As most people familiar with the CRM space know, user adoption is one of the key potential failure points for CRM implementations. When we are asked in to review our client’s existing deployments, we are often seeing there is key success factor of well-adopted applications that is often not given the credence that it should at the beginning of the implementation process: Analytics Design.

This is natural since there is an enormous emphasis on getting all of the other aspects of the implementation correct. With all the data to scrub, fields to define, and users to train, getting reporting right often becomes an afterthought or something that is placed on hold until after the implementation goes live. This is especially true when a CRM has a powerful analytics engine like Salesforce.com. Users see the application in the pre-sales demo with all the point-and-click tools for creating awesome reports and dashboards and assume that anything can be done.

The problem is that with any reporting tool, the underlying data structures have to match the reporting needs. The optimum object model for the user interface is not always the optimum model for management reporting. We have on many occasions had to make extensive modifications to the user environment in order to meet reporting requirements. To bridge this gap, consider conducting an executive workshop early in the requirements phase in order to define what metrics and reports the management team will want to use to manage the business.

The results from this workshop will have several benefits. First, it will engage the management team. This fosters organizational participation in the project. If the rest of the organization sees the bosses giving the project their time, they will as well. Second, this will provide context for later design efforts. Design trade-offs on various models can be properly weighed against the reporting needs. And finally, the usage of the reports and dashboards will form the foundation of the to-be process. If the user community knows that management will be receiving distributed pipeline reports on Monday’s for example, they will know that they need to have their opportunities updated on Friday.
Once the analytics process is in place and the application is deployed, you will see user adoption shoot through the roof!