Tips for Training Employees on a New CRM

Tips from Top Corporate Training Company 

With the help of a team of experts, we identified five top tips that can improve your next CRM implementation.   And make no mistake; CRM system training is extremely critical.

With research from the National Computing Center (NCC) reporting that as many as one in three companies think their CRM rollouts have delivered only limited benefits, organizations need to get their training right if they are to avoid underperformance from their CRM systems.

Top Five Tips from Leading Training Companies:

CRM training is an ongoing process

CRM training in an ongoing process and a long-term investment.  Ensure you maintain the lasting value of your investment by providing refresher training courses on a regular basis. Refresh users on the importance and technicalities of the features they know and highlight new skills that can improve future performance.

Also, provide users with a go-to reference guide and encourage them to use it.  This will provide comfort and security to users as they start the process of using the new system.

Use the training to establish CRM best practices

Use the opportunity of a new software rollout to establish CRM best practices right from the start – particularly around data input.  This can be as simple as ensuring data is always entered in the same format; i.e. names and addresses should always be entered in Title Case, since some CRM systems read data differently if Title Case is not used.

Train users on what they need to know first

First things first, ensure all users are trained on how to get their job done in the system.  The users will need to see how the use of the CRM software in training matches the way in which they will use it after training.  For example, the sales team needs to know how to track leads and create activities to build a pipeline forecast, but explaining the multiple “stages” of opportunity records could be saved for future “refresher” training sessions.  

Don’t overlook the importance of establishing a solid learning strategy

Prior to the CRM rollout, has your organization developed a solid learning strategy to ensure lasting value in your investment?  Taking the time to develop a learning strategy can help your organization understand the spectrum of learners; i.e. in the 3,000 users that need to be trained there will be variety of learning styles.  A solid learning strategy mitigates the risk of having to repeat the training and reveals barriers sooner rather than later. 

Get “buy-in” from the whole organization

One of the key factors of a successful CRM implementation is to make sure the users “buy-into” the system and understand the benefits it can deliver.  Sell it! Internal marketing is sometimes underestimated, but when implementing a new CRM system you need to sell it to your organization.

Also, start the training early, with regular hints and tips emails throughout the implementation.  By the time it’s live, they’ll be chomping at the bit to get started.

There are many benefits to a CRM system, you can expect to work smarter, generate more leads, follow them up better, simplify your order management and invoicing processes, provide better customer service and grow your business. With a training outsourcing partner like TrainingFolks, you’ll find the implementation process to be smooth and pain-free with the proper support and user training

Are you thinking about making your CRM implementation virtual with a skilled team of facilitators?

If so, transitioning from the more comfortable Instructor-Led Training to Virtual Instructor- Led Training (vILT) can be overwhelming, but is doable.  Here are some idea’s to help ease the growing pains associated with the transition: 

Click here to view our industry leading "TRANSITIONING DESIGN FROM CLASSROOM TO vILT" tool.