Ease of use is the key ingredient when combining technological infrastructures with your business workflow
There are a few criteria that will make or break your CRM adoption process, such as executive sponsorship, user attitude, ultimate necessity and so on. But CRM ease of use has always been the fundamental tipping point, because without it, expecting a positive outcome with the other areas mentioned will be impossible to achieve.
CRM Ease of use comes in two forms. First (and in general terms), how simple the application is to use and adjust and second, how simple the customer’s workflow actually is. A complicated workflow and CRM packed with drop-downs, check boxes and custom fields that demand attention can be even more frustrating than a poorly designed interface. When CRM ease of use just isn’t there, then you can expect poor adoption, resistance to change, diminished use and enough buyer’s remorse to make your investment a bust within only a couple of months, if not weeks.
When considering CRMs, most businesses are looking for a technology solution that can facilitate operations, supplement manual methods and automating (or expediting) common procedures. But they’re also trying the gain greater visibility into their organization, so they can gain real-time clarity through reliable business intelligence, including, but not limited sales performance, revenue forecasting and pipeline activity. While both perspectives are important, CRM ease of use will need to be addressed in order to achieve the latter. If the first experience is too much of a challenge, then don’t expect the rest of your CRM requirements to be any different.
“Solving your problems of today with a product filled with limitations is certain to catch-up with you tomorrow.”
First time buyers, new to CRM in general, usually have a long list of need to haves, they often overlook the basics; what are the core requirements? The ones they can’t live without. Narrowing down the requirements to the base essentials will align buyers with the right product and a greater probability for a successful adoption. This doesn’t mean buyers need to ignore features and capabilities they can later grow into, so understanding a CRM product’s full potential is something that shouldn’t be ignored; solving your problems of today with a product filled with limitations is certain to catch-up with you tomorrow.
Focusing on the essentials will yield compounded positive results in your adoption and use. Make the user’s experience quick and painless and you’re on your way to achieving the expectations you’ve been looking for. Once they get the basics, and utilize minimal record keeping practices (ie: maintaining pipeline advancement, etc.) then you can graduate them to other expectations that may evolve in your business processes. Positive, sustainable results begin with successful adoption, and this all begins with CRM ease of use.
Related:
Watch this discussion amongst CRM Vendors as they share their observations in the CRM adoption process.
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