Driving Dynamics CRM 3.0 User Adoption

Posted on September 27th, 2006 mitch  Print 1 comment

Gaining user acceptance and adoption of Dynamics CRM can, of course, be greatly increased with proper instruction and training.

I have begun to notice a pattern in acceptance should you be installing CRM into an organization that does not currently utilize Outlook, or uses it minimally.

If the user isn't familiar and comfortable with Outlook, installing the CRM Outlook client can confuse the heck out of them.  This is caused by the fact that once the Outlook client is installed, the user now has at least two different methods to do many things.  And, if they don't know where Outlook ends, and where the CRM client begins, it can lead to more than a little bit of frustration as they attempt to determine the correct way to do something.

But doesn't everyone use Outlook?

Not as much as you think, especially in smaller organizations, and especially if they don't have Exchange installed. Either they use Outlook Express for email or use Outlook and then, only for email.  That means that things many of us take for granted, like: Contacts, Scheduling, and Shared or Group Calendars are totally new and different.  New and different many times is translated into "scary" and scary is bad.

Working through the issues

Here is one approach that I think will work in many organizations who make little or no use of Outlook.

1) Take time to know and understand the product knowledge-level of user community.

2) Perform a phased implementation and get the user working and productive with Outlook before CRM is implemented.

3) Have you or your staff be physically present during this initial phase so that people can ask stupid and embarrassing questions.

Note: There are no such things as stupid and embarrassing questions, but people still think they exist.

4) Perform a simple, quarter or half-day group training session so people can get an exposure to the product.

5) Engage with the users one-on-one, to provide personalized responses to questions and issues. 

People will generally react much better to personal coaching than group training and will tend to ask better and more questions when outside of the group setting.

6) By this point you have probably finished your CRM installation, configuration, and customization activities and it is now time to roll-out the CRM Outlook client.

7) Repeat steps 3 through 5 and outline the differences between Outlook and CRM and discuss in detail how the two products work together.

8) Have users keep a notepad to document questions and concerns as they use the system.

9) Perform frequent visits to each user's office to review and address any questions and concerns they may have document in their notepad.

While these steps may not handle everything you encounter, I think it covers most of the issues that I've seen in the past couple CRM implementations.

If you have experiences of your own that you would like to share, please leave a comment.

Dynamics CRM, Installation, Outlook Client

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