The more your team uses Salesforce, the more accurate your data will become, and the more educated your decisions will become, and the better your overall organization will become. However, Salesforce can be more of a cultural change than a technological change, because adopting a new system requires changing habits, and changing habits is hard.

One of the most common habits is the use of Excel, and the data entry, sorting, filtering, grouping and browsing processes that come with it. As shared in a recent App Mavericks video with Salesforce MVP, Becka Dente and ActionGrid CEO, Steve Roch, this experience can be achieved with ActionGrid, a Salesforce AppExchange app. With ActionGrid, you can turn your normal Salesforce lists, related lists and reports into an actionable Excel-like experience, which will increase user productivity dramatically while improving the user experience and adoption rates in Salesforce.

Here are three must-dos for increasing productivity and user adoption in Salesforce, and they are all achievable with ActionGrid.

1. Keep it all in one place

While technology can help us be more efficient as we automate processes, multiple technologies can also mean multiple logins. It can also mean siloed data, and a disconnected workforce as different teams use different technologies. The solution is integrated technology, where all of your efforts live within Salesforce, making it easy to work, share data and stay aligned with other departments. With AppExchange apps like ActionGrid, all of your tools live within Salesforce, making it easy for your users.

2. Create a recognizable environment

We all feel comfortable working in the tools and technologies that we’ve used for years, such as Microsoft Excel. With tools like ActionGrid, you can marry the Salesforce and Excel experience, with a grid-like display of your data in Salesforce. Add records, edit fields, etc. without opening additional forms or logging out of Salesforce. All of the business logic is enforced, including required fields, field defaults, validation rules, triggers and full support for record types. With ActionGrid, you can add color to text, cell and row backgrounds, just like Excel.

3. Make it easy to use

Don’t introduce so much change that users can't swallow it, and they can't adopt it even if they wanted to. Your CRM success will only be as strong as the rate at which it can be adopted, not the rate at which it can be implemented. The good news is the AppExchange offers apps that makes your users’ jobs easier and faster, with batch actions, grouping and filtering. ActionGrid offers:

• Batch actions to operate on any multi-selected rows, such as batch add, batch delete, and batch edit/mass update

• Drag/drop functionality to add any column into a group, as well as sub-total

• Filter to make it easier to see the necessary data, including Excel-style checkbox filters, filtering on parent and child related objects, and more

Watch a live demo and web chat between Salesforce MVP, Becka Dente and ActionGrid CEO, Steve Roch, to see ActionGrid in action with this App Mavericks video.

The CRM adoption process is a journey, not a destination. However, with apps on the Salesforce AppExchange, such as ActionGrid, your users can work in Salesforce to enter data, group, filter, and browse records the way they feel comfortable. That shift in mindset will help the entire organization.

Learn more about ActionGrid on the Salesforce AppExchange.