In a recent post, I shared the details of a rapid prototype that I created to try to close a sale, and mentioned that the experience led to a shift in my thinking about how we approach sales in general.

This shift has since been validated by the news that we won the project. The prototype wasn't the only reason, but it certainly helped! 

It feels like a victory even though it's a relatively small project for an existing client. One detail I didn't mention in the first post was that our client told us that one of the other project stakeholders was pushing Squiz for the build, because their organisation was using it and felt it should be in consideration. And I really didn't like that! It might have been this little spark of competition that inspired me to go ahead and build the thing, because I didn't think they'd be able to match it.

Another important aspect is that the budget for this project is fixed: They have a set allocation for the next three years that they can't exceed, but will use regardless. So creating the prototype didn't undermine our commercials. What it did do was give stakeholders confidence that we can deliver.

For so long, the idea of doing a demo as part of a Drupal sale was almost a dealbreaker. We knew that if we were up against SaaS platforms we wouldn't be able to compete without investing a lot of time. We'd try to explain that demos were tricky because we'd be building for them from scratch. This is not a winning position.

Now when we get an RFP, I have a completely different mindset. There are two main aspects to this.

1. Get Canvas in front of them

I have already written about how Canvas has changed the game, but mostly from the perspective of site building. The first time I did a sales demo with Canvas was back in February. It was early days, and we didn't win that project, but it was also the first time I was excited to demo the editing experience in Drupal. We've since won another project off the back of a demo, in addition to the one I mentioned earlier.

I've now had the pleasure of building a site with Canvas, and running an editor training session. I was actually nervous about it because I was worried they might not be as excited as I was. Friends, it was magic. They were two Drupal veterans who had heard rumours about this mysterious new thing, and were absolutely blown away. They couldn't wait to get in and get started!

So, back to the sales part of things. We're on a mission to show Canvas as early and often as possible. Even if it's not a marketing-heavy site with landing pages, we want them to see that Drupal is innovating, it is modern, it is evolving. Even if they don't need Canvas, we want them to want it.

2. Find a risk and try to mitigate it

Beyond Canvas, what can we demo as part of our proposal to show Drupal's power? What risks are they focused on that we might be easily able to showcase?

This could be something as simple as a faceted search, as in the prototype example, or even a content migration. Oftentimes, clients who are not technically savvy see risks where we don't, or focus on things that aren't actually difficult. Or they had a bad experience that has made them overly cautious. Sometimes this is explicit but sometimes you have to read between the lines. 

Content migrations tend to produce lasting psychic damage and trauma, so this one is quite common, but Drupal has the tools. You don't have to migrate their entire site. Maybe just a specific type of content, or a small batch of test pages. Show them a working CMS with (some of) their content, and you're much more likely will win them over than you are with even the most compelling written narrative.

Through the years, we've tried several times to create an in-house demo that we maintain and adapt for sales. It always ends up falling off when things get busy, and it's completely outdated by the time come back to it. What's totally different now is that we don't have to maintain anything. We can use Drupal CMS out of the box, and quickly build whatever it is that we want to show.

Things are different, so do things differently

Regardless of whether you are happy with the changing landscape for Drupal and agencies specifically, it's here for us all. There is plenty to doom about, but I'd rather focus on opportunities. 

I must admit, I am not always the most enthusiastic participant in our sales process. I've spent too many hours filling out endless spreadsheets only to get ghosted. But this new approach has energised me and I'm genuinely looking forward to applying it. With two wins already so far, what's not to look forward to?