Getting buy-in from your team

One of the biggest challenges in rolling out a new CRM or a new set of features is getting your team to buy into the plan.

Your team will have to invest a lot in the change. They'll need training, and they'll need to change their way of working to fit the new features.

That's not easy for them. And they know it.

The best way I've ever seen to overcome this is pretty simple (though not always easy or obvious):

Start with their pain. Understand how your current systems are limiting their work. Name the specific pain points they’re experiencing now, and demonstrate how the new system will solve those problems.

For example, they may already feel that they're

• Wasting time on boring and tedious tasks, or

• Dealing with too many complaints from members, or

• Unable to get the information they need to do their jobs well, or

• Struggling to hit their monthly goals.

Naturally, your whole team feels a duty to do whatever is best for the organization, so you could just try explaining to them that your changes “are awesome for all of us.”

But we're all human, and what's best for the group is not always enough to make us feel good about change. Because change is difficult.

If you can show them how your changes will help them, they're much more likely to be excited about what you're building for them.

All the best,
A.