Before you can ensure that customers are using your newly implemented scheduling software, you need to get your employees up to speed.
If employees are not on board, then customers won’t be either. Successful online appointment scheduling software adoption depends on people. Consider:
- Do employees know how to use the software?
- Does the software work with internal processes?
- Can employees skillfully explain the benefits of the software?
- Do customers know about the scheduling software?
- Are customers using the software to book appointments?
The answers to these questions give your company an indication of how well adoption is going.
Here are seven ways you can help your employees to start using the software and get them to be promotional ambassadors.
1. Employees need to attend training
It is imperative for employees to participate in training. Since this software is customer-facing, it's crucial that employees fully understand its capabilities.
Similarly, managers should understand how to use reporting features to make operational decisions.
2. Employees should use and discuss it internally
During the pre-launch of the software, managers can encourage employees to create appointments with each other, so they can better understand the process from the customer perspective.
After launch, managers should provide opportunities for employees to connect with each other informally to discuss best practices using the software.
3. Have a “friends and family” soft launch
Right before the launch, make it possible for employees’ friends and family to access the scheduling software.
Let employees use this opportunity to discuss the benefits, and work on their talking points. This provides more practice opportunities with a receptive audience and helps to start building the “word of mouth” effect.
4. Share with customers
With plenty of practice, employees now should be able to confidently share the benefits of scheduling software with customers.
5. Employees’ email signatures
Steal a viral tip from the Hotmail launch and have your employees add a blurb about the scheduling software launch to their email signature. It only takes a second.
6. Employees share on social
Create and share social media content about the scheduling software launch with employees. Recognize employees who get the most engagement with their shares to encourage more sharing.
7. Employees play detective
A few weeks after the launch is a good time for your employees to put on their Sherlock Holmes hat by having them ask the customers a few questions.
Have the customers already heard about scheduling software availability? How did they hear about it? How did they like the software?
All of this feedback is important to capture in order to ensure software adoption success.
Conclusion
These are just a few recommendations to help ensure a successful software adoption. Your employees might have even better ideas, so after you share these ideas with them, ask them if they have any thoughts. Remember that every employee is vitally important to the success of scheduling software adoption.
Let us know how your software adoption goes, we love to hear feedback. In our next blog post, we will share what your company can do to ensure a successful software adoption.
