Climate tech is one of the few categories where one company can sell a multi-year utility contract and a $30K heat pump installation in the same quarter. Most marketing teams create one funnel and push both buyers through it. We build the two funnels your company actually needs while accounting for the rebate calendar that moves them both.
The Challenge
A single funnel can't handle both a utility RFP and a homeowner's rebate question
A demand-gen program built for enterprise sustainability buyers – gated whitepapers, ABM, long nurture sequences – does nothing for a homeowner comparing three solar quotes on a Saturday afternoon. A program built for that homeowner – local paid search, review proof, financing calculators – does nothing for a utility procurement officer running a two-year RFP process. Companies selling both motions end up with a marketing team optimizing for the wrong buyer half the time, and neither funnel gets the depth it needs to actually convert.
The industry's legacy of scams taxes every consumer-facing dollar you invest
Door-to-door solar sales, inflated savings claims, and predatory financing left a trust deficit that a new, legitimate installer or hardware company inherits before a single ad runs. Homeowners now research for weeks, cross-check reviews obsessively, and abandon carts at the financing step more than in almost any other home-purchase category. Acquisition cost isn't just media spend – it's the cost of proving you're not the company that burned their neighbor, and most campaigns never budget time or content for that proof.
The true B2B bottleneck is pilot-to-scale conversion, not lead volume
Utilities and industrial buyers don't buy off a form fill. They run a pilot, evaluate it against internal engineering and safety standards, then decide whether to scale it across a fleet or a service territory – a process that can run 12 to 24 months. Marketing teams that measure success in MQLs miss the actual failure point entirely: pilots that stall because no one owned the internal champion relationship through procurement, legal, and budget cycles. The deal doesn't die from lack of interest. It dies from lack of a plan to get from pilot to signed contract.
Rebate and incentive timing warps demand in ways standard funnel models can't predict
IRA tax credits, state rebate caps, and utility incentive programs create demand spikes when a program opens and demand cliffs when funding runs out or a policy deadline passes – independent of anything your marketing team does. A campaign that looks like it's underperforming in month three might just be sitting in a policy-driven demand trough, and a campaign that looks like a breakout win might just be riding a rebate deadline that's about to expire. Teams that don't model incentive calendars into their funnel forecasts either panic-cut working campaigns or over-credit lucky timing.
How We Support You
We begin by separating the business into its actual acquisition motions rather than assuming there's only one. For most climate tech companies, that's a B2B enterprise motion – utilities, industrial buyers, corporate sustainability teams – alongside a B2C/prosumer motion – homeowners purchasing solar, EV chargers, heat pumps, or home battery through a contractor or installer network. During the first 30 days, we map each real buying process: who initiates, who approves, what prompts a purchase decision, and where deals currently stall.
Strategy development creates two distinct engines rather than a single shared campaign. On the B2B side, that means an account-based approach focused on the utilities and industrial accounts matching your real pilot-to-scale profile, supported by content addressing the engineering and compliance questions that decide whether a pilot is approved to scale.
Execution integrates into each motion differently. For B2B, we join your pilot-program reviews and create the nurture sequence that equips your internal champion with the ROI data, compliance documentation, and executive-level framing needed to guide a pilot through their procurement process. For B2C, we collaborate with your installer or dealer network on lead handoff speed and financing presentation, because in a category this trust-sensitive, a lead left waiting for 48 hours is one a competitor closes first.
Measurement differs between the engines because their buying cycles differ. B2B measures pilot-to-scale conversion rate, average duration in each procurement stage, and account engagement depth throughout the buying committee. B2C measures cost per qualified lead against installer close rate, financing approval rate, and shifts in acquisition cost relative to the incentive calendar.
What we deliver
- Buyer-motion map separating B2B pilot-to-scale accounts from B2C/prosumer purchase journeys
- Account-based pipeline plan for utility and industrial targets, built around pilot-to-scale milestones
- Trust-first local demand engine for homeowner acquisition, including installer-network lead handoff audit
- Standing federal/state/utility incentive calendar mapped to campaign pacing and budget allocation
- Dual-engine reporting that separates B2B pipeline velocity from B2C cost-per-install economics
Climate tech companies don't face a demand problem – they face a translation problem. The content, proof, and cadence that persuade a utility to scale a pilot share almost nothing with what convinces a homeowner to trust a contractor, and sending both buyers through one funnel quietly starves whichever motion you handle less effectively.
Our Methodology
Our climate tech acquisition build operates as two concurrent 90-day tracks that share a measurement layer, but not a playbook. Phase one is discovery tailored to each motion: for B2B, we map your last 10 pilot deals to identify where they stalled and who the true internal champion was; for B2C, we audit your installer network's real close rate and the specific trust objections surfacing in sales calls, rather than those assumed by a generic homeowner persona.
Phase two creates the engine for each motion. B2B receives an account list, a committee-mapped content plan connected to compliance and engineering evaluation criteria, and a nurture cadence designed to stay warm across a 12-to-24-month pilot-to-scale timeline. B2C receives a local demand plan centered on review proof, transparent financing content, and installer-network lead routing – along with the incentive calendar that shows when to increase paid spend and when a rebate cliff means shifting budget toward retention and referral instead.
Phase three establishes the operating cadence: weekly reviews for whichever motion has an active pilot or installation pipeline, monthly incentive-calendar recalibration, and a shared dashboard reporting each engine separately. Unlike a generalist growth agency using one funnel model for a two-sided business, we construct acquisition as two systems measured according to how each buyer actually operates.
Our Working Approach
Initial engagements span 4 to 6 months because both motions require at least one complete incentive cycle and, for B2B, part of a pilot cycle to generate a meaningful signal. Days 1 to 30 focus on discovery: reviewing pilot deals with your sales team, auditing the installer network, and constructing the incentive calendar. Days 31 to 60 build both engines – the account list and content for B2B, local demand and trust content for B2C – and launch the first campaigns. Days 61 to 120 operate both engines on the weekly cadence, with the incentive calendar guiding pacing changes as rebate windows open and close.
Our team features a strategist responsible for the dual-motion plan, a content lead creating compliance-and-ROI material for B2B and trust-and-financing material for B2C, and a campaign operator managing paid and lifecycle execution for whichever motion is active. On your side, we require sales access for pilot-deal debriefs and, when applicable, a working relationship with your installer or dealer network – we can't repair a trust gap in a sales conversation we aren't permitted to observe.
Weekly reviews follow whichever pipeline has near-term momentum: pilot-stage progression for B2B and lead-to-install conversion for B2C. Monthly reviews recalibrate the incentive calendar and redistribute budget across motions according to the incentive cycle's actual position. Most clients see installer-network lead quality and B2C cost-per-install shift within 60 to 90 days; B2B pilot-to-scale impact generally appears on the timeline of your real procurement cycle, which we forecast candidly in month one rather than promising a faster result.
- Pilot-to-scale conversion rate for utility and industrial accounts
- Cost per qualified lead relative to installer-network close rate
- Budget pacing accuracy against the federal/state/utility incentive calendar
- Trust-objection resolution rate in the homeowner sales conversation
If your climate tech company needs customer acquisition leadership, we should talk.
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Frequently asked questions
What does customer acquisition cost for a climate tech company?
The answer depends substantially on which motion you're financing. B2B account-based programs aimed at utilities and industrial accounts generally cost $15K to $40K per month because of the required account research and long-cycle content.
How soon will we see results from a climate tech customer acquisition engagement?
B2C lead quality and installer close rates generally improve within 60 to 90 days after trust content and financing presentation are corrected. B2B pilot-to-scale impact follows your real procurement cycle – if pilots take 12 to 18 months, that's the realistic timeline for scale-conversion impact, although pipeline engagement and committee movement become visible much earlier.
How does your acquisition team work with our installer network or sales team?
For B2C, we partner directly with your installer or dealer network to improve lead handoff speed, financing presentation, and the specific trust objections emerging in sales calls – this demands access to call recordings or ride-alongs, not only lead data. For B2B, we participate in pilot-program reviews alongside your sales and technical teams so nurture content reflects what the buying committee is truly evaluating.
What distinguishes Winston Francois from a standard climate tech marketing agency?
Most agencies impose a single funnel model – typically a B2B SaaS playbook – on a company that actually serves two distinctly different buyers. We create separate engines for the enterprise/utility motion and the homeowner/prosumer motion, measure each by its own standards, and factor in the incentive calendar affecting both.
How is ROI measured for a climate tech acquisition engagement?
For B2B, we measure pilot-to-scale conversion rate, duration in every procurement stage, and account engagement depth across the buying committee – rather than lead volume. For B2C, we measure cost per qualified lead against actual installer close rate and financing approval rate, adjusted to reflect our position in the incentive calendar.
Which type of climate tech company is best suited to this service?
Companies selling to utilities or industrial buyers through a pilot-to-scale process, those selling to homeowners via an installer or dealer network, or businesses operating both motions simultaneously. The strongest fit is a company beyond initial product-market fit that's encountering a genuine bottleneck – stalled pilots, installer lead quality, or unpredictable demand linked to rebate timing.
