Power of 3 Consulting Blog

I’ve gotten lazy. And tired. Yes, I know from years of experience that training is likely the number one way for my clients to get the most return on investment (ROI) on their software implementation project costs. Yet it is the first thing that gets slashed from the budget, or dramatically cut, to save money. And I have been letting it happen.

Our goal with clients & projects, lately, has been to at least have *some* training survive the cash-crunch-budget-squeeze. And I have run out of ways to respond to the question, “Can’t we just have you train one person and then s/he will train the rest of us?” “Yeah, um, sure, I mean, not really. At least not in the same way…” The real answer to that question? “No. Your people are not CRM trainers. It’s not what they do for a living. It is our job and one we happen to be very good at, and, I promise you, it will be the best money you can spend with us.”

So I was sitting with my new favorite client, Nano-Tex, and the training topic came up. I suggested a half-day on-site with a two-hour online follow up session a couple of weeks later. They scowled. I braced myself for the fight over training. Imagine my surprise when they said, “That’s not enough time. Our people really need to get comfortable with this software, because we are going to expect them to really use it.”

What? Did they just ask me for MORE training? OMG! Yes, they did. Thanks to their insight and desire for the success of their CRM project, they asked for MORE training. We then had a highly productive and thoughtful conversation about the amount of training, what needed to be covered in each session, the length of sessions and location of training (on-site vs. on-line).

What we finalized was 2 half day, on-site training sessions, back-to-back over two days. They flew their sales reps into their corporate office, and at the end of day one, we gave them some homework assignments to complete before the training the next morning. Day two we reviewed the homework and explored more of their ACT! software functionality. Next we have 4 hours of on-line training with the end users scheduled, and 2 more hours of training just for the management team on running reports and queries so that they can start to use the information in their ACT! database to more effectively manage their business. Have I mentioned how much I like these people?

As I left their offices after the second day of on-site training, I felt great. I could really see the lights going off for their sales people on how to best use their new database. And I am looking forward to the on-line sessions we have scheduled, because I know that they are really using the database, so they’ll have lots of questions for me.

Since the training, we have traded several e-mails about the project, and from their side, they told me that they realized from a previous (failed) Salesforce.com implementation three important things:

1. You only get out of an application what you put into it.
2. Sales people typically reflect their management’s interest & commitment level to these initiatives.
3. The training was the key to overcoming an historical anti-CRM bias in their organization.

I just got an e-mail from Bob, their Sales SVP: “Stacy – everyone feels optimistic and excited about rolling out ACT!, you were terrific!” That e-mail made my day. Because that’s what we want to hear from every one of our clients – that their people are “optimistic and excited.” Really, it doesn’t get better than that for a CRM consultant.

So I have a renewed energy around training, thanks to Nano-Tex, and will be holding the line firm when folks try to cut training from the implementation budget. Or I will at least be more vocal about letting them know why that’s not the best plan.

OK, coffee adventures, Part Deux. Back to Barefoot Coffee in San Jose Monday night with our band of coffee aficionados and foodies. This time to be schooled in latte art by Marie. So why am I, a CRM consultant, writing about coffee, again? I think it’s because these little field trips are shaking up my business brain, and being around these folks at Barefoot who are beyond passionate about coffee, is such a buzz. Get it? Buzz, coffee, caffeine, buzz??? I am so funny.

So latte art is pretty cool, and like a lot things in my life, I had been trying to teach it to myself by reading the internets and practicing at home. Guess what? I had it all WRONG! So when I put myself, for just a few  minutes,  in the very patient, knowledgeable and supremely capable hands of Marie, I made a heart! OK, maybe it looks diseased, but it’s a heart!  Really, if you squint at the pic and tilt your head to the left, there, don’t you see it?

My latte heART

Marie's latte heART...something to aspire to.

So where is the CRM tie-in, you might be wondering… me too. No, just kidding. Here it is – in the past 2 weeks I have talked to at least 5 prospects, and not one of them have ever received formal, custom training on their CRM application. Not one. No surprise, they are calling a consultant because they just aren’t getting what they had hoped for out of their CRM system. So they start by asking me about custom reports, custom database fields, custom integration with a back-end system, etc. And I can’t help but wonder, if they just set aside some time (and money) how much more they could be getting out of their current system, just the way it is, with some training.

The two biggest tips on getting the most ROI (return on investment) out of your CRM application are:

1. Have a road map going into the implementation, so that you have a clear picture of where you are going, what success will look like once you get there and what return you are expecting.
2. Invest in training. Not online, self-paced, generic training, but training with a professional who can customize the training session(s) to your road map. (See # 1)

I promise you, just a few hours with a qualified CRM trainer, like me, and I’ll have you making hearts out of your contact data. OK, not really, but I had to go for the latte art tie-in. Here’s what you will get – a much deeper knowledge of the very powerful tool you probably already own, and how to make that knowledge work for you and your business. Next week’s coffee adventure: cupping. No, really. Stay tuned.