from a CRM system. As soon as this happens, employees will question using the system if management doesn’t make use of the data.

Leadership can also sustain accountability through its unambiguous support. When management expects everyone to use a CRM system, even the most reluctant of employees is more likely to comply. This is particularly true of star performers who may feel that using CRM is superfluous to their continued contributions. For some organizations, leadership can show its expectations by offering users incentives for proper system usage. In other cases, leadership may impose penalties for not using the CRM system, like holding back commissions on sales not entered into the CRM system.

Finally, customer relationship management, like so many other technology-oriented initiatives, is dependent upon effective change management. As such, it requires explicit and effective leadership. The leaders of an organization should help drive a strong communication plan and must support a training program that has been tailored to the organization’s unique requirements, because there is no single training program that works well for every company.

Successful CRM programs do exist

Don’t let the statistics scare you from pursuing a CRM strategy. By taking the time to determine how to drive the highest level of user adoption possible in your organization, you will have laid the foundation for a successful CRM program.

About the Author

Shawn Helwig is a manager in the CRM and Growth Strategy consulting practice at Wipfli LLP, a CPA and business consulting firm. Shawn has been assisting clients with CRM and other business and technology issues across a variety of industries for more than 12 years. Please contact Shawn at shelwig@wipfli.com.