methodology
NewGrowth Engine for Utility Vendors™
Make your expertise count throughout the utility buying journey.
Your buyers’ questions change as a problem takes shape, more stakeholders weigh in, requirements develop, and a solution moves toward implementation. Content that answers one question may leave the next one unresolved.
New Growth Communications maps those questions against the way your team communicates today. We find the gaps, develop the message and proof buyers need, deliver content that works, and improve the system as you learn from buyers and customers.
The Utility-Buyer Trust Journey shows where confidence must be earned. The NewGrowth Engine for Utility Vendors™ is how we help you earn it.
the buyer journey
How utilities make buying decisions
Utility buying rarely begins with an RFP. Before a public solicitation, a utility will define a problem, learn from peers, explore approaches, consult vendors and advisers, and decide what evidence they require.
The Utility-Buyer Trust Journey maps that process across seven decision stages:
- 01Awareness
- 02Problem Definition
- 03Solution Exploration
- 04Vendor Evaluation
- 05Purchase Decision
- 06Adoption & Implementation
- 07Expansion & Advocacy
Decisions can pause, circle back, or reopen earlier questions.
These stages describe the progression of a decision, not a rigid funnel. A utility may pause, circle back, change direction, or reopen an earlier question as new information emerges. Procurement may become involved at different points, and the route to a purchase varies.
stakeholders and evidence
Trust grows as uncertainty is resolved
The utility stakeholders involved — and the risks that concern them — change over the course of a buying journey. Engineering may need proof of performance. IT may examine architecture and integration. Cybersecurity may apply a firm risk threshold. Operations may need evidence that the solution will work in the field. Procurement may assess price, terms, delivery, and supplier reliability. Executives may need a recommendation they can defend.
Some of these stakeholders define the problem. Others evaluate options, set requirements, recommend a solution, negotiate terms, or authorize a commitment.
For a vendor, the useful question is: Which stakeholders matter at each stage, what do they need to know or verify, and what evidence will help?
The answer may call for peer utility experience, technical documentation, demonstrations, pilots, references, security materials, implementation plans, business cases, operational results, or evidence of long-term support. The task is to make relevant proof available to each stakeholder when their questions or responsibilities come into focus.
after the contract
The decision continues after the contract
Validation
The utility learns whether the solution…
- works in its environment
- integrates as expected
- earns user confidence
- produces results
- receives adequate support
If results hold up
Expansion, renewal and/or advocacy
Any or all may follow, depending on results and the account.
If results fall short or needs change
Earlier questions reopen
The utility may reconsider its options.
Implementation is another validation cycle. The utility learns whether the solution works in its environment, integrates as expected, earns user confidence, produces results, and receives adequate support. If successful, the vendor earns the opportunity to sell expansions and renewals, and to recruit the utility as an advocate its solutions.
The entire Utility-Buyer Trusty Journey helps us see where decisions are taking shape, what buyers need to know next, and where vendor communication can help them move forward.
how we work
How we put the journey to work for you
The NewGrowth Engine for Utility Vendors™ connects buyer needs with your messaging, proof, content, and internal workflows. The full process includes three connected phases.
Diagnose
Understand what is working and what needs attention.
Architect & execute
Plan and establish communication processes and metrics.
Optimize & govern
Review system results and adjust for effectiveness.
1. Diagnose the gaps
We examine what your team knows about its buyers, what your current materials help them understand, how sales uses those materials, where proof lives, and where communication breaks down.
The result is a clear view of what’s working and what needs attention. A Buyer-Journey Heatmap shows where your buyers are well supported or underserved. A Trust-Gap Analysis identifies questions your current evidence doesn’t adequately answer. A roadmap shows what to address first.
2. Architect & execute
We build a communication plan around priorities: the messages buyers need, the evidence behind them, the assets worth creating, and the conversations and channels where each piece belongs.
We design processes for capturing SME expertise and developing stakeholder-specific content, including custom-built AI tools that speed production while safeguarding brand voice, approved messaging and evidence-backed claims.
We also define a manageable set of metrics for tracking what matters in each stage of the buyer journey, from reach on the front end to engagement signals, opportunity progression and, ideally, content-touched deals. We establish what can be measured now, what requires better data, and how the team will review results and decide what to change.
The aim is to establish a system your people can use consistently, even as demands on their time change.
3. Optimize & govern
At an agreed cadence, we review your metrics alongside what questions buyers ask, which materials sales use (and don’t), where opportunities encounter friction, and what customers learn during implementation. We also evaluate whether the workflows built in the previous phase are working for your team and adjust as needed.
The measures help us make decisions, not just report activity. Together, we use what we learn to refine your messaging, strengthen thin evidence, reset content priorities, and keep the entire commercial communication system aligned as your offerings and market change.
Hypothetical example: GridFlex Systems, a DERMS software vendor
See the method at work
Hypothetical vendor, GridFlex Systems, has a credible DERMS product, successful utility deployments, and experienced sellers. Its Buyer-Journey Heatmap shows good Operationalized support during Vendor Evaluation, with much of its broader, buyer-facing communication at a Buyer-Aligned maturity.
But Content Operations, Repurposing & Distribution, and Measurement & Impact are significantly less developed (Campaign-Based). Immediate sales requests drive content production, customer evidence is underused, and activity metrics provide limited guidance for system improvement.
Buyer-Journey Heatmap · GridFlex Systems (hypothetical)
New Growth’s methodology would prioritize helping GridFlex shape utility decisions in the early buyer stages and turn implementation experience into reusable proof for expansion and future buyers.
Diagnose: Identify the buyer questions, gaps in evidence, and workflow limitations that deserve priority attention.
Architect & execute: Establish repeatable workflows and practical metrics to organize stakeholder-specific proof and help shape the way utilities think about their problems and possible solutions.
Optimize & govern: Review results alongside sales and customer feedback to adjust priorities, strengthen evidence, and refine the system.
next step