Do you ever feel like this? When for the hundredth time you have had to have the conversation with individuals or teams about keeping CRM up to date, or to complete KPI reports, or to utilise your new SaaS product to it’s full capability.

You are not alone.

Utilisation of your full “tech stack” (the combined software packages within your business) is often fragmented which leads to lack of efficiency, missed sales and service opportunities and at extremes, visible conflict between employees.

At a recent SaaS providers conference in London, we talked about the human challenges of full utilization of SaaS products and in particular AI. It was extremely well received, and so here are the 3 key points shared with a bonus 2 as a thank you for reading.

So, if you are a leader wanting to increase utilization of your tech stack:

1 – Skill or Will?

If people are not using the resources they have is it because they don’t have the skill?  If not, then train them (and perhaps train them again because if they don’t use it, they lose it!.

If they have the skill, then do they have the will (or motivation). This is where the excuses lie.

“I don’t have the time”

“I don’t know how” (see above for Skill but it is a one time loop)

“It is too cumbersome”

“I don’t need it”

“It’s another fad that will pass so why bother”

Addressing people’s motivation is often a long and difficult journey; which means leaders either say “Just Do It – I’m the boss!” or avoid the conversations altogether.

2 – Think : Feel : Do

So, if you want to change people’s behaviours you have to change their thinking.

People behave a certain way (Do) because of how they feel; and they feel based on how they think.  If they are not “Doing” the right things; then get into their heads to understand why. Once you have that, then you know what you are working with and can use your influencing and persuasion skills to chip away and move forward.

3 – People respect what you inspect

Are you as a leader, inspecting the reports or systems that you want your team to use?  Are you having conversations with them about what the data shows, how it benefits them in their role, what gaps are missing, how important it is and how it is used further up the leadership hierarchy?

If not, then your team will think that it is not important to you and therefore not important to them.

And the bonus 2:

4 – Like, Intend, Must

For the Sales leaders who are reading this, you will recognise it as a negotiation planning concept which is transferrable here (because after all, leadership involves negotiations with the team, right?).

Identify which aspects of the tech stack would you Like people to use (Gold standard), which do you Intend they use (Silver standard) and which Must they use (Bronze standard).  Different people work in different ways and if you give them too much structure and process it will stifle creativity. So have flexibility where it is possible; but be firm where you have to be to get the minimum standards embedded.

5 – Rome wasn’t built in a day

As with all skills, break the steps down into small chunks and build slowly but surely. Learning how to play golf or the piano starts with the simple stuff, made into a habit, and then introduce the next good habit. But even with 10,000 hours of practice, not everyone will be at the same level, so manage your own expectations and those of others around you.

So there you have it, 5 ideas to get you started in addressing how your teams engage with the resources around them. Our commercial world is full of incredible solutions designed to make our lives better, more efficient or to sell more.  Using the right tech is important to keep you business ahead, but it is a waste of money if people don’t use it.

We have an amazing consultant here at Chilli. She has worked as a consultant with some of the biggest clients and is an expert at the diagnostics of how your tech and people interact; and formulating how you can make this change across your teams.

Drop us a line at [email protected] if you want to meet her.