Blog · Utilities
Answers for teams selling to utilities
Software vendors sell to utilities through a rule-bound sequence: a documented need, funding from a budget, rate case or price control, an RFP and a council or board vote.
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expansion · · 7 minEnterprise expansion: treat each business unit as an account
Treat each business unit as its own target account. Score it on fit and signals, map the seats its buying group needs, and fill the next empty seat through a warm introduction from the unit that bought. Give each unit its own CRM record and each contact a role, then report engaged seats per unit against a baseline.
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forecasting · · 8 minGovtech deal stages that hold: funding, path and council date
Instead of demo and proposal, exit govtech stages on evidence the buyer controls: funding status, engaged budget and finance seats, the buying path (own solicitation, co-op contract or under the signing limit) and the meeting or signature that sets the close. Count a deal in a quarter only when its money is appropriated and that date falls inside it.
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buying-groups · · 6 minCredit union deal stuck at the champion? Plan the seats with her
Go up with your champion, not around her. Agree with her which of your people meets which seat above her, why and by when, starting with a CFO review of what the pilot proved. Count engaged seats on the deal each month. If no budget owner will meet you, call the pilot complete rather than extend it.
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buying-groups · · 7 minSelling SaaS to a utility: get finance and regulatory in early
At an investor-owned utility, a late “SaaS is opex” objection is a missing seat. At discovery, name finance, regulatory accounting and regulatory affairs. Give each an owner on your team and a question to settle, and keep the deal out of proposal until all 3 are engaged. Your champion opens doors but can’t answer for them.
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crm-hygiene · · 6 minHow fast does CRM contact data go stale? Measure your own rate
No measured rate fits every CRM. Official job data measure a single cause, people changing employer: 20.6% of US wage and salary workers had been with their employer a year or less in January 2026, as had 14.6% of employees aged 20–64 in Germany in 2025. Role changes add to that. Measure your own rate on 100 contacts.
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abm · · 7 minWhat proves ABM is working at €25k+? Not win rate in year one
Proof needs a comparison: target accounts against a pre-launch baseline and, where the list is big enough, a holdout of similar accounts. At €25k+, win rate can’t show it in year one: telling a 20% win rate from 30% takes 294 closed deals in each group (Illustrative). Judge year one on opportunity rate and buying-group coverage.
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