Many CRM trials seem to follow a similar path. Someone signs up for a trial, explores the dashboard for twenty minutes, imports a short list of contacts, and makes the decision to invest in it if they think it looks clean. Then the team starts using it, and adoption is slow because the system is more complex than initially thought.

Demos can tell you about the features available and give you an idea of the interface. But it won’t tell you how easy the CRM is to use, because the person running the demo already knows where everything is. It’s also a walk-through designed to look smooth and easy.

A better approach is to run the trial with the team members who are expected to use it daily and ask them to complete specific tasks without further instructions.…