Do You Need Support for Content Collaboration Tool Implementation?

Software implementation isn’t always as easy as flipping a switch and being ready to go, especially if it’s a tool like Sales Content Collaboration — which will be used by various stakeholders across the business, not just a small subset of your team. 

In our experience, there’s no perfect way to implement software, especially in a bigger company. Each group within a company will have different expectations, technical acumen, and opinions on what determines “success” for the project. To successfully champion a project like this, you must first understand your team and its dynamics, in order to partner with a vendor’s customer success manager to set them up for success. 

But, while that may sound daunting, it doesn’t have to be time-consuming — it just takes a little organizational introspection. 

With that in mind, we’ve laid out four main areas to consider when kicking off a software implementation, and some key questions to ask yourself before getting started. 

Will your industry influence your implementation?

If you’re in a technical space like IT services or SaaS, chances are you adopt software pretty quickly since it’s a part of your company DNA. If you’re in financial services or healthcare, tech adoption may be a bit more complicated due to the nature of your business or compliance regulations, for instance. 

Your solution provider’s team will likely already have these considerations in mind and may explain things according to the typical nuances they see in each of these scenarios. 

Key Questions to Consider:

• Is our industry accustomed to these types of software?
• Have we used a similar solution in the past or is this brand new territory?
• Has our team used a solution like this at a previous company?

What does your current tech stack look like?

Listen, there’s no shame in good ol’ spreadsheets and sticky notes. We guarantee even the most “hip” companies still utilize these older versions of organization and project management — because they work. They might take more time and not as collaborative, but they can get the job done. 

But, if your people aren’t currently using a solution like this or aren’t using SaaS software in their daily work, it may take a more hands-on approach from your vendor partner to get your team members up and running smoothly and develop comfort with the new system.

Key Questions to Consider:

• Have we implemented a solution like this before?
• Do we have tools similar to this in use?
• Is our team used to SaaS software like this?

What is your company culture like?

How willing and eager is your company to adopt change? Are you more cautious and like to make very calculated decisions? Or do you tend to dive headfirst into new innovations?

One of these scenarios is not necessarily “better” than the other, it just requires different support. For a company full of early adopters and tech whizzes, they’ll need more help in understanding the nuances and the ideal process paths. For a more cautious crowd, that’ll require more tactical support and giving clear guardrails so they can essentially get “in and out” of the platform easily. 

Key Questions to Consider:

• Are we tech-adverse as a company?
• Are we early adopters or are we more cautious?

Specifically, who will be the core users of the system?

Ultimately, the end-user experience is one of the most important aspects of a successful implementation. So, it not only matters what your company make-up looks like, but the composition of the team who will be using the solution the most.  

The considerations will look similar to those above with a few additions. Knowing this team will likely be the most regular users of the system and some may even be “power users,” it’s important to make sure they have a deeper technical understanding. Depending on this team’s comfort level, this may determine different starting points given their literacy level in tech. 

Key Questions to Consider:

• What are the attitudes toward tech innovation in the core team?
• Is there a core team member who can “rally the troops” and help spearhead adoption?
• Do they currently have these types of tools in place?

Don’t fumble the ball after the ink is dry. 

It likely took plenty of time from your team to determine the problem, evaluate multiple solutions, and make a final purchase decision.

Don’t expend all that time in vain by not giving an implementation its best chance of success. By intimately understanding the company demographics, culture, and level of technical acumen and experience they have, you’ll be setting up your vendor partner and yourselves for an implementation that will blossom into a long relationship. 

Because, at the end of the day, no one really wants to go through the software buying process every year if they don’t have to. 

If you’re looking for more tips on how to have a successful implementation, check out our “5 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing Sales Content Collaboration Software” blog.