Businesses often hold on to outdated processes, systems and marketing because they are familiar, even when they create extra work or restrict growth. The “ugly comfy chair” in your business may still feel comfortable, but the time spent working around it could be costing far more than making a change.
Do You Have an Ugly Comfy Chair in Your Business?
You know the chair.
It has been there forever. It does not match anything else in the room, it has seen better days, and if you were shopping for furniture today, there is no chance you would choose it.
But it is comfortable.
Everyone is used to it. No one really wants to deal with replacing it, so it stays exactly where it is.
Businesses have ugly comfy chairs too.
They are the processes, systems, services and habits that no longer work particularly well but remain in place because they are familiar. Everyone knows how to work around them, and changing them feels like it will create more disruption than simply putting up with them.
At least for now.
What Does an Ugly Comfy Chair Look Like in a Business?
It may be a spreadsheet that has grown into an unofficial customer management system. It takes too long to update, only one person completely understands it, and information is regularly missed or entered more than once.
It could be an outdated process that includes several steps no one can explain. When someone asks why it is done that way, the answer is usually, “Because we have always done it that way.”
Sometimes it is a website that no longer represents the business. The services have changed, the customers have changed and the direction of the company has changed, but the website still tells the story of who the business was five years ago.
It may even be a marketing activity that continues to consume time and money without producing anything measurable. It remains in the plan because stopping it feels risky, even though no one can say with confidence what it is accomplishing.
These things rarely become a serious issue overnight. They gradually become less effective while everyone quietly adjusts around them.
Working Around Something Is Still Work
People can become remarkably good at compensating for systems and processes that no longer serve them.
They create extra spreadsheets. They keep personal notes. They send reminder emails to themselves. They manually move information from one place to another. They develop their own way of completing a task because the official way takes too long.
Eventually, the workaround becomes part of the process.
That does not mean the process is working. It means your team has become very good at accommodating it.
Those extra steps take time. They increase the chance of errors, make training more difficult and create gaps in information. They also make the business increasingly dependent on the people who know all the unofficial ways things get done.
A properly configured CRM and automation system should reduce that kind of friction. Your website, marketing, sales process and operating systems should all support the way your business works now—not the way it worked when they were first introduced.
Familiarity Can Make an Inefficient Process Feel Safer
There is a reason businesses hold on to their ugly comfy chairs.
Change takes time. It may cost money. It often requires people to learn something new, and there is usually a period when the new way feels less comfortable than the old one.
Keeping things as they are can feel like the safer choice.
However, familiar does not always mean efficient, useful or even less expensive. An outdated system may not appear as a large line item on your financial statements, but the hours spent working around it certainly have a cost.
So do missed follow-ups, inconsistent customer experiences, unreliable reports and marketing decisions based on incomplete information.
The longer these issues remain in place, the more they become accepted as a normal part of doing business.
Your Business May Have Outgrown What Used to Work
The ugly chair was not necessarily a bad choice when it arrived.
That spreadsheet may have been perfectly adequate when the business had 25 customers. The process may have worked well with a team of three. Your original website may have accurately represented the services you offered at the time.
Businesses change.
They add employees, customers, services, locations and technology. Responsibilities shift. Customers expect different things. What once worked smoothly may no longer be able to support the business at its current size—or where the business wants to go next.
That does not mean every older system or process needs to be replaced. Some need to be simplified. Others may need better integration, updated content or clearer ownership.
Before making a major change, it helps to step back and examine the whole business. Marketing, sales, operations and technology affect one another. Replacing one piece without understanding those connections can simply result in a newer, more expensive chair that still does not fit the room.
This is why our business consulting work begins by determining what is working, what is creating friction and what deserves attention first.
How to Find the Ugly Chairs in Your Business
Start by asking your team a few direct questions:
- What task takes much longer than it should?
- Where are we entering the same information more than once?
- Which reports do we question or avoid using?
- What do customers regularly find confusing?
- Which process depends too heavily on one person?
- What are we still doing simply because we have always done it?
- Where have employees created their own workarounds?
- What have we discussed changing repeatedly but never addressed?
Pay particular attention to anything described as “just the way it works.” There is often a chair hiding somewhere in that sentence.
You may also find that the most visible issue is not the one that should be addressed first. A website that appears outdated may actually have a messaging and positioning issue. A lead-generation concern may be tied to inconsistent follow-up. A sales issue may begin with poor information inside the CRM.
That is why more activity does not always produce better results. As discussed in The B2B Marketing Problems More Social Media Will Not Solve, adding another tactic will not correct the underlying issues holding the business back.
You Do Not Have to Throw Out Every Chair at Once
Once you start looking, you may find more than one ugly chair.
Trying to replace everything at the same time usually creates unnecessary disruption and makes it difficult to determine which changes are helping.
Begin with the issue creating the greatest amount of friction, risk or lost opportunity. Decide what the business needs from the replacement before shopping for a solution. Involve the people who use the process every day, and make sure the new approach supports the business as it operates now.
Most importantly, do not confuse buying something new with fixing the issue.
A new CRM will not help if it is poorly configured or no one uses it consistently. A new website will not improve results if the message remains unclear. A new marketing campaign will not solve a weak sales process.
The right change begins with understanding what needs to be accomplished.
When Comfort Starts Costing the Business
There is nothing wrong with comfort. Familiar processes give people confidence and help work move more quickly—provided those processes still make sense.
The trouble begins when keeping everyone comfortable becomes more important than improving how the business works.
At some point, the time spent accommodating an outdated system, repeating unnecessary steps or accepting unreliable results becomes greater than the effort required to make a change.
That is when the ugly comfy chair has to go.
Not because everything old is bad. Not because every business needs the newest tool or technology. It needs to go because the business has changed, and the chair no longer fits.
What is your business working around?
If you know something is getting in the way but are not sure whether the answer is a new system, a better process, clearer marketing or something else entirely, let’s take a closer look.
Start a clarity conversation with Prowl Communications.
About the Author:
Debi Katsmar is the founder, CEO, and marketing strategist behind Prowl Communications, a Niagara-based marketing agency and consulting firm helping Canadian B2B businesses with marketing strategy, website strategy, CRM systems, lead generation, sales and marketing alignment, Fractional CMO support, and Fractional Director of Operations support. With more than 40 years in marketing and over 35 years leading her own agency, Debi helps business owners stop guessing and make clearer decisions before spending more money on marketing, systems, or growth initiatives.
