Accelerating Change When Moving To A Customer Service or CRM Culture
Yesterday The CRM Guy tweeted a link to a blog post about who should take charge of CRM implementation once the initial project was finished.
When you are implementing ANY change, whether it’s CRM, customer service, or a new product, one way to accelerate the change is to highlight successes by your frontline staff. I’m not talking about a formal best practice process. I’m talking about having one of your frontline staff stand up in a staff meeting or company conference and talk to his or her peers about how successful (s)he is using the new “thing.”
I’ve worked for the American Cancer Society for more than 25 years. During that time I’ve seen a lot of programs and fundraisers come and go. Time after time, I watched as management preached about the new program and frontline staff sat there politely nodding. They were resistant because it was outside their comfort zones requiring them to do things they had never done before.
But every time I saw a peer stand up and talk about how successful he or she had been, it was like throwing gasoline on a fire. WHOOSH!!! The excitement ran through the room.
In the mid-90’s we wanted to introduce Relay For Life in Texas. At that time most staff were used to raising funds through golf tournaments, galas, and wine and cheese parties. Relay was a totally different animal and many staff were resistant to trying it.
Until Mary Anne, a staff person with about a year’s experience stood up at a staff conference and told us how she had raised $35,000 in her first attempt. WHOOSH! Her 10 or 15 minute presentation accelerated the introduction of Relay in Texas like nothing else.
It’s interesting to note that this change occurred first in newer, more inexperienced staff that were more open to new ideas than more experienced staff.
When you are implementing changes, seek out those successes and publicize them. Don’t ignore younger employees; they may be more open minded.
Regards,
Glenn
Follow me on Twitter: txglennross
