It’s a journey, not a project: 3 ways to accelerate digital enablement

Earlier in our Journey to digital enablement series, we discussed how to get set up for a successful digital transformation. And one important point to remember about your journey is that it shouldn’t end with your go-live date. In fact, that’s when the journey really gets going.

We knew that what happened after we introduced Salesforce would be critical for our long-term success. That’s because some pitfalls only appear after Day 1 and include the following:

• The solution isn’t easy to use
• The data isn’t accurate
• People aren’t using the solution to its fullest extent

In order to avoid these pitfalls, we embedded three post-implementation activities into our digital adoption strategy.

1. Interactive experiences to drive behavioural change

We knew a single training approach wouldn’t drive meaningful behavioural change worldwide, so we developed a toolkit of interactive training techniques that territory leaders could tailor to their needs. We knew that not every training module would work for every region, so we gave territories the flexibility to choose what techniques work best for them. Toolkit offerings included:

• Immersive learning experiences: We developed escape room-style experiences, where users were given clues to solve a challenge by completing tasks within the Salesforce environment. This provided a fun way for individuals and teams to learn the skills needed to change the way they worked in Salesforce.
• In-context learning: We used the digital adoption platform WalkMe to make training more hands-on, encouraging people to build the digital muscle memory needed to use Salesforce. With the WalkMe technology, we created in-product “Walk-Thrus” to guide users step-by-step through processes and tasks. The app allowed individuals to learn in the moment how to use Salesforce functionalities and become more productive. We’ve since embedded WalkMe into our Salesforce ecosystem to provide ongoing training.
• Gamifying behaviours: We encouraged the competitive spirit of our people by using ClientIQ to facilitate a game whereby users could accumulate points by completing daily tasks in Salesforce that aligned with desired behaviours. Leaderboards were set up, letting people track their progress locally and globally.

Finding fun ways to integrate training into the daily activities of our people let us fuel our new ways of working right from the get-go.

2. Dedicated transition approach

How often have you seen transformation specialists leave two weeks after a solution goes live, believing the journey is over?

We knew our journey of getting people to embrace the digital transformation would take time. That’s why we developed a dedicated approach to help teams transition over the long term. Our approached included:

• Adoption liaisons assigned to each territory to share insights and lessons learned
• Dedicated territory change teams tasked with using global assets to accelerate and standardize local adoption
• Early planning to establish “business as usual” to make sure knowledge transfer and resources were in place prior to the go-live

Our dedicated approach led to successful experiences both during and after the go-live, and there were no critical issues in our key territories.

3. Data to inform what we do

Companies often neglect the value of data when it comes to digital enablement. We wanted to use data fully for our transformation, allowing us to better measure progress and make proactive adjustments to our approach. We facilitated ongoing data and analytics through:

• Adoption dashboards: We used dashboards to help facilitate regular calls to review metrics and explain results so leaders could make better decisions.
• Einstein Analytics: We used a smart analytics platform to gather and share insights into user interactions with the entire Salesforce ecosystem.
• Introhive: We used a data science platform powered by Introhive to make things easier for our people. It helped automate mundane daily tasks — like entering contacts into Salesforce — and it also helped improve our data quality and accuracy. Data points are automatically entered into Salesforce so they’re no longer prone to human error and duplication.
• WalkMe: We used metrics from WalkMe to identify the most valued training Walk-Thrus, Walk-Thrus that required redesign and additional Walk-Thrus that our people needed to successfully complete processes in Salesforce. Using WalkMe metrics and adoption dashboard metrics, WalkMe provided us with insights into where our people were struggling most on the platform, and we leveraged this to develop new Walk-Thrus and user experiences.
• ClientIQ: We used leaderboards in each territory to celebrate successful use cases of Salesforce.

By using a range of data, tools and reporting metrics, we were able to keep our stakeholders informed about our digital adoption progress. As a result, they could proactively adjust our approach as needed.

The next blog in our Journey to digital enablement series will share the collaborative and agile approach we took to develop “one instance” of technology across our global network of firms.

Find out how our digital enablement approach can help you on your journey. Contact us today.

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