As someone who works with Salesforce and Account Engagement implementation support on a daily basis, I am often faced with situations where a system has been created to fit the workflow and the client’s implementation staff is overjoyed, but the people on the frontline do not use the system.
The system itself is sure to improve business efficiency, and there is an image that it will be better than ever, but the employees on the frontline are reluctant to use the new system because they do not want to change their current workflow, even though they understand the advantages of the new system.
When faced with such a situation, there is very little we can do as an implementation support company. (Except for some companies such as Accenture, which is stationed within the company to coordinate between departments and explain and persuade key personnel.
) This is especially true in recent years, especially if the project is done remotely and the only face-to-face meeting is from the start to the end of the project. However, even so, the customer often finds themselves in a state where they can’t learn Salesforce because they have nothing left to learn the next day, even though they can operate the system while looking at the screen.
I believe that one of the reasons for this situation is that it is difficult to grasp the detailed rules, tacit knowledge, and atmosphere of the client’s company when using Zoom or other remote methods. Even if you know the details of the workflow, you are unable to sense the feelings and emotions of the people who actually perform the work, which unknowingly hinders understanding and, in some cases, causes discomfort.
I personally believe that there is only one way to transform this situation into a group that is proficient in using Salesforce. That is to create a strong driving force within the client company. In other words, if a client company has a facilitator, Salesforce will almost certainly spread within the company. On the other hand, companies that do not have a facilitator and leave all training to the vendor will almost certainly not see Salesforce penetrate their company.
When you think about it, there is very little that we vendors can do on the screen alone. In particular, we may be able to ask for help in “motivating people to use Salesforce,” but it is very difficult to motivate people who have never met. In particular, we are very weak in the area of employee motivation skills. We are a group with limited skills in technology and settings. It is really difficult to motivate employees to work for such a vendor.
A successful project is one in which the person in charge of promoting the project persistently and carefully explains and lectures to the sales staff one by one. From the sales employee’s point of view, the stranger will only be able to teach them the basics, and they will feel that they are not being taught in a way that takes into account the company’s unique usage and approach. However, if it is someone from within the company, they can explain and persuade the salespeople well, taking into account their background and understanding the salespeople’s feelings. In this way, the motivation to use Salesforce will increase and the benefits of using Salesforce will be felt properly.
From this point on, I would like to talk about how to do this as a vendor, but I believe that in most cases, there is no one in the company who can promote the above. What do you do in such cases? What we can do is to create a facilitator. We believe that the first step is to get one person to become a fan of Salesforce, and then to get that person to love Salesforce enough to want to tell other employees about how great it is. After that, I think the best way to do this is to ask them to explain it to their respective sales departments and provide as much support as possible.
Of course, this is not so easy. However, if we recognize that no matter how hard we work remotely, there are some parts we cannot do, and if we don’t have someone to fill in the missing parts for us vendors, we will realize that we need to develop not only technology and knowledge, but also the ability to involve others.