Change management : 5 reasons to invest from the start

A lot of technological projects end up failing. This is either because they have been stopped before being finished or they have been implemented but never used. How do you ensure a better adoption of CRM? The key is to invest in change management from the beginning of the project. Here are 5 ways investing in change management from the beginning will lead your digital transformation to success.

You have found the best CRM solution for your company. You have invested tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on its implementation. But what happens if in the end the users do not use it? Without proper change management, your efforts might be useless. This is a reality for many companies:

• 70% of change initiatives fail to meet their goal

How do you stop your CRM from becoming a decorative wall paper? How do you ensure a better adoption of CRM? The key is to invest in change management from the beginning of the project. This is what you will discover in this first article on a series of ways to increase the adoption of your technological projects.  Here are the 5 ways in which an early investment in change management will lead your project to success:

1 - Your team excels in technology, not in individuals

Your IT team will do everything possible to ensure that the IT solution works. But your team is not particularly concerned with user adoption… Companies often do not have any employees that are specialized in change management.  

➤ A change management consultant will help you consider all the factors needed to optimize the adoption of the CRM solution. This is conditional to them being involved from the start of the project!

2 - Change management goes beyond allocating a training budget

Although it is a good idea to allocate a budget for a training session once the solution is ready, it is not enough. Change management also means creating designated teams and pilot groups to test the solution at different stages.  

➤ Change management makes it possible to progressively validate the efficiency of the project.  

3 - Clarifying vision and communication

Poor communication is often the cause of project failures. Change management begins with establishing an agreement on ways to manage change.

➤ Creating clear communication strategies will help you to set realistic objectives and better communicate them to all parties involved. You will also be able to better plan each step.

4 - Users involved in identifying the information they need

What if the information in your CRM is not useful to your users? What if the essential data needed for them to do their job properly was missing? Would they want to use your new software?

➤ By investing in change management, you will be asked to consult your users at all stages of the project. This will prevent you from going back to a subsequent step.  

5- Users adopt the change if they see its relevance

Resistance to change is often perceived as a negative aspect. However, this is not necessarily the case. Perhaps you have not yet been able to prove to your employees that this is a better option? Yes, the older employees can be sceptical. Imagine spending 20 years in the same place and seeing new and different teams try unsuccessful changes.... Their scepticism may be reflective of their previous experience.

➤ Having a clearer communication plan, will enable you to better convince the users of the benefit and utility that the change will bring.  

+ Final objective: Maximize the adoption of your CRM

In the end, all this will allow you to increase the adoption of your project among users! To summarize, investing in change management minimizes resistance to change. You will see results appear by investing in this area even a little bit. But without investment, the efficiency of your digital transformation is compromised. To conclude, change management can be seen as a guarantee for the success of your project on several levels! And this is what you will see in the next articles of this series, which will guide you to improve the adoption of your projects by users.

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