Increasing Adoption of New Initiatives: How to get front line product users to buy-in to new product adoption. This presentation gives you the steps to effective project implementation and product adoption with step by step strategies for successful roll out.

1. What’s In It For Me?
Increasing Adoption for New
Initiatives
Facilitator: Melissa D. White, National Director of Marketing
& Training, GFI Management Services, Inc.

2. This document, presentation and/or video (collectively, “document”) is protected
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Systems, Inc. software license or other agreement including, but not limited to,
restrictions on its use, copying, disclosure, distribution and decompilation. No
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means without the prior written authorization of Yardi Systems, Inc. This
document contains proprietary information about software and service
processes, algorithms, and data models which is confidential and constitutes
trade secrets. This document is intended for utilization solely in connection
with Yardi software licensees’ use of Yardi software and for no other purpose.
Yardi®, Yardi Systems, Inc., the Yardi Logo, and the names of Yardi products
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other product, service, or company names mentioned in this document are
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© 2014 Yardi Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3. Tweet That!
• This session will be fun and interactive.
Post, use the hatch tag & Tweet!
• #SmartMktg
#YASCDC
• Tweet Me & I’ll Tweet You Back. I’d love to
stay connected!
– @iAMMelissaD

4. Group Poll on 5/28/14- 94% of session attendees are looking for implement new products at this time.

5. Temperature Check:
Is It the Right Time?
Here are a few things to consider before product
implementation:
• Does it fit your business model?
• Do you have buy in from the top down?
• Does it meet an organizational need?
• Is the right man power in place to
lead the charge?
• Seasonality: right time to deploy?

6. Group Poll from 5/28/14

7. What Not To Do…

8. Does It Fit?
URGENT vs. IMPORTANT
• Multiple Module
Implementation: Roll out
products in the order of
company need
• Address the urgent 1st
• Solving critical issues 1st will
eliminate barriers to other
areas of deployment
ORG NEEDS vs. EMPLOYEE
• Have clear company goals
• Assess operational
challenges
• Do org. goals align with
employee needs?
• Anticipate obstacles &
adjust
• Ultimate Goal: Remove
barriers, not create them!

9. Where Do Our Needs Intersect?
Company
TeamCustomer
THIS IS
WHERE YOU
START!

10. Are Your People Before the Product?

11. How To Turn Your Employees/
Residents into Advocates
Employee Buy In
• Staff engagement- Do they
identify with how the
product will meet a need?
• What is the success story?
• Make demos impactful and
interactive
• Employee Promoters
• Provide a platform for
feedback
Resident Buy In
• Consider the residents who
are end users of the product
• Will residents see this as a
value added convenience?
• Anticipate objections and
have ready solutions
• Buy In starts at Move In
• Provide a platform for
feedback

12. Getting Team Buy In:
It’s A Sales Process
• Either you are selling the project to…
– Management: on how the product will increase
productivity and ROI
– The Team: on why they need the product
• Ease of use
• Value of time saved
• Recognition for increased performance
– The Resident: on why they should use it
• Value add mention during the beginning of the presentation
• Ease of use/ Convenience

13. The Power of An Advocate
• Find someone in your
team, preferably a
community manager in
phase 1 who is engaged
and buys into the new
product (1st responders!)
• Deploy them as a
resource to help with the
next phases as they can
provide insight as a
trusted team advisor
• They can help with team
coverage onsite on go-live
dates
• Use the eyes and ears of a
trusted peer to get
feedback

14. Obstacles: How Do They Look To
You & Others?

15. Anticipate the O2
• Objections- Are indicators that they have
more questions and see understanding.
• Obstacles- When the objections are not
addressed and there is a barrier to proceeding
forward.

16. Anticipate the O2
O2= Objections &
Obstacles!
• Do you know your
teams objections
before you approach
them?
• Do you give them a
voice in the process?
• Check the product
reviews!
• Avoid the least path of
resistance. This does
not make the road
easy.
• Provide a way to collect
feedback. (Surveys,
Comment Cards,
Resident Bulletin
Board)

17. How To Handle Murphy’s Law
So find out who has made the mistakes and learn how to avoid it!

18. What Product Adaptation Looks Like
INTRODUCTION- Discovery & Set Up (1 Week)
Assemble Team
Set Timeline
Training Prep
Demo Rally- Kick
Off to team
IMPLEMENTATION- Configuration (3 Weeks)
Team Training
(while setting up
systems)
Promotional
Products
STAGING- Testing (2 Weeks)
Simulation of Live
Environment
Confirms delivery
Predictable
Detect Problems
BETA- (2 Weeks)
Go Live
Monitor Process
Correct Errors
Gain Agreement
Retrain If
Necessary

19. What The Implementation Model
Looks Like

20. You’re Live. Now What?
Test. Test and Test Some More…
There is no “Easy Button in Beta”
• The Beta phase may last longer than 2 weeks. Be
prepared to retrain and work hands on
• Remember the end user. They can kill the project
just faster than you bring it to life.
• Measure:
– Key Performance Indicators
– Rate of adaptation
– ROI

21. KPI- The Pulse of Your Project
• Are nonfinancial measures
• Are measured frequently
• Are acted on by the CEO
and senior management
team
• Clearly indicate what action
is required by staff
• Are measures that tie
responsibility down to a
team
• Have a significant impact
• Encourage appropriate
action
Image source: http://data-driven-marketing.net/articles/organization/seven-key-characteristics-key-performance-indicators-kpis

22. Team Feedback: Turn Their Truth Into
Your Testimonial
“ I don’t know the difference between a Pop
Card and a Pop Tart. What’s the point?”
- Employee Feedback, 1st 30 Days of
Implementation
“What did we do before Pop Card? I finally get
it and it makes my job easy.”
- Employee Feedback, 60 Days after
Implementation
So what happened to change their opinion???

23. The Process of Project Sustainability
Image Source: http://business901.com/blog1/do-you-know-how-to-create-key-performance-indicators/

24. Key Points
 Check the temperature of the organization and employees. Are they ready to
embrace the change this project will bring?
 Schedule your project around the urgent vs. important
 Getting team buy in is like a sells process. They must see what’s in it for them
 Deploy product advocates as resources to help with future implementations and
boost morale around change
 Anticipate the O2- Obstacles & Objections and have a prepared response
 Expect, Inspect & Reset- when things go wrong, do not proceed until you reset and
fix the issue
 Pre & Post Assessments to check the temperature again at every phase
 Identify how you will measure KPI & ROI and communicate this to your
vendor/partner team
 Have a plan for sustainability
 You cannot manage a project from the office. Spend one on one time with the
team to help them embrace the change and see you lead the charge
 Embrace the team’s perspective and invite new idea. This keeps your team
engaged.