01703: Workplace Social Media Engagement

Sort of continuing from yesterday's post, one of the greater challenges that I face is figuring out ways to get users on board with new tools that can help make their lives easier. Over time, people develop very particular views about how things should be done and naturally they develop their own workflows that they feel work for them. No one can claim that their methods are necessarily right or wrong - it's just the methodology that they prefer to use or have become comfortable with using.

And thus I come back to tapping into my own sales skills to try and convince company users to get on board with new technologies or at least show them how such tools can benefit them. It makes sure that we get the most bang for our buck, so to speak, especially when we're talking about top cloud computing solutions like Salesforce.com (SFDC).

This week SFDC launched a new version of its mobile app, now rebranded as Salesforce1. The app aims to bring together various mobile features offered to Salesforce users in the past but bringing them all together into one app. I'm currently looking at how to leverage this tool as a new carrot for my users.

Let's face it - when you get to a certain level, tying senior leadership to a CRM platform seems like a tedious experience. These are individuals who are always on the go and often needing to get their updates done on the fly from airports and hotel rooms. The concept of CRM solutions still creates the image of needing to go to a desktop computer and logging onto the internet (or worse, a company VPN). The allure of mobile apps like Salesforce1 promises access to those same tools and related database, but from the comfort of a mobile device. And let's face it, more and more folks these days have either a smartphone or a table - or both.

So I'm particularly exciting about using the ease of access that Salesforce promises as way to bring some users back into the fold and using our Salesforce platform more efficiently. The app allows users to use SFDC as their virtual address book thus they can call their contacts directly from their mobile device and automatically log the call as an SFDC task or activity. Even if you didn't make the call from the same mobile phone, it's still possible to document work done using the same tool.

In addition, SFDC's Chatter application functions are already part of Salesforce1, so if I can get the company on board with Chatter (finally!) then this will definitely be a great selling point that should help things along. My goal for now is to show them how easy the app is to use and thus get them more engaged with our Salesform platform as a whole. And let's face it, getting their buy in will be a heck of a lot more effective than just repeatedly sending emails about how they need to do it even though I can't provide reason that speaks to their interests on an individual basis.

Well, I have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck!