What do you do if your new employees struggle to learn CRM systems and processes?

If your new employees are struggling to learn CRM systems and processes Provide Comprehensive Training Create Detailed Documentation and Resources Encourage Regular Practice Offer Ongoing Support and Feedback

Build a solid 30/60/90 day plan that has some focus and checkpoints with the CRM. An effective ramp period will build confidence with process and SOPs over time. Partner new hires with Senior employees for shadowing time and mentoring. This will not only help with learning to be efficient with the CRM, but will also help with their overall job responsibilities as well. They are learning from your best people. Check in, check in, check in. Regularly check in with your new hires, even if it is a simple Slack message to ask "how is it going today?" Use your one on one time to walk them through SOPs, process, or just have them do some work in the CRM while you watch. Most important, make sure your new hires know you are in their corner.

You find an easier CRM system. Simple. CRM should be nothing more than a list with tasks. If people can't use it, you've got the wrong one.

The topic is common to any new IS system - how handling change management ? how increase adoption ? Too many companies focus on HOW and WHAT. The only thing is to properly assess the WHY. And it must be done before the project starts. Why a new CRM is useful ? Why users will use it ? Why this feature is mandatory ? If any WHY cannot be answered, the project may be a technical success, but the risk of not reaching the expected goals is high

Observe the performance of new employees as they interact with the CRM system. Note any areas where they seem to struggle or encounter difficulties. Pay attention to signs of frustration, confusion, or hesitation during training sessions or while using the CRM system in their day-to-day tasks.

For all systems that I implement, and admins that I coach, I focus on the development of quick instructional videos for functional steps. So, it is about developing a straight to the point video for a specific topic. Cataloging those videos, and making them easily accessible to the team. The videos should be ideally 30 seconds long, demonstrating the action with a voice over. For sure if it's going to take longer than 60 seconds to explain it, break it down into smaller videos.

CRM systems are very important for the companies to keep track of all the data about their customers, so to train the new team, 1. Simplify the training with short videos of the system first 2. Small videos about each functionality 3. Then go over with the team, to explain more about how your current team functions with the CRM, and what functions they need to master for their work

Provide comprehensive training: Offer thorough training sessions on how to use the CRM system and explain the related processes in detail. It needs to be hands on and work along with someone who knows the system and how to use it. Offer hands-on practice: Allow employees to practice using the CRM system in a simulated environment or provide real-life scenarios where they can apply their knowledge. Break down complex tasks: Divide the training into smaller, manageable modules to make it easier for employees to understand and retain the information.

CRMs are complex sometimes, especially to new joiness. As a mentor or advisor, you must cover 3 basics: 1) UI and Functionalities 2) Purpose of using the CRM as per the project 3) Make them understand the daily process and allow them to explore the tool on their own. This will make them use the tool judiciously and will make them proficient over time!

Making the CRM easy to use is key to CRM Training. Define the wants/needs/fears of CRM users. Write training processes to address them with a method that drives success. If the CRM is built with the wants/needs/fears of end users & management in mind, training flows naturally. Salespeople do not like being forced into a new system. They bring their flavor to Sales processes to exceed Sales goals. We hire Sales to find gaps & fill them to drive Sales. They also see gaps in the CRM & Sales processes as well. Listen to Salespeople, to create solutions that help them succeed. Update the CRM with the best ideas to keep up with innovation & drive competitive differentiation. It is how the Sales Org grows.

Create an internal forum or chat group where new employees can ask questions and get answers from their peers and superiors. This promotes a culture of knowledge sharing and can be a quick way for new employees to learn and solve problems.

Knowledge bases are great but when and where to use the resources are key. A great way to serve resources for when they are most relevant is by visually mapping your user and customer journey and aligning relevant resources to respective stages Matching learning resource types to learning styles helps users understand information in the preferred learning style such as video, text, audio, infographics and practical exercises.

Provide internal visual resources such as infographics and video tutorials. Additionally, establish a communication channel dedicated to the CRM, where new employees can ask questions if they encounter difficulties. On the first day of CRM training, provide the following resources: a) FAQ b) How-to guide (handbook) c) Introduction d) Getting started guide (the A-B-C of the CRM) Furthermore, conduct a check-in after a week or two to assess the new employee's progress. This will determine the areas needing further guidance and help plan the next steps accordingly.

Provide accessible resources like video tutorials, user guides, and interactive quizzes. Tailor materials to suit different learning styles and preferences. Ensure easy access to resources through a centralized platform or learning management system. Regularly update and expand resources based on feedback and evolving training needs.

You need to think of and have different resources available for different personality types of learning: visual, readers, doers, etc.

One way I’ve found to be helpful is to sometimes let the student become the teacher. This means giving the trainee an opportunity to create a training manual or a training session on an area of the CRM that they believe they have mastered. Have them present it to others. Often times you may find that they have learned a new way of the system unique to them. This is a form of knowledge share. They can even showcase an area that requires a bit of tweaking or positive redirection based on how they interpreted the initial teaching. We can all learn from each other.

Regularly organize hands-on training sessions where new employees can practice using the CRM system. You could make this a fun competition, where employees are rewarded for completing certain tasks efficiently.

Regular practice, and training on any new updates, will help the team to be more productive in terms of using CRM system, and helping in their respective area. There could be some kind of competition as well, of how different employees do certain tasks in best possible more productive and time efficient ways, which will provide a perspective to the organization to improve their operations.

The best way to do this is to sit at their desk, make them hover over your shoulder, then you demonstrate the things they were supposed to do the whole time. Make sure to be sarcastic and passive aggressive so people have plenty of things to be laughing about while you do this. If they're salespeople, make sure they know that they owe you all the commissions they get for each day you need to help them.

Encourage regular practice by integrating it into daily routines. Set specific goals and provide incentives for achieving milestones. Foster a supportive environment where experimentation is encouraged, and mistakes are seen as opportunities for learning. Offer constructive feedback and praise progress to motivate continued practice.

Keep a healthy relationship with your trainees and notate anyone that learns quickly and has a positive attitude. Bring them in, when available and approved, to be a training assistant or Champion. Build a pool of these in the departments and create a special channel for them to be in. Feed them snapshots of new stuff to help build excitement on the new feature. Encourage questions in this channel, as this team will be your best idea generators. Those that show exceptional eagerness in learning, guide them to additional learning material on the CRM of choice.

This pairing of employees in what some industries or workplaces would refer to as "buddy system" has proven to be highly effective and paved the way for some groundbreaking individual personal improvement and upskilling along with phenomenal team camaraderie ?

Keep an eye out for early adopters and closely support their mastery of the CRM platform. This team expertise can then help support other team members with a train the trainer adoption model. Just be conscious that this new responsibility may take away from their typical BAU which needs to be carefully considered and rewarded. If capacity permits they can also support with documentation to pay forward knowledge to future new hires.

Implement a rotating mentorship program, where new employees get to learn from different mentors in various departments. This can provide them with a broader understanding of how the CRM system is used across the organization.

Placing new hires among seasoned employees is a highly effective method for learning customer relationship management (CRM) systems. On-the-job learning not only facilitates real-time problem-solving and knowledge application but also promotes retention through practical engagement. This approach outperforms traditional training methods, which are often quickly forgotten. By encouraging new team members to seek guidance from their experienced colleagues for task completion, we ensure that they not only learn the how but also understand the why behind each process.

KPI tracking of user adoption and engagement in the system is key to seeing if they know how to use the CRM system. It's not just about logins, it's about actively engaging in the CRM and not keeping anything offline because they think it's easier that way.

Use a CRM system that provides analytics on user performance. This can help you track how well new employees are learning to use the system and identify any common issues they’re facing.

Active listening and leading with empathy are indispensable qualities for effective leadership. By actively listening to your team members, you demonstrate genuine interest in their perspectives, concerns, and ideas. This fosters a culture of trust and openness, where individuals feel valued and understood. Through empathetic leadership, you cultivate a supportive environment where team members feel empowered to voice their opinions and contribute to the collective goals. Understanding their emotions and experiences allows you to tailor your approach, providing guidance and support that resonates with their needs.

A progress of any CRM can be reviewed monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annually. Organisation’s revenue/GM for these periods can be accessed to check the progress. Basis the analysis, if there is any change in strategy required, you could simplify it by considering basic steps to strengthen it because excessive CRM may also have cons.

We should encourage employees to give feedback on the training process.This can help identify areas for improvement and ensure that the training is effective and engaging. The goal is to make the new employee feel confident and competent in using the CRM system, which will help them contribute effectively to the organization's success.

The biggest challenge with CRM adoption, (or any workplace technology) is that the tech is often seen as the solution in itself. So often it is rolled out before adequate thinking has gone into people and process. For any new technology to be effective you first have to define how you want the business to work. This means how people need to behave differently and what new processes they need to follow. The technology then becomes the enabler of this way of working. People, process then technology. Always in that order. Then over-invest in change management. Deeply embedded ways of working take months and months to change. If you don’t monitor it closely people will quickly drift back, running shadow systems/excel pipelines.

You have to make sure your leaders and managers are modelling using CRM in their day to day, logging their activities, and using the insights the tool offers in their operational and strategic meetings. I paraphrase the adage, "if it isn't in CRM it didn't happen" is very valid. Now, that assumes that during implementation you kept the tool relatively simple and minimised the amount of data you are asking your people to enter - otherwise you'll just get bad data or people not adopting....

Remember - it's a lot less important to consider what you could have done better than to hyper-focus on all the ways this is really their fault. You have a lot on your plate and you don't even get paid well for it (or maybe you do but who cares). Don't forget that.

The CRM should be user friendly, and one of the thing CRM can provide is transparency for the work of their team, and as a manager you can have overview of your teams performance. CRM has many benefits, in different levels, but as a manager, it is easy to keep the track of your teams performance and also can review, comment and advice and how to improve their performance.