Pitched perfect: Selling Craft CMS to non-technical stakeholders

At this year’s Dot All conference, Our Managing Director Daniel delivered a talk on a challenge faced by many Craft CMS agencies today: how to sell a technical platform like Craft to non-technical stakeholders. Pitched Perfect: Selling Craft CMS to Non-Technical Stakeholders, explored not only how to communicate the value of Craft CMS to broader teams but also how agencies must evolve their approach in order to succeed in larger, more competitive spaces.

For us especially, it feels like the days of conversations with a single decision-maker are largely behind us. Selling Craft CMS mostly involved showing what it could do, demonstrating how it solved a particular need, and closing the loop with a technical overview. However, as we’ve expanded and Craft CMS has grown in capability, so has the scale of the clients it attracts, the complexity of the process and the number of stakeholders involved.

In his talk, Daniel explained that today, we’re often pitching to large organisations with multiple stakeholders, each bringing different priorities to the table. These stakeholders may include marketers, IT teams, compliance officers, procurement departments, and senior executives. And they’re not just considering Craft CMS. Often, we’re up against more widely known platforms such as Adobe Experience Manager and Umbraco.

So, why pursue these more complex opportunities Daniel asks? The answer lies in scalability. Larger organisations can bring longer-term partnerships, more sophisticated projects, and recurring revenue potential. But the stakes are higher. To win these clients, agencies need a different approach and they need to know when to say no. 

Pre-qualification is everything

Daniel emphasised the importance of pre-qualification and understanding the client’s needs, their existing infrastructure, and their business goals before proposing a solution. Not every lead is the right fit. This isn’t about being selective for the sake of it, it’s about making sure you’re right for each other and setting the stage for, not just a successful project, but a successful long-term relationship. 

When Craft CMS is the right fit, it’s because it aligns with the client’s goals, not just the agency’s capabilities. And that alignment is what allows agencies to shift from "selling a CMS" to "solving a problem

Position Craft without talking about Craft

Of course we know that Craft CMS happens to be an excellent solution. But let’s be honest, unless they’ve been able to experience the system first hand, many stakeholders won’t actually care what CMS is used. They care about their problems being solved. With this in mind, Daniel suggests we focus our pitches on understanding the clients needs and mapping the benefits and ROI to those needs/requirements. Daniel suggested positioning strengths in relation to what matters to the stakeholder. For example: 

• Security: With high-profile data breaches in the news, security is constantly front-of-mind. Craft CMS’s security record offers reassurance
• Bespoke Experiences: Craft CMS allows for highly tailored digital experiences that align seamlessly with brand strategy
• Scalability: With minimal technical limitations, Craft CMS can grow with an organisation and integrate easily with other systems.

But it’s also important to understand that when it comes to multi-stakeholder buying groups, one-size-fits-all messaging doesn’t work. Each stakeholder typically has a different idea of what success looks like, and agencies need to be able to speak each of their languages. That means framing ROI in ways that resonate with different roles.

What about objections to Craft CMS? 

Objections are inevitable right? Well that’s what we thought when we kicked-off discovery for this talk. When we got into it, however, it occurred to us that we’ve scaled and now work with larger organisations. We no longer encounter the same objections. What do we put that down to? Pre-qualification is everything. 

Objections often come from a place of misunderstanding. As Daniel put it, many of the perceived limitations of Craft CMS don’t come from the platform at all. They stem from organisational habits, legacy systems, or poor implementation. For example, developer quality, project management or ongoing support after launch are all things that shape the experience. When those fall short, the CMS takes the blame. But if you’ve uncovered this in pre-qualification, you’re no longer defending the CMS. You’re talking about the value it will bring to the project.

Of course, as Daniel pointed out, the size of the Craft CMS community also raises eyebrows. Yes it’s smaller he says, but it’s also growing, fast. And more importantly, clients are coming back. That’s not hype. It’s trust built over time. And, he points out, as Craft CMS agencies, we all have a role to play in amplifying the brilliant Craft CMS projects we have been involved in.  

So what works? Show, don’t tell. Share projects where the client started with hesitation and ended with results. Where past pain points were resolved, not repeated. Where Craft CMS helped unlock business goals, not just technical requirements. 

At its core, selling Craft CMS to non-technical stakeholders isn’t about championing a platform. It’s about building trust, understanding what truly matters to the people in the room, and demonstrating how Craft can deliver goals. As agencies, our job is to shift the conversation towards outcomes  and to make the value visible before the CMS ever comes up. Because when we lead with clarity, alignment and real-world results, Craft tends to sell itself.