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, create content that puts the plan to work, and improve it 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 be defining a problem, learning from peers, exploring approaches, consulting vendors and advisers, and deciding what evidence they will require.
The Utility Buyer Trust Journey maps that process across seven decision stages:
The utility buying journey
- 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 decision. 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 people 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 this 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.
The entire journey helps us see where decisions are taking shape, what buyers need to know next, and where your communication can help them move forward.
how we work
How we put the journey to work for your business
The NewGrowth Engine for Utility Vendors™ connects buyer needs with your messaging, proof, content, and internal workflows. The work follows three connected phases.
Diagnose the gaps
A clear view of what is working and what needs attention.
Typical outputs
- Buyer Journey Heatmap
- Trust Gap Analysis
- Prioritized roadmap
Architect & execute
A communication plan built around those priorities, and the content, tools and measures that put it to work.
Optimize & govern
Regular reviews of buyer questions, sales use and results, used to keep the system working.
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 is working and what needs attention. A Buyer Journey Heatmap shows where buyers are well supported or underserved. A Trust Gap Analysis identifies questions your current evidence does not adequately answer. A prioritized roadmap shows what to address first.
2. Architect & execute
We build a communication plan around those priorities: the messages buyers need, the evidence behind them, the content worth creating, and the conversations and channels where it belongs.
We can write and develop the content, create ways to draw expertise from your subject-matter experts, and design and build AI tools that help your team produce on-brand work from approved messaging, source material, and proof.
We also define a manageable set of measures for the buyer-journey stages that matter most — whether those measures concern reach, meaningful engagement, or commercial progress. 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 a system your people can use consistently, even as demands on their time change.
3. Optimize & govern
At an agreed cadence, we review those measures alongside what buyers ask, which materials sales uses, where opportunities encounter friction, and what customers learn during implementation. We also look at whether the workflows built in the previous phase are working for your team.
The measures help us make decisions, not just report activity. We use what we learn to refine the messaging, strengthen thin evidence, reset content priorities, and keep the system useful as your offerings and market change.
Hypothetical example: GridFlex Systems, a DERMS software vendor
See the method at work
Strong evaluation support. Room to mature across the journey.
Hypothetical vendor, GridFlex, has a credible DERMS product, successful utility deployments, and experienced sellers. Its Buyer-ourney Heatmap shows Operationalized support during Vendor Evaluation, with much of its broader communication at Buyer-Aligned maturity.
But Content Operations, Repurposing & Distribution, and Measurement & Impact remain Campaign-Based. Immediate sales requests drive content production, customer evidence is underused, and activity metrics provide limited guidance for improvement.
Buyer Journey Heatmap · GridFlex Systems (hypothetical)
New Growth’s methodology would help GridFlex shape decisions earlier and turn implementation experience into reusable proof for expansion and future buyers.
Diagnose: Identify the buyer questions, evidence gaps, and workflow limitations that deserve attention first.
Architect & execute: Create guidance for earlier decisions, organize stakeholder-specific proof, and establish repeatable workflows and practical measures.
Optimize & govern: Review those measures alongside sales and customer feedback to refine priorities, strengthen evidence, and sustain the system.
next step