From "Hero Mode" Chaos
to a Self-Driving Machine.
The Challenge
The challenge was the chaos of rapid, distressed acquisition.
Trilogy's model relied on acquiring distressed software packages, "gutting" the overhead (staff/operations), retaining the customer base, and increasing prices to drive efficiency and margin. This high-volume M&A strategy created a massive, repeatable operational deficit: we constantly inherited marketing and sales materials of dubious quality, often lacking clear value propositions.
We were bringing in new products faster than we could make them functional or presentable. The lack of a standardized Intake Process meant every acquisition resulted in manual, one-off audits to determine: 1) What existing materials were usable, and 2) What the core value and profit drivers actually were. This operational inefficiency severely hampered the ability of the remaining sales force to articulate value and achieve targets.
The central problem was simple: we needed a repeatable, scalable operational process—a "Marketing Assembly Line"—to filter, define, and re-enable the sales and marketing of every single acquired asset to make up for the deficiencies inherited in the acquisition.
Tangent There is a specific kind of dread when you look at inherited marketing documentation and realize you have no idea what the company's core value proposition actually is. It's often buried in internal jargon or irrelevant features. When your M&A model is based on efficiency, this uncertainty is toxic. Our job was to replace that uncertainty with a standardized, objective template that forced clarity on value and profit from day one, turning guesswork into a checklist.
We needed to design an operational playbook that could be consistently applied across 15 different highly technical software acquisitions, ensuring that every asset was sales-ready and value-defined from the moment it entered the portfolio.
The Operating System
I designed the centralized, repeatable operational system for M&A integration, allowing the company to scale acquisitions and efficiency without adding middle-management complexity.
Acquisition Marketing Intake Assembly Line
I designed the end-to-end operational process for acquired assets, including material auditing, core value proposition definition, profit analysis, and sales readiness enablement.
High-Volume Sales Talent Filtering Framework
Designed the entire four-week Sales Boot Camp process and the operational framework for evaluating the effectiveness of 50 sales candidates to assess suitability for the core sales team.
Data Integrity and ABM Foundation
Managed a complex Salesforce migration and data recovery effort to ensure clean, reliable data, which was essential for transitioning the sales team to a data-driven ABM approach.
Ecosystem Content and Sales Enablement Audit
Oversaw the audit and creation of sales enablement assets across the portfolio, including specialized ABM content for the highly technical DNN open core solution, strengthening external partner support.
Tech Stack
- Salesforce (Migration & ABM Foundation)
- HubSpot (Marketing Automation Asset Deployment)
- Custom Training Frameworks (Sales Boot Camp Design)
- DNN / DotNetNuke (Ecosystem Content Focus)
The Engine Room (Tech Stack)
(We killed Slack to reduce app switching. Fewer tools = faster onboarding.)
You don't need to hire 50 people to get these results.
You just need the operating system. We can install the core of this machinery in your business in 30 days.
Let's Discuss Your Operations →