One aspect of our business here at Quosal that has been very gratifying is the high adoption rate of our solution. In this case “adoption rate” refers to the percentage of customers who implement, use, and receive the benefit of Quosal soon after they purchase it.
Having been in the enterprise software solution business for some time, I’ve certainly seen the opposite — companies that make a significant investment in software (and other infrastructure) that don’t actually implement the solution or are “turned back from the gates” of implementation. In some cases, writing the check for the software/services was the first, last and only action item taken toward implementation! In other cases, a sincere effort is made, but the company loses steam and the initiative falters.
The desire for change of business process is almost always sincere and founded in real need. How can a business “punch through the target” to ensure that ROI is received from such an investment?
Change is an act of management will. In a small business, management and ownership are generally synonymous. The mandate for change must always start at the top, just as the authorization for the investment usually does. Without this mandate and the driving desire for business process change, it often does not happen – especially if multiple departments are affected by the change.
Beyond this, there are practical “drivers” that will help ensure that change will occur in a beneficial, building manner.
Big Wins: The carrot of a significant win in the process can help pull change-averse staff and organizations through an implementation. Such wins come in many forms. I’ve seen what looks like surprisingly small “wins” from the outside drive huge changes.
Ease Their Pain: A corollary of the Big Win — reducing a pain point can help drive change.
Desire to Be the Best: Many organizations are motivated by the simple desire for improvement – taking another step toward excellence.
We Don’t Fail: The corollary to the above, a successful implementation is the obvious alternative to a failed implementation, which is an undesired black eye for many.
Many executives and owners feel that the simple mandate of “it’s your job” will win the day, but looking a little further into the heart of successful change management can smooth the road, and speed the path to ROI.
