September 27, 2011

Notes from the Field: Dealing with User Adoption

Sep. 27, 2011 at 07:35 PM | By Emily Meehan | Comment Count

Any institution that has endured even a day’s worth of due diligence on education CRM systems and research will inevitably come to understand that a successful CRM deployment is dependent on much more than the technology itself. At Hobsons, we emphasize the importance of bringing together people, process and technology before during and after the education CRM implementation.

While this is common knowledge for so many CRM customers, the reality is that when recruitment cycles and application deadlines loom, and time is limited, things can slip through the cracks. A business requirement is overlooked here, an assumption is made there. As a project manager and CRM implementation specialist, my hope is that everybody will live, breath and love their dear CRM that we worked so hard to configure together. “Did each department have a seat at the table during vendor evaluation?” Check. “Did we capture every field of data anyone could possibly want? Check. Does the technology do what we need it to do? Check. Will everyone use it? Of course. Why wouldn’t they?”

But sometimes they don’t.

And it’s now 3 weeks post- go live and inquiries are still sitting in the queue, conversations are still recorded on sticky notes and in people’s heads, and attendee names at recruitment fairs are still living in notebooks and excel spreadsheets. Or, horror of horrors, they are entering data into multiple systems now (“We want back up in case the new system isn’t working!”). And you’re having night sweats because this project was SUPPOSED to be over by now, and you have new responsibilities ahead now that the project is SUPPOSED to be over.

What happened? Oftentimes, while institutions agree that CRM is about people, process, strategy and technology, the immutable truth is that old habits are hard to break. Our observations from the field have allowed us to provide some leading questions and high-level recommendations to help you prepare or perhaps even make some mid-course corrections to help your end-users scale the adoption curve. Here are four recommendations:

Were people prepared with the knowledge that they would need to work differently?

Introducing a new CRM to your admissions and recruitment process sometimes means that the way people work will have to change (hopefully for the better). A project manager and system champion may realize this and may optimistically envision a brief and relatively smooth transition from the old way of doing things to the new, but for the part-time graduate assistant frantically answering the phones and greeting walk-ins, or the road warrior recruiter pumping hands at the domestic and international recruitment fairs, or the detail-oriented 15 year veteran applications manager already managing the transfer of data into several systems, the new world order may be met with some resistance.

Recommendation: Understand in detail how a user’s job function might change. Communicate this early and often to your end-users and provide specific, positive examples of life after CRM, and be sure there are resources available to assist them with this transition. Lean on your vendor for best practice examples and approaches for transitioning and onboarding new users of the system. Ultimately, one of the goals of implementing a CRM should be to make their lives easier and help them work more efficiently, not less.

Is the system configured in a way that makes it very easy to use?

CRM systems now provide seemingly limitless levels of flexibility and function. As these systems mature, people are almost paralyzed with available options for changing or optimizing their processes. In this regard, we recommend a less-is-more approach for end-users with very narrowly defined roles. Keep in mind that at time of rollout, your comfort level as a system champion is far more advanced than anyone’s.

Recommendation: Consider a phased approach, setting realistic goals for end-users to achieve in the short term. After each phase, get a temperature read on comfort-level, then optimize and tweak as necessary before introducing new system functionality. Have measurable goals and desired metrics established for each phase so that you know when you reach your milestones.

How much support from above is available for driving adoption?

Without bi-partisan senior level support to authorize, guide and even enforce a new way of managing relationships with prospective students – the client project manager responsible for configuring the system may be politically outnumbered in his or her efforts to drive real change. This is especially important among organizations rolling out a new system to multiple users or departments. You already have a full time job, how much extra time can you dedicate to training, preparing and managing system comfort level for even one new user, let alone ten, twenty or more?

Recommendation: Establish regular meetings with senior leadership members who can support adoption efforts and ensure users are not tempted to regress to the old way of doing things. Executive leadership can provide ways to keep teams accountable and can creatively incorporate system usage or other key performance indicators into performance reviews to avoid mutiny on the CRM.

Does your CRM Implementation/Rollout Project Have an End-Date?

It shouldn’t. Many institutions approach education CRM with an urgency to meet a specific business challenge, then configure and complete the project so the organization can move on to the next mission critical project. This once-and-done approach can stall the learning experience among end-users and also risks losing the attention from executive leadership as new projects come up. The value of the CRM is in the actionable data it provides. The reality is that as student expectations evolve over time, so should your relationship management efforts.

Recommendation: The best examples we see are among institutions with a group of experienced system users that gather together regularly to brainstorm approaches, answer questions, or simply experiment and push the envelope with new or existing functionality. These individuals take the findings back to their teams and put it to work. “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.”—Peter Drucker.