November 13th, 2007
Tips and Tools
How to sell a CMS. 13 Key points.
1. Say really offensive, demeaning things about the competition. Use racial slurs, joke about sexual preference, and make it well-known how stupid they really are.
JUST KIDDING – THAT'S NOT THE ROUTE WE SHOULD GO…
Selling a CMS is easy. Well, not really… but sort of. The key to selling Content Management Systems is quick and clean. EDUCATE YOUR PROSPECT. That's how to sell a CMS. EDUCATION! Unless you're working with a big-name company, with an IT staff or a few tech geeks lingering around, most people won't know what a "Content Management System" is… They do, however, know exactly what a "Website" is…
Here's what we've all learned about getting your web presence up and running…
- "Web designers" create your website.
- "Web designer" = "Web Developer"
- Every website has "web pages"
- Managing your own site is much too difficult and time consuming.
- Every time I need to update, I'll be paying about $40-$50 or more.
THESE ARE ALL A THING OF THE PAST. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I'M NOT A FAN OF "WEB DESIGN FIRMS"
SELL A CMS. IT'S CUTTING-EDGE, AFFORDABLE, STABLE and can be very LUCRATIVE.
"A CMS grows as Technology grows… static sites are dead on delivery."
- Don't sell a website, sell a CMS (Content Management System) -Emphasize the difference.
- Don't discuss web pages, talk about infinite "pages" driven via database, on a dynamic state-of-the-art platform.(Notice the quotes around pages). A CMS doesn't know what a "page" is…
- Administrative Capabilities. Show a demo of the admin area. Discuss what it means to be able to manage your own content… or your entire site for that matter. Emphasize the fact that they will no longer be required to pay every time they need an update to their site.
- Paint the picture. When somebody hears "Content Management System," right away, they picture an unattractive intranet-type platform. Be sure to let your prospect know that the visual aspects can be customized to whatever they want… Show examples of some really great Joomla!, Drupal, or WordPress sites… and say, "These are Content Management Systems."
- DO NOT let design get in the way… Anyone who works with CMS Technology knows that design can come at any stage… The important issues are CONTENT MANAGEMENT and overall FUNCTIONALITY. Your prospect does NOT know this. They believe the natural path to a complete site begins with design. Clearly this is wrong. You might have a very difficult time educating your clients on this issue – they just want to see what their site is going to look like… if that's the case, begin with design.
- Discuss the value of their platform. They put a value on Joomla! at about $2,000,000 (Probably more by now). Think about this. Say something like this: "You could have a team of 10+ guys working on your site for 5 years+ and spend millions." There's HUGE value there…
- Stability. Using a pre-built CMS is great way to go for stability issues. Thousands, or millions have used 'em. The bugs are being worked out daily by people all over the world.
- Support. Hypothetically speaking, if you were to fall off the face of the earth, your client could still find the support they need, easily.
- Extendibility. So many extensions, or plug-ins exist. Let your prospect know that it's an easy process to upgrade or add-on. A short list of extensions include, web forms, surveys, polls, etc. You may, or may not, have an additional charge for installing extensions. Either way, the benefit here is that is can be done quickly.
- SEO. Out of the box, you'll get some SEO value. There's so many things you can do to increase your SEO, but natively speaking, a CMS comes stock with some great benefits. Better SEO = More visitors, and moe $$$
- User-specific Content. Demonstrate how your site can be built to accommodate your clients, your staff, your prospects and more… most platforms come with a user access levels, giving the right privileges to the right user.
- Syndicate. Demonstrate to your prospect how your site will syndicate content, allowing your users to stay "up-to-date" at all times…
- E-Commerce. If your client needs an online store, the full cart and product management system can be installed and implemented quickly and easily.
- Cost. Whether you charge high or low, in the long run, they'll save money... how? No need for updates, it's easy to get support, the site is built on a fully functional/dynamic platform worth millions, and they receive a system that grows as technology grows. Static sites are dead on delivery.
These key points have worked for me… give it a shot. And I didn't even joke about sexual preference or race!
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