When you make an investment, you undoubtedly want it to succeed. SaaS programs are a common investment; anything from process management programs to sales pipeline software or invoicing systems can be purchased to help increase productivity.
The challenge is that 70% of all software investment fails, mainly because users don’t adopt it. There are numerous reasons why users might not adopt new technology, including:
- No business strategy to integrate software within current staff workflows.
- Unaligned staff needs and investment goals.
- No defined measure of investment goals.
Therefore, when you are planning to invest in SaaS, you need to plan for adoption techniques within your team. There are numerous options for this. Here are some of the best, easy to implement and cost-effective solutions:
1. Discover The Champions
In any organisation, there is going to be an influential person or two who could be the champions of the new system. By recruiting them into your adoption strategy, you can better communicate the benefits of the new software to your staff.
The champion should be consulted and asked how they perceive that the new system will help their team. Other team members will be more convinced of the importance of the new system if the champion discusses it in their own words, rather than the repeated words of senior management.
2. Rewards
People like to be rewarded and it is one of the best ways to change behaviour in the long-term. When you begin to implement the new software, set up a usage monitoring system. Define a goal or milestone when you give the user their reward and inform your team.
As soon as you start to see a pickup in user adoption, change the goal to one based on the desired result for the team as a whole.
3. Personalise The Benefits
Your business might benefit from your investment, but what about your employees? They might not see the advantages of changing their behaviour and this will lead to poor adoption.
However, by switching your focus from the business gains to their gains, you can increase the adoption rate. There are several ways you could characterise the benefits to your team including:
- Making it easier to complete tasks.
- Improved communication between departments.
- More transparent system.
Look at any initiative from your team’s point of view and work out what suits them.
4. Training
This might sound obvious, but sometimes businesses roll out a new system and forget to train their staff to use it. Staff get confused and then revert back to the old ways.
Instead, in the months before it is implemented, train your team on the new system. This is also a good opportunity to discover champions in the team and who is resistant.
After the software has been implemented, ensure training is on-going. Collective meetings where employees can share their findings are useful as a way to problem solve and make the best use of any new investment.
5. Don’t Settle For Anything But The Best
After your implementation, always look for new techniques or activities that can make the SaaS software fit better within your business’ culture. Also look for new technology, add-ons or APIs that can improve the user experience.
Don’t settle for anything in your business that doesn’t improve everyone’s working life. Bring in your staff and ask them what they think would make the product better – then find it. This will help staff feel more valuable and willing to use your system.
Increase Your Staff’s Adoption Of New Technology
Don’t wait for your staff to give up on a new SaaS product. You’ve spent time and effort researching the product – encourage your staff to adopt it by involving them in the implementation process, training them and rewarding them for their use. That way you will make the most of your SaaS investment.
What are your tips for getting a team to adopt a new SaaS product? Have you had a success story you want to share?
Let us know in the comments below.
