CRM Planning #2 – Engaging Senior Managers

Within this article we look at the number 2 ingredient for CRM Planning Success: How to engage Senior Managers in a digital transformation process.

To effectively engage them in the process they need to understand the benefits and opportunities that a digital platform can provide and one of the first aspects to consider the range of ways to teach someone about something.

David Kolb (1984) suggested individuals can often have a preferred learning style but he suggested that a typical individual would need to experience all styles in order to learn about something. Learning is therefore a process of doing and thinking. The different learning styles are outlined below:

Type Learning Style Learning Approach Activists Likes to apply the learning straight away and have concrete experience Provide opportunities to have a go or provide practical exercises. Reflector Likes to see learning appliedand experience from peers/ case-studies Provide time for consideration. Unlikely to respond straight away to questions so provide a follow-up session. Theorist Needs to know the research and background to the approach being used. Provide information and evidence to back up the approach used and allow time for them to read it. Pragmatist Needs to understand the business case and rational and how it is relevant to their job role Provide practical examples and information about how it directly affects or relates to them on a day to day basis.

As a consultancy we have found ourselves working closely with internal digital transformation champions to help them share information with their senior management team. We have attended meetings with senior managers to provide demo environments, share case studies, answer technical questions as needed.

In summary, people need to go through this learning journey and to effectively engage senior managers you will need to provide a range of information and adopt these different approaches to support understanding, adoption and enthusiasm to jump into this digital transformation journey with you.

If you would like support from our Salesforce Consultancy Team or Digital Transformation Consultancy Services then please get in touch

This article is part of our six ingredients to success blog series. Read #1 on Agile Project Management here