AE_newbie

Account Executive

Selling to customers who need Government funding

I sell telecommunications hardware and services to rural Broadband Internet Service Providers (deal size is between $10M-$20M over 10 years of CapEx + recurring charges); and 99% of them do need Government funding (90% of costs) to make their business case work.

Project evaluation and funding approval by the government is slow, and some years funding is not available at all due to political reasons. My company has little influence over this.

My executive team believes I should develop opportunities in this market (part of my OTE is tied to this); I believe it's a broken market, a lose-lose situation. I've thought about moving to a different position within the company (or to a different company) where the market can afford what I sell and I can get wins.

1- Am I thinking this right?

2- I am geekly excited about the green technology markets: Electric Vehicle, Solar, Wind power, but many of these markets are Government funded as well - is there any one in particular that is attractive for Sales?

Cheers.

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14 comments

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nomdeguerre

Executive

4

Account executive

Sounds like a challenging environment. My thinking the only way to be successful would be if your company and you could be instrumental in getting your customer government funding secured. Basically you would bring both the product and the majority of the funding. I don’t know if this is possible, but if it is, it would be highly likely that you would get all the deals that you help secure funding for. Just my two cents.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

4

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I used to work with the education market, and part of that was to understand funding sources and help prospects build their business case based on pointing at appropriate funds.

AE_newbie

Fire Starter

0

Account Executive

Correct. I have a list of funding sources I point them too. However, the funding sources prioritize "Big" projects for political gain, pushing my customers down the list.

nomdeguerre

Executive

4

Account executive

That’s what I mean. Make it your primary job to get them funding. Become an expert in that, and now you’re actually solving their problem. Your sale will come as a natural consequence.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

1

Sales Rep

Great advice! Thats actually being a partner vs vendor

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

@Sunbunny31same here.

AE_newbie

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

That would work if the funding agency trusted us with their money. Long shot but would be awesome.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

@LordOfWaryou have any expertise in this area of government?

LordOfWar

Tycoon

3

Blow it up

Not so much with telco. In Canada it is heavily subsidized and pretty much based on relationships as lots of high-level C suits usually move on to working at the regulators who grant licenses and access/funding. It is very incestual.

My advice would be to leverage your contacts and experience into something you enjoy selling, as attitude accounts for the majority of success in my opinion.

I know a few who made big money in solar, but they started 10 years ago. EV market will grow, but current supply chain issues mean there is little to sell right now.

If you want to work with gov't, find their policy manuals and jump on companies that tick all the boxes. This could include green conversion, streamlining management, local manufacturing or whatever else they are pushing.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

3

Blow it up

Also please make sure you are investing time and energy in projects that are actually funded and will be approved. Nothing worse than chasing something that has no steam behind it.

SoccerandSales

Big Shot

1

Account Executive

I think you just need to become knowledgable about the funding process and how to expedite/ensure you are getting it. Then you can employ consultative selling where you help them with funding to be able to pay for your solution

AE_newbie

Fire Starter

0

Account Executive

Correct. I have a list of funding sources I point them too. However, the funding sources prioritize "Big" projects for political gain, pushing my customers down the list.

Pachacuti

Politicker

0

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Someone usually had funding, it’s just a matter of finding out who and how much they have. Since it’s a very tight lipped process (usually) that can be a challenge.

LittleDoesThings

Executive

0

Account Executive

That is so tricky! It is my firm belief that your OTE and metrics should not be tied to government deals. There is so much red tape to get through. These sales cycles can also take years. If they want you to expand that market, yes the reward is great when things are complete, but it makes for dry times ahead. I would talk with leadership and ask if they can negotiate your base and role expectations if they want to continue with that market.

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