5 tips for Independent Broker Dealer SalesForce Adoption

SalesForce Adoption is different when a company has Independent Broker Dealer. In a traditional adoption you can get management buy in. Often a key mistake is that assuming the user isn't logging in because the they don't want to, when in reality the user may not know how to log in. In theory a one time webinar is all you need to train a group of users spread out across the country; however, its important to make sure the users know the difference between training and a demo. Its also important to follow up with the users, that are not logging or otherwise not using the system correctly, to see if they need additional help.

1 Help them make the right choice

A company that uses Independent Broker or Dealers often can't force the Broker or Dealers to use the software as these users often buy their own software or may be Independent contractors that work for several companies. In this case the Broker or Dealers are more like franchises or affiliates, where they need to be brought on one at a time or by the group of people they work with. Since these user have a choice, adoption is a cross between sales and business analyst. I find it useful to build upon what they know and assume they are unfamiliar with SalesForce terminology.

2 Use terms they already know

They may be more familiar with excel and outlook so you can build upon that.

Each user may have their own system or data source they need migrated to SalesForce. Data can always be added latter, but starting off with migrating existing data. An integration like outlook sync will increase user adoption, because otherwise the users will need to continue using the old system.

3 Invite their fellow associates

They may have their own, or several of them may share, a support Admin assistant or coordinator. These support user report to one or more brokers but from a SalesForce hierarchy they may need to be above the the users they support in order to do work on behalf of the user they support. Most new user won't know what SalesForce is, so don't waist time asking them if they want to share each object with their support user; instead, the choice is to either: share all with support or they don't want support. Permissions can always be changed latter, and you can start them off with no sharing if unsure.Some may actually work with different group for different reasons, including domain knowledge groups.

Additionally, users have a number options to share with each other that don't require an admin to set up. I had one user tell me SalesForce was useless until I showed him how to use personal groups.

4 Be flexible

When bring on lots of brokers from various locations or across the globe, you need to be flexible in the use of the fields. While some fields will have specific meaning it good to give the users other fields that they can may use for filters for their own reporting needs. With large groups of users, that are use to doing things their own way, less customization is more flexibility. You can't please everyone but you can try to give them something that's useful to most.

5 Train, follow up, and train

User may not be use getting a username and password from support@salesforce.com because they expect to be getting an official corporate email for security reasons. User may also mistake a training session for a demo with more information. Additionally user need to be activated in order for some permissions to be set up (like groups); so make sure users are set back to not active, if their Log In Email has not been sent out yet.
Start by providing official notification of what the companies plans are and what the user should expect to receive and do (next steps). These plans should include training session dates and where log in comes from. Warn the user to check their spam for the the login and who to notify it it doesn't arrive be a certain date. For training give them multi time slots to choose from. Although its good to train an entire team at once, don't let one person delay the entire team. Some of these people are on the road a lot and their support user may be the one doing most of the work. By having multi training slots users have the option of repeating the the training; as well as, taking it at a time that is convenient to them.
Chatter groups are good a Questions and Answers, but be careful not to squish discussions. Often a mistake of help desk is to quickly say no it can't be done or spread fear of doing something. The goal is to encourage system use, and just because method is not yet a best practice doesn't mean it can't become one.