CRM User Adoption Guide
In this guide, you’ll learn how to overcome user adoption problems, so you don’t make the same mistakes as other companies. Then you’ll discover why you need a guide for integrating a CRM like Dynamics 365 into your organization.
gain control over your user adoption problems
CRM User Adoption guide
If you are looking to invest in a new CRM solution, you might worry about user adoption, which often leads to project failure. A lack of adoption could be because of training issues. Or because employees are reluctant to use the system. Regardless, it’s a real thing, and it could damage an entire organization. Shockingly, less than 40 percent of CRM users have end-user adoption rates above 90 percent and 22 percent of CRM implementation problems are people-related or linked to adoption. This page will cover the following core topics:
- Why do businesses struggle with CRM user adoption?
- How to increase CRM adoption
- Why is CRM user adoption important?
- The best solution: A CRM implementation partner
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
Read on so you don’t make any mistakes when searching for a solution to your CRM user adoption problems.
Why Do Businesses Struggle With CRM User Adoption?
There's no one reason. All kinds of problems result in low CRM adoption. The most common:
- Users don’t see the value of CRM, so don’t bother implementing it correctly.
- Users don’t get the results they want from CRM because they use the system wrong or don’t implement it properly.
- Users don’t know how to use the system. (Nobody bothered training them!)
- Users migrate from one CRM to another, it all goes wrong, and the new system gets the blame.
- There’s no proper CRM adoption strategy.
But perhaps the No. 1 reason?
Users think they can do CRM integration themselves. They are too proud to ask for help. Or call in an expert. So CRM fails, and their entire business suffers. Often, CRM software isn’t the reason for low adoption. (Certainly not the case with a CRM like Dynamics 365.) No, it’s the people behind CRM integration that cause low adoption rates.
Working with a partner like DCG solves your Dynamics 365 adoption woes. A professional will integrate this CRM into your organization, so you get more value from the system. Implementation services include training, migration, consulting, ongoing support, and more. Call DCG at 844-567-2590, receive a free project assessment or schedule a meeting.
How to Increase CRM Adoption
There are various ways you can boost CRM adoption and working with an implementation partner will help you achieve this goal.
Create a CRM Adoption Plan
So you want to integrate a new CRM into your organization? Congratulations! Before you go any further, you need an action plan — a sequence of steps that ensures successful implementation. Many businesses ignore this critical step and then wonder why CRM adoption failed. For the record, one-third of CRM projects fail.
Your adoption plan should encompass all the processes and procedures involved in CRM integration — and the people who will make it all happen. Include objectives, timeframes, and any challenges you see on the horizon. It’s best to prepare for the worst-case scenario and do everything in your power to avoid it.
Manage the Expectations For Your New System
Realize successful CRM implementation won’t take a day or two. It’s a process that involves multiple strategies, from data transfer to disposition to deployment. Don’t skip any of the steps. Managing expectations will increase adoption rates in your organization and help you plan for the future.
Make Sure Your Entire Team is On Board
Ensure your whole team supports integration, and then delegate specific tasks to specific team members — documentation, data governance, user training, etc. You’ll still need someone to oversee the project, preferably a reputable third-party CRM implementation partner who provides impartial guidance and support.
Train Users How to Use the System Properly
User training is one of the most critical components of CRM implementation. A lack of user adoption is likely to happen if users struggle to use the system properly. A CRM implementation partner can connect you with specialists that provide user training solutions based on your requirements.
Dynamic Consultants Group solves the most common Dynamics 365 CRM user adoption challenges.
A professional will help you create a CRM adoption plan, manage expectations, and make sure your entire team supports implementation.
Why is CRM User Adoption Important?
You might think that all CRM implementation problems sort themselves out in the end. It’s a piece of software, so what can go wrong? Many businesses have this attitude, and it’s not a good one. Low CRM adoption can cost companies hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars because they have to implement and then reimplement an entire system. This delay results in poor CRM outcomes such as customer retention, segmentation, and improved data privacy. It all gets messy pretty quickly.
CRM adoption is critical because employees have to feel comfortable with a system to achieve results, whether that’s better communication or improved customer knowledge. Proper implementation is not only essential to the success of the CRM project but the entire health of your organization.
DCG knows the common problems companies face during CRM implementation. User adoption problems, in particular, are common and end up costing many companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. As an industry leader, DCG provides roadmap solutions that ensure you don’t make the same costly mistakes.
The Best Solution: A CRM Implementation Partner
You might not want to spend money working with a CRM implementation partner. (CRM systems like Dynamics 365 are expensive enough.) The problem with this approach is that things can go wrong if you don’t know how to implement a new CRM system.
Some of the biggest CRM implementation challenges include:
- A lack of communication between team members because of a lack of an overall implementation strategy.
- You don’t know how to use CRM features that benefit your organization. (A far-reaching CRM system like Dynamics 365 has so many features, it’s tough to know where to start.)
- You try to rush implementation. Having unrealistic timelines creates pressure to go-live early or rush the customizations, both can be a long-term disaster as it reduces the time that issues can be found and properly resolved.
These challenges can lead to poor CRM adoption. Working with an expert guide provides a solution. Think of it as an investment. Despite the cost, you could save money in the long run because there will be fewer delays, problems, and re-implementation challenges. You’ll get everything right the first time.
Investing in an established CRM partner provides many benefits.
The best guides:
- Explain the benefits of your CRM so you can get more value from your system.
- Help you train end-users who rely on the software to facilitate day-to-day tasks.
- Identify problems that might occur during implementation.
- Customize your system just the way you like it.
- Make your CRM more user-friendly.
- Reduce the time to implement a new CRM system in your organization.
- Ensure you comply with data governance frameworks like GDPR.
- Save you money.
- Scale your CRM as your company grows.
- Provide you with ongoing consulting and support.
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Today, there are many CRM systems. However, there’s one that stands heads and shoulders above all the rest. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps that combines CRM with enterprise resource planning (ERP). You might be thinking about investing in this platform to integrate data from customers and produce business-critical insights. But you will need to think about user adoption before incorporating Dynamics 365 into your organization. Like other systems, CRM user adoption for Dynamics 365 is an issue.
Dynamic Consultants Group is the trusted Microsoft partner for organizations that want to integrate Microsoft Dynamics 365 into their business.
With a wide range of consulting and support solutions, we always have your back.
Additional Content
Dynamic Consultants Group has managed hundreds of CRM implementations for businesses like yours. As a Microsoft partner and global leader, we provide unparalleled value and guarantee Dynamics 365 CRM success. Our other implement services include training, migration, consulting, ongoing support, and more. For additional information, feel free to read some of the links below: