ABC: Always Be Closing
Calvin Hendryx-Parker gave a very interesting talk about selling Plone. How do you talk to potential customers? By listening rather than talking.
The guidelines in a nutshell:
What not to do
use jargon - just keep it simple and understandable
show irrelevant features - it only looks more difficult, even if you thinks it's cool to show of
talk about yourself - it is not about you
talk bad about other technologies - Plone is good, but there is more out there
What to do
listen - find out what it is the other person is looking for
know who you are talking to - find out how well the audience is informed and if necessary, adjust the presentation
build a relationship - do not start a conversation with a sales pitch. Find common interests to begin with
Be prepared
have everything installed and tested - If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So make sure all the equipment is working
have a folder with demo content of many types - if a demo is not working, have something else for backup
run it local - we like to believe there is internet everywhere, but sometimes there is not. So run your demo local. At least have a backup stand by
