Daily operations at AGC relied on a complex web of manual processes and workarounds built over two decades to compensate for the old system's rigidity. While the dedicated staff had mastered these patches to get the job done, the underlying process was a constant challenge. This directly impacted the member experience, as customers couldn't make simple modifications on their own and had to call the office for routine updates.

"We weren't doing it poorly; we were doing it frustratingly. It was frustrating for us and our customers," Shoaf notes.

This inefficiency was the primary barrier to the association's growth. The team was so focused on managing the difficult system that they lacked the capacity to innovate. As Shoaf explains, the core goal became clear: "We wanted to create efficiencies to free up employee bandwidth so that we could expand our services for the members."

To guide them through this critical project, AGC needed more than a consultant; they needed a true, impartial partner. The team evaluated several advisors but found that many were aligned with specific vendors, raising concerns about receiving a biased recommendation. The clear choice was Dennison & Associates.

"We looked at about a half dozen advisors and chose Dennison because they weren't affiliated with any vendor," Shoaf says. "They were an unbiased source, which is what we needed to make the right choice for us."

With their partner in place, AGC made a pivotal decision: they paused the AMS selection process to first focus on a comprehensive business process review. This "process-first" strategy, guided by Dennison & Associates, was essential for ensuring the new technology would be built on a solid, efficient foundation. "We thought that the business process review was a really important first step in change management that would help the adoption of the new AMS in the long run," Shoaf adds. This meant taking a hard look at every internal workflow to remove inefficiencies before a single line of new code was implemented.

"When you take on a project that is once every 10 or 20 years, you need to de-risk it," states Shoaf. "You need to hire the right expert who is capable and qualified to be there with you day in and day out to keep you sane and make you successful."

That expertise proved critical when the project faced a potential crisis: a key staff leader departed mid-implementation. The Dennison team didn't miss a beat. "Vanessa herself jumped in to help us steady the ship," Shoaf recalls. "She has a way of calming people's nerves, being very dispassionate, and making sure that everybody is heard." This hands-on support not only calmed anxieties but kept the entire project on schedule.

The results of the engagement went far beyond a successful technology launch.

The experience set a new standard for how AGC manages change. As Shoaf puts it: “The experience with Dennison and Associates set us up to better manage change in the organization long-term. People are looking forward to positive change because they know they can figure out how to get there.”

For other leaders facing a similar daunting project, Shoaf’s advice is clear: trust an expert who has been there before. He notes that while his organization will hopefully only do a conversion like this once in a generation, a specialized partner brings invaluable, repeatable experience.

"I can't imagine doing it without somebody like Dennison and Associates," he says. " Success with this project was made possible because of our work with Dennison and Associates. It really changed the culture of the association.”