Tony Dowling

Professional Headline

Tony Dowling has spent years solving a problem most consultants won’t acknowledge: HubSpot implementations don’t fail because of the platform—they fail because leaders won’t change how they lead.

As Director of CONVRG (formerly Real Inbound Marketing), Tony specializes in helping B2B technology manufacturers close what he calls the “HubSpot Adoption Gap”—the critical disconnect between implementing CRM technology and achieving actual organizational adoption. His SIMPLIFI framework doesn’t just address technical implementation. It addresses the leadership transformation required for technology to actually work.

Through his Value-First Leadership show with Chris Carolan, Tony proves that successful digital transformation requires redistributing decision rights throughout an organization rather than centralizing control. The technology part is easy. The leadership part determines success or failure.

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Professional Background

Closing the HubSpot Adoption Gap

Since 2017, Tony has been Director of Real Inbound Marketing (now rebranding to CONVRG), building specialized expertise in B2B technology marketing with particular focus on manufacturing complexity. This isn’t generic digital marketing consulting—it’s deep understanding of how manufacturers need to professionalize their sales and marketing operations through effective CRM adoption strategies.

Tony’s breakthrough recognition came from watching pattern after pattern: organizations would implement HubSpot successfully from a technical standpoint, configure everything correctly, train their teams thoroughly—and still fail to achieve adoption. The issue wasn’t technical. It was organizational.

Most consultants blame the teams: “They’re resistant to change.” Tony recognized the real problem: leadership behavior.

The Manufacturing Context

Tony’s specialization in B2B technology and manufacturing gives him perspective most HubSpot consultants lack. Manufacturing sales processes are complex, multi-touchpoint, often technical, and require coordination across multiple departments. If HubSpot adoption can work in manufacturing complexity, it can work anywhere.

But manufacturing also reveals leadership challenges more clearly: engineering-driven cultures, hierarchical decision-making, departmental silos, and resistance to processes that feel like they constrain technical expertise. Tony’s work in this context taught him that technology adoption requires leadership transformation, not just training programs.

CONVRG: The Evolution

The rebrand from Real Inbound Marketing to CONVRG signals the evolution of Tony’s thinking. The original name emphasized methodology (inbound marketing). The new name emphasizes outcome (convergence)—bringing together sales, marketing, service, and leadership around shared CRM usage and unified customer intelligence.

This isn’t just branding. It’s recognition that successful digital transformation requires convergence: departments converging around shared data, leaders converging around distributed decision-making, and organizations converging around customer-centric operations rather than internally-focused efficiency.

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Areas of Expertise

HubSpot Adoption Strategy Through Leadership Transformation Specialized approach addressing adoption as management challenge rather than technical problem

B2B Technology & Manufacturing Marketing Deep expertise in complex, multi-touchpoint sales processes requiring cross-functional coordination

Sales and Marketing Alignment Uniting sales, marketing, and service teams around shared CRM usage and customer intelligence

CRM-Driven Business Transformation Moving beyond “implementing a tool” to transforming how organizations operate and make decisions

Data-Driven Decision Making for Executive Teams Helping leadership use CRM data for strategic decisions rather than just operational reporting

Management-Led Technology Adoption Top-down and bottom-up simultaneous approach ensuring leadership drives adoption while teams implement practically

Cross-Functional Team Integration Breaking down departmental silos through shared systems and aligned incentives

Change Management for Digital Transformation Addressing organizational resistance through leadership behavior change and structural evolution

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Recognition-First Positioning: What Tony Sees That Others Miss

The Adoption Gap Nobody Discusses

Your HubSpot implementation is technically successful—everything is configured correctly, workflows work, reports display properly. But your team doesn’t actually use it. That’s not a training problem or a technical problem. That’s a leadership problem. And most consultants won’t tell you that because fixing leadership is harder than fixing configurations.

Leadership Behavior Defeats Technology

Every time a VP asks for an Excel export instead of opening HubSpot, they signal that the CRM doesn’t matter. Every time a leader makes decisions without consulting the data, they demonstrate that data isn’t actually driving decisions. Your team is watching leadership behavior, not listening to leadership words. Technology adoption fails when these don’t align.

The Authority Trap

You implemented HubSpot to centralize customer intelligence and improve decision-making. But you’re still making every decision yourself. The technology can’t work when the organizational structure prevents teams from acting on the intelligence it provides. Digital transformation requires redistributing decision rights, not just implementing new systems.

Manufacturing Complexity Reveals Truth

If you can achieve HubSpot adoption in manufacturing (complex products, technical sales, engineering-driven culture, departmental silos), you can achieve it anywhere. Manufacturing doesn’t create unique adoption challenges—it just reveals organizational dysfunction more clearly. Most companies have the same issues; manufacturing can’t hide them behind simple products and short sales cycles.

Silos Are Structural, Not Cultural

Your departments don’t collaborate poorly because they have bad attitudes. They don’t collaborate because your systems, processes, and incentives are designed for departmental optimization, not organizational success. You can’t culture-statement your way to collaboration when structures prevent it.

Management Question, Not Technology Question

You keep trying to solve adoption through better training, clearer documentation, more features, improved workflows. The real question is: “Are leaders demonstrating that this system matters through their daily behavior?” If the answer is no, no amount of technical optimization will create adoption.

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The SIMPLIFI Framework

Framework Vision

Tony developed the SIMPLIFI framework to help organizations close the HubSpot Adoption Gap by addressing both strategic leadership and practical implementation challenges.

Framework Approach

Strategic Layer (Top-Down):

• Leadership vision and commitment
• Organizational structure and decision rights
• Incentive alignment across departments
• Management behavior modeling

Implementation Layer (Bottom-Up):

• Practical configuration and setup
• User training and support
• Workflow design and optimization
• Ongoing refinement based on usage

The Unique Dual Approach

What makes SIMPLIFI different: Tony works simultaneously from the top down AND bottom up within organizations. This ensures that CRM adoption is driven by leadership vision while being practically implemented at all operational levels.

Most consultants work either top-down (strategy without implementation) or bottom-up (implementation without leadership buy-in). Tony’s framework recognizes that both are required, and they must be synchronized.

Key Insight

Successful digital transformation requires redistributing decision rights throughout an organization rather than centralizing control. Leaders must shift from providing answers to asking questions, from controlling information to enabling access, from making decisions to empowering teams.

This is why CRM adoption is fundamentally a leadership challenge.

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Value-First Leadership Show

Show Focus: Exploring how leadership creates conditions for natural value flow by removing artificial barriers and enabling authentic collaboration

Co-Host: Chris Carolan

Why This Show Matters:

Every organization says they want digital transformation. Most implement the technology. Few achieve the transformation.

The difference isn’t technical capability—it’s leadership willingness to redistribute decision rights throughout the organization. Digital transformation fails when leaders implement new systems while maintaining old power structures.

VF Leadership explores the uncomfortable truth: if you want your team to “live in HubSpot,” you have to live in it first. If you want cross-functional collaboration, you have to stop making every decision. If you want data-driven culture, you have to trust the data even when it conflicts with your intuition.

The Mission:

Show how leadership can enable rather than restrict natural business processes—and why that’s harder than implementing any technology.

Key Themes:

• The Adoption Gap - Understanding why implementations succeed technically but fail organizationally
• Top-Down + Bottom-Up - Working simultaneously from leadership vision and operational practicality
• Distributed Decision Rights - Moving from centralized control to empowered teams with clear accountability
• Leadership Behavior as Signal - Every time a leader bypasses the system, they signal it doesn’t matter
• Management vs. Technology - Recognizing that adoption is a management challenge, not a training challenge

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Teaching Philosophy

Tony’s approach combines strategic thinking with manufacturing-tested practicality:

Dual Perspective Works simultaneously from executive leadership vision AND operational team implementation

Manufacturing-Tested Solutions proven in complex, technical, multi-department environments

Leadership-Focused Addresses management behavior and organizational structure, not just technical configuration

Cross-Functional Emphasis Unites sales, marketing, service, and operations around shared intelligence

Data-Driven Pragmatism Helps organizations actually use CRM data for decisions, not just reporting

Honest About Barriers Names the organizational dysfunction that prevents adoption rather than blaming teams

Change Management Integration Recognizes that technology implementation requires organizational transformation

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Notable Insights & Quotes

On The Adoption Gap: “The critical disconnect isn’t between what HubSpot can do and what you need—it’s between implementing the technology and achieving organizational adoption.”

On Leadership: “If leaders don’t live in it, no one else will either.”

On Decision Rights: “Successful digital transformation requires redistributing decision rights throughout an organization rather than centralizing control.”

On The Real Challenge: “CRM adoption is a management challenge rather than a technology issue.”

On Structure vs. Culture: “You can’t culture-statement your way to collaboration when your structure prevents it.”

On Manufacturing Context: “If you can achieve adoption in manufacturing complexity, you can achieve it anywhere.”

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Professional Contributions

CONVRG (Director, 2017-Present) Formerly Real Inbound Marketing, specializing in B2B technology and manufacturing CRM adoption and digital transformation

Value-First Leadership Show (Co-Host, 2025-Present) Exploring how leadership enables or restricts natural value flow with Chris Carolan

SIMPLIFI Framework (Creator) Dual approach (top-down + bottom-up) for closing the HubSpot Adoption Gap

B2B Manufacturing Specialization Deep expertise in professionalizing sales and marketing operations for technical manufacturers

HubSpot Community Contributions Thought leadership on adoption strategy and manufacturing implementation

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Who Benefits from Tony’s Expertise

B2B Technology Manufacturers Organizations selling complex, technical products requiring cross-functional coordination and professional sales/marketing operations

Organizations Experiencing HubSpot Adoption Failures Companies where technical implementation succeeded but organizational adoption failed

Leadership Teams Recognizing Culture/Technology Disconnect Executives understanding that their systems work fine but their organization doesn’t use them

Cross-Functional Teams Stuck in Silos Departments wanting to collaborate but blocked by structural barriers and misaligned incentives

Companies Seeking Digital Transformation Organizations recognizing that transformation requires leadership change, not just technology change

Sales, Marketing, and Service Alignment Initiatives Teams attempting to unite around shared customer intelligence and unified operations

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Collaboration & Contact

Professional Presence:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tony-dowling
• CONVRG: Contact through company website

Value-First Shows:

• VF Leadership (Co-host with Chris Carolan) - Leadership transformation for digital adoption

CONVRG Services: HubSpot adoption strategy and B2B technology marketing for manufacturers seeking to professionalize operations and close the adoption gap

Collaboration Interests:

• Expanding HubSpot adoption strategy across industries
• Teaching leadership teams to enable rather than control
• Bridging gap between technical implementation and organizational adoption
• Demonstrating that manufacturing lessons apply universally
• Creating frameworks that address both strategy and execution
• Helping leaders redistribute decision rights effectively

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Why Tony Contributes to Value-First

Tony’s work closing the HubSpot Adoption Gap already addressed Value-First principles before he knew the framework existed: systems should enable natural value flow, but leadership behavior determines whether they can.

When he encountered the Value-First methodology, he recognized it as articulating what his SIMPLIFI framework addressed: the gap between what organizations say they want (collaboration, data-driven decisions, customer-centricity) and what their leadership behavior actually enables.

His specialization in manufacturing gives him unique credibility—if the approach works in complex, technical, engineering-driven environments with deep departmental silos, it works everywhere. Manufacturing doesn’t create unique problems; it reveals universal organizational dysfunction more clearly.

Through CONVRG, his co-hosting of VF Leadership, and his SIMPLIFI framework, Tony demonstrates that digital transformation is fundamentally a leadership challenge. The technology is the easy part. The question is whether leaders are willing to redistribute decision rights, model the behavior they expect, and create structures that enable what they say they want.

His participation in the Data Summit and ongoing Value-First work proves his commitment to not just implementing technology—but transforming the leadership approaches that determine whether technology can actually work.

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Value-First Leadership with Tony Dowling & Chris Carolan Exploring how leadership enables or restricts natural value flow—and why that’s harder than implementing any technology

CONVRG Closing the HubSpot Adoption Gap through leadership transformation and practical implementation

The Leadership Question Are you willing to redistribute decision rights, or just implement new systems?