Congratulations! You\u2019ve just launched a new sales enablement and product configuration tool. Let\u2019s call it Build-O-Matic. Your distributed sales team now has the ability to drag and drop to create a visual remodeling plan for your customers and close the sale in real time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast-forward 12 months. There’s been a small change in Minnesota’s building requirements that hasn’t been updated in the Build-o-Matic. Because of this, salespeople in Minnesota have stopped using it. But at this point, all you know is that there was a drop in Build-o-Matic usage last quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, some salespeople are having trouble closing business because of a gap in Build-O-Matic’s promotions and financing features. Calls back to the regional manager are slowing down the sale, and folks are using workarounds to close deals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So Build-O-Matic is now seen as a tool that isn\u2019t doing what people need it to do, and your management team is considering a large investment to replace it. And they’re looking at you, wondering why they spent all that money to develop and deploy something that didn’t last a full year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you had known about these problems earlier, you would have solved them immediately with incremental (and likely more affordable) investments, right? <\/strong>This is why measuring user adoption is vital<\/strong>. Understanding usage trends for your digital products can tell you what\u2019s working, what needs improvement, and even use cases you hadn\u2019t predicted (but can now capitalize on) \u2013 enabling you to address issues and maximize impact in (close to) real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Takeaway:<\/strong> Without meaningful and actionable user adoption intelligence, your organization is at the mercy of anecdotal feedback and secondhand information. Market leaders use adoption metrics to forecast revenue, troubleshoot customer lifecycle issues, and manage their sales channels. Using a handful of adoption KPIs, you can make sure you understand the true nature of your product deployment.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Market leaders ask the following questions to drive their user adoption strategy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While not exhaustive, the following list provides KPIs to consider when defining user adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rate of Adoption (RoA) can be measured as the number of adopted users over the total number of users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Number of Adopted Users Total Number Of Users<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If you have 100 users and 25 of them have adopted your product, your adoption rate is 25%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this to be a useful metric, your team must be aligned on the definition of an adopted user. For example, is an adopted user someone who has logged in to the tool, or done something in the application that indicates use such as creating a configuration or a proposal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you know what \u201cadoption\u201d means to you, it\u2019s time to take the steps to get there. At the most fundamental level, those steps are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to make decisions regarding RoA, trend analysis is critical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Analyzed in combination with your rate of adoption, this metric provides a window into what users do with the tool. You may have a high percentage of the sales team logging in and periodically viewing a product catalog, but a low number who use the application every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Low DAU\/MAU is often an early indicator of adoption issues or attrition. This insight provides an opportunity to revisit and possibly revise your efforts to drive engagement and adoption, including training on key features or activation programs to drive engagement and usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u201cfirst key action\u201d might be viewing a critical sales or training asset, creating a configuration, or sending a proposal to a customer. The completion rate metric measures the number of users who complete a first key action compared to the total number of users <\/p>\n\n\n\n With this information, you can determine onboarding or training issues, problems with a feature or interaction, and\/or process and accountability gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This metric is pretty straightforward. Time to First Sale measures the amount of time it takes users, on average, to close the first deal using your tool. This KPI can also take a more generic form with a different\u00a0 key customer action replacing the sale.The number of clicks into the product configuration function, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s say your company has incorporated new features into the tool. It could be wise to review a metric that tracks the amount of time your users spend with these new features. Then you could define a KPI as the amount of time spent over sales dollars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If that number is too high, the feature has likely been hard for most users to work with. If the value is too low, it may not look attractive enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales enablement and product configuration solutions are critical for companies. The investment of time, resources, and capital in developing and managing these tools is substantial. Without meaningful and actionable adoption intelligence, your organization is at the mercy of anecdotal feedback and secondhand information.\u00a0 Market leaders use adoption metrics to forecast revenue, troubleshoot customer lifecycle issues, and manage their sales channels. Using a handful of adoption KPIs, you can make the impossible inevitable.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nDefining & Measuring User Adoption for Your Product<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
1. Rate of Adoption (RoA)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
_____________________<\/p>\n\n\n\nDefining an Adopted User<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Making of an Adopted User<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Rate of Adoption Trend Analysis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
2. Daily\/Monthly Active Users (DAU\/MAU)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. “First Key Action” Completion Rate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Time to First Sale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Time Spent Using a Feature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Measuring user adoption leads to better decisions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n