CSX Playbook: Considerations for Training Field Users

Introduction:

If you’re reading this you are probably considering rolling ConnectSx out to your field users to adopt so they can begin entering their cases, recording their sales, taking accountability for their inventory, and being responsible for their own inventory requests and transfers. This is a big step that is sure to provide a lot of value for your organization and for your field users. In order to help maximize that value and ensure successful adoption among your users there are a number of things to consider before embarking on a rollout to the field.

How have you prepped your users?

Your users are coming into this fresh, not knowing ConnectSx or your goals for using it, think about what information would be good to give them at this stage.

Give them an introduction to ConnectSx and why your organization chose it, how you use it.
Why is the tool valuable to you and why will it be valuable for them to use it?
What is exciting about the app FOR THEM? Why should they want to use it?
What pain points will ConnectSx solve for them?
What can they expect of training and after training?
What do you expect them to do? What is required of them?
Have you addressed their questions and concerns?

How do you define success?

This may sound a bit cliche, but how will you know if you’re successful? It’s pretty important. The ConnectSx apps offer so many features and valuable functions, but that’s a lot to ask of someone to incorporate into their daily life. Remember that you are asking your field users to do work; you’re asking them to change how they live their daily life, the process of how they do their job, learn an entirely new system, etc. and that can cause friction. So in order to make the process as seamless and painless as possible, it’s good to iron out the terms of what you’re asking first.

How do you want your users to use ConnectSx?
How DON'T you want your users to use ConnectSx?
What will a user have to do to be considered successfully “adopted”?
How will you know if a user needs more support?
How will you proceed in supporting users that don’t adopt after the initial rollout?

What are you asking them to do in ConnectSx?

With anything there is a learning curve. And because you’re asking for behavior change, learning new skills, all while in flight you can expect a user to only remember what is critical to them and what they practice repeatedly, so what are the critical things you’re asking your users to do? Think about what is most important to your company:

Recording their sales - Is digitizing your sales and moving away from paper bill sheets your biggest priority? Is streamlining the billing process critical to improving your bottom line?
Requesting inventory - Perhaps you want to move your inventory request communications away from phone, text, and email to be managed in a connected system.
Transferring inventory - Is your priority to know where inventory actually is in real time? The only way to have accurate visibility is to have the boots on the ground recording this movement.
Booking their cases - Maybe you need to know in advance of when cases are happening so you can forecast and manage product.
And much more…

There are many possible things that field users can do in ConnectSx, but be clear about the things you are asking them to do and they will be much more likely to comply and adopt successfully. We find focusing on 1-3 core functions or processes to start out with, then rolling on additional or advanced functionality in stages, after the initial adoption phase.

Our Recommendation: Start with the Event Workflow. Ask your field users to be responsible for creating their cases, recording their sales, and submitting their case for billing. This is the bedrock of the ConnectSx system and is a great place to start for any company. This will ensure your billing documents are digitized, your reps are familiar with using the system, you know what is being used and when, etc.

What are your other expectations for your users?

Think about the experience your users will have from the moment that you introduce the idea of a new system for them to use. It’s helpful to give them an idea of what to expect.

When will training be?
How much time will it take?
What do they need for training?
Will there be additional trainings?
What do they have to do following training? What is required of them?
What if they have questions?
When will they receive their login credentials?
When do you expect them to start using the app? What happens if they don’t?

Who are you training?

Make a list of who you are aiming to train and when. Be strategic.

Which users are the most critical to be onboarded?
Which users are likely to adopt the system easily, without much assistance?
Which users may need more attention or may be resistant to adopt?

Think about your users' needs as you design how you will train them.

You’ll want to think about these questions as you plan out who you’re training. Think about the needs of your users and what they will need to be successful.

Will virtual training suffice or are there users that will benefit from in-person, hands-on training?
Are there users that need individualized attention, rather than a group virtual training?
Will some users require multiple touch-points to “get it” and will need additional training?
Will some users benefit most from a self-learning program to train themselves?

What resources are you providing to your users?

So your users go through training, how do you support them afterwards? The knowledge learned in training will stay fresh for only a brief period so its important for your users to start using the app and to be able to answer their questions when they arise.

Will the users have access to a practice or sandbox environment?
How will you direct them to get their questions answered? Who do they call? What if that person doesn’t answer?
Are there reference documents to help keep the knowledge fresh following training?
Are there tools to help them answer their own questions?
What if a user wants to learn more, how can they keep learning?
ConnectSx provides educational resources for training, but are there resources you need to create that are internal to your company to support your users?

Are you setting up your users for success?

Take a step back and think about the training you’ve designed from your users perspectives. Would you be successful? Would you feel positive about the experience? How can you adjust to better support your users?

Is your training timeline realistic? Will you be able to effectively train your users and support them given the time you’ve allotted and the number of users you have to train?
Have you trained any other experts in the field or internal to your company who can support the rest of the user base?
Have you given the users enough time to learn? Do they need reinforcement?
Is all of the users data set up and correct in their accounts for when they first log in?
Have you given your users a space to voice their concerns and ask questions?

How will you measure success?

Fast forward, you’ve trained your users and they are starting to adopt. How do you gauge who is successful and who needs more attention. Be ready to pay attention to user activity.

Have they logged in?
How often do they log in?
Are they doing what you’ve asked them to do?
If not, what’s your strategy for re-engaging them?

What’s your backup plan?

Let’s say a user refuses to use ConnectSx or otherwise cannot due to other technical or operational reasons. What happens then? Feel free to reach out to value@connectsx.com to discuss your options.

ConnectSx Customer Support