5 Things Every Salesforce Training Program Needs

According to recent statistics, companies that have adopted Salesforce in the last few years report a 52% higher user adoption rates and an average of 132% increase in sales. It is clear, with these statistics in mind, that in order for your business to get off on the right foot you need to invest in well-thought out Salesforce training strategy and plan.

Today, I’d like to take a look at 5 things that I think every Salesforce training program needs.

1. Task-based Training

Different people use Salesforce in different ways. For instance, your customer service team will use Salesforce differently from your sales team. Furthermore, even when talking a single team, different employees have different responsibilities and therefore will perform a different set of online actions. It is therefore important that you specialize your training, basing it to what will help each category of users to become more productive in their roles. While still at it, try to make your training interesting and easy to follow. Here are some tips on how to make the most of task-based training.

• Create some documentation that gives your team a resource of reference, other than you, every-time they want to execute a process. This will ensure that you’re not involved every time a person wants to apply something you taught them.

•  Breakdown the training into small portions. Users love it when all they have to do is follow steps to get their tasks done.

•  Include some screenshots in your reference documentation. This will make it even easier for your team to grasp your training.

2. Take advantage of Useful Training Tools 

Let everyone learn at their own speed. Different people have different learning styles and that’s pretty much why you need to make your Salesforce training can become more personalized and flexible. Online guidance tools such as WalkMe can go a long way in ensuring easy dissemination of training information, in the exact moment of need, i.e. when the user is performing a specific action. Sometimes referred to as in-work performance support, the benefit of these tools allow managers to shorten training times and costs, and get their workers up to speed quickly, allowing them to learn as they work. In addition to online guidance and performance support tools, we’ve seen increasing adoption of other technologies to foster Salesforce training, such as making it mobile accessible, and utilizing learning games that can be used to make learning more interesting, engaging and long-lasting.

3. Consistency is Key

Salesforce training is an on-going process. So roll up your sleeves and prepare for a continuous learning process. This is the best thing to do when you want your users to remain productive in their use of Salesforce. Besides that, continuous training is important to keep your employees updated when updates are applied to your database. Consistent training helps keep all your teams consistent in the long run. If you don’t have enough time for this and you don’t have the right training tools to help you do this, you can outsource vendor services. Only make sure that you’re outsourcing from a company with tech savvy employees.

4. Ensure a Smooth Transition

“Benefit selling” is one of the most effective ways to introduce salesforce training. Users want to know how this training is going to help them before they commit to taking it. You’ve got to tell them what they’re going to take home with them to win their attention. Once you win their attention, it becomes extremely easy to drive your training points straight to them. Why? Because they know what is in store for them. In other words you first give them an incentive to train before going ahead to issue them with the training. That is how the whole concept of “Benefit selling” works for Salesforce training. Before you embark on the full switchover, first run a test run with a small sample of your target audience as the test dummies.

5. One Step at a Time

Don’t pressure yourself trying to do everything all at once. Take one step at a time. Don’t get carried away in the midst of it all and lose focus. Salesforce training is a big project and as you probably know, big projects require you to go slow so you don’t leave any stones unturned. So don’t rush things, sit down and plan, and then proceed to implement your plan one piece at a time.

So there you go. The five essential things that you need to focus on to run a successful Salesforce training program. Be sure to follow each one of them to the letter and you’ll surely have an easier training time. Remember, the easier the training, the more your employees will take in and understand, which will result in a more successful work environment and, overall, a more successful business.