In fact, the uglier the better. Bring it on. You know who you are—well, you’re not the ugly one, but your technology, data or ability to change is really ugly. Maybe…

• Your tech stack is out of date, homegrown, inflexible. There’s very little documentation or you don’t even have an ERD.
• Your data is a mess—full of duplicates, inaccuracies and inconsistencies.
• Your ability to get things done is controlled by one or two people who make it their life’s mission to be sure nothing ever changes or, on the flip side, you have two or three people who make it their life’s mission to blow up the whole thing and start over—their way.

Imagine the entire developer team coming into your office and threatening to quit. I’ve seen it. But you must be prepared to let them leave…if anyone thinks you will back down, they will push and push until you do.

I feel your pain. After all, this is what I’ve been doing for decades. Or undoing, really. Change is hard and I help people navigate the move from ugly to stunningly effective, efficient marcom technology.

The good news? Digital transformation—a new platform, CRM philosophy, whatever—actually can get done. Really. It all comes down to just three key conditions:

1. A fully committed leader and executive team that will not quit, even at the most challenging point. Imagine the entire developer team coming into your office and threatening to quit. I’ve seen it. But you must be prepared to let them leave. That’s the kind of commitment I’m talking about—if anyone thinks you will back down, they will push and push until you do. Guaranteed.
2. Realistic financial support. Done right, a fully functional CRM running on clean, comprehensive data isn’t cheap. If you don’t have the financial backing, it’s the equivalent of point #1. Naysayers will find a crack and chip away at it until it crumbles.
3. Working relationships focused on listening and hearing. People need to genuinely care about one another’s personal stakes in the project, perspectives and professional success. I can’t think of a single time when a sweeping, difficult change was truly adopted that didn’t first start with listening. It helps when there aren’t too many players, players coming in and out, or layers upon layers of hierarchy. That’s why we keep our team small. We get to know each other and our clients’ decision makers by working closely together every day. 1:1 working relationships in each key area of the organization—executives, management, developers—listen and hear from each other to build and execute the best solution.

Are you ready to acknowledge your ugliness?

Let’s take on some ugly together. We’ll give you a success story to tell, about that time you turned the ugliest of ugly into the most beautiful transformation of your career.