How to Get Everyone Onboard With Salesforce

Dear David,

I work at a company where we use Salesforce as our CRM system, but we don’t have any onboarding processes for new users. 

As a result, adoption of the platform is low, and very few people understand how to use it or why we use it. 

This lack of understanding has created a lot of frustration for senior management because it has made it nearly impossible to generate accurate reports since so many people are still relying on spreadsheets instead of Salesforce.

I’m trying to solve this problem, but I feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. 

What can I do to get more people to use Salesforce effectively? 

How can I ensure that users are appropriately trained and motivated to input data into the system? 

Is there an onboarding process that would help get everyone on board with using the platform?

 Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Confused Admin

Dear Confused Admin,

You’re facing a challenging situation at your company regarding user adoption for Salesforce. 

The first step in getting more people to use the platform is creating an effective onboarding process. 

Establishing a formal training program is essential for helping users learn how to use the system correctly and efficiently. 

Consider providing instructional materials such as tutorial videos, online, live video-training sessions, or in-person workshops demonstrating how each feature works and why they are valuable for their job functions. 

Additionally, create incentives for users who complete their onboarding training – offering rewards such as badges, or points (and sometimes, something as silly as corporate swag) will encourage them to stay motivated and engaged with the system.

Once everyone is adequately trained on using Salesforce properly, it will be easier to ensure they consistently enter data into the system correctly. 

This should alleviate some of the pressure senior management is experiencing when needing reports pulled from the platform. 

A successful engagement strategy involves reinforcing positive behavior with recognition or rewards whenever possible – this way, everyone becomes invested in their success.

For more insight on this topic, check out these articles:

• How To Create An Impactful Salesforce Training Curriculum
• How to Keep your Salesforce Data Clean and Organized
• How to Improve Data Quality & User Adoption of Salesforce

Good luck!

David Giller