Utilities purchase through multi-year RFPs. Homeowners buy from an installer they trust. Regulators can expand or erase your addressable market with a single rule change. Most GTM plans choose one of these motions and act as if the other two don't exist.
The Challenge
A single roadmap, three incompatible purchasing processes
Utility and industrial enterprise buyers procure through multi-year cycles – pilot, validation, RFP, committee sign-off – while residential and prosumer buyers decide in a single conversation with an installer. A GTM plan built around one motion starves the other: sales reps built for enterprise procurement can't run installer channel economics, and a channel team optimized for contractor margins has no idea how to survive a utility RFP scoring rubric. Most climate tech companies pick a lane by accident, based on whoever their first customer happened to be, not by deliberate segmentation.
Channel-reliant revenue means the customer relationship isn't yours
Residential and prosumer sales run almost entirely through installer and contractor networks who already have a relationship with the homeowner and a shelf full of competing products to sell instead of yours. Winning channel share means building installer economics, training, and lead-referral programs on top of your core product GTM – a second go-to-market motion most engineering-led teams have never built. Without dedicated channel enablement, installers default to whatever pays them the fastest, and that's rarely the newest entrant.
Reliance on policy and incentives can shift your TAM overnight
IRA credits, state rebate programs, and carbon credit market pricing are not stable demand drivers – they are political variables that shift on legislative and regulatory timelines nobody in sales controls. A GTM plan that treats the current incentive structure as permanent gets blindsided when a rebate program sunsets, a credit qualification threshold changes, or a state swaps its net metering rules. Pipeline that looked durable evaporates in a single filing period, and sales forecasts built without a policy-scenario layer become fiction the moment the rule changes.
Deep-tech spinouts lack any commercial GTM muscle
Many climate tech companies spin out of university labs, DOE programs, or corporate R&D with a technically superior product and zero institutional experience selling anything. The founding team can defend the physics in a diligence room but has never built a pricing model, staffed a sales function, or run a pilot-to-scale conversion process. Capital gets raised on the technology story, then burns through runway while the company improvises a commercial function from scratch under investor pressure to show revenue.
How We Support You
We begin by requiring a genuine segmentation decision. During the first 30 days, we map your addressable market across three buyer archetypes – utility/industrial, residential/prosumer channel, and any policy-driven credit or incentive market – then quantify which one your product, capital position, and team are truly equipped to serve first. Most climate tech companies attempt to serve all three through one sales motion; we determine the primary motion, the secondary motion worth developing next, and the one to deliberately deprioritize until you have a team capable of running it.
Strategy development creates a distinct GTM model around the buyer you've prioritized. For utility and industrial enterprise, this means a pilot-to-scale framework: how to scope a pilot, which proof points advance a buyer from pilot to RFP-ready vendor, and how to price and structure a multi-year procurement contract rather than a one-time sale. For channel-dependent residential sales, it means installer and contractor economics – margin structure, lead-referral flow, training and certification – developed as a dedicated function, not an afterthought attached to the enterprise sales deck.
Execution is where our team embeds. For enterprise and utility motions, we build the RFP response function, pilot-to-scale conversion process, and technical-to-commercial handoff so your engineers aren't handling procurement discussions alone. For channel motions, we establish installer onboarding, co-marketing, and incentive-passthrough programs that make your product the easiest path for a contractor's next job.
Measurement follows the appropriate leading indicators for each motion, since one blended pipeline figure obscures what's really happening. For enterprise, that means pilot conversion rate and RFP win rate rather than raw lead volume. For channel, it means installer activation and reorder rate instead of top-of-funnel installer sign-ups. For policy-exposed revenue, it means pipeline coverage for every incentive scenario, allowing leadership to spot exposure before a rule change becomes a missed quarter, rather than afterward.
What we deliver
- Buyer segmentation model across utility/industrial, channel/residential, and policy-driven demand – with a prioritized primary motion
- Pilot-to-scale playbook for utility and industrial RFP-driven sales, including proof-point sequencing and multi-year contract structure
- Installer/contractor channel program – margin structure, onboarding, training, and lead-referral mechanics
- Policy-scenario pipeline model showing how forecast and pricing shift under two to three realistic incentive outcomes
- First commercial operating system for R&D spinouts with no existing GTM function – pricing, sales process, and hire profile
Climate tech companies don't lose deals because their technology is inferior. They lose by using one GTM motion for three buyers without a common decision process – while the incentive dollars supporting the pipeline may vanish before a deal closes.
Our Methodology
Our climate tech GTM build is delivered as a 90-day sprint rather than an indefinite retainer. Phase one covers segmentation and prioritization: we map your buyer archetypes, assess which motion your existing product and team are positioned to win, and secure explicit leadership agreement about what will be deprioritized – a step most companies avoid because rejecting a buyer segment feels like sacrificing revenue.
Phase two develops the GTM model for the chosen motion, whether it's a pilot-to-scale enterprise process, an installer channel program, or the initial commercial function for a deep-tech spinout. Each model incorporates a policy-scenario layer because, in climate tech, the incentive structure is part of the market rather than a footnote.
Phase three puts the operating cadence in place – pipeline reviews, RFP or channel-activation tracking, and a quarterly policy-exposure check that lets leadership identify incentive risk before it affects revenue. Unlike a conventional strategy engagement that delivers a deck, we remain embedded through the first RFP cycle or channel cohort, pressure-testing the plan with a real buyer instead of only a market map.
Our Working Approach
The initial 30 days focus on segmentation and prioritization – mapping buyers, scoring motions, and reaching a leadership decision about what to build first. Days 31 to 60 are dedicated to building the GTM model: the pilot-to-scale framework, channel program, or first commercial operating system, based on what phase one uncovered. From days 61 to 90, we apply the model to a live pilot, RFP, or installer cohort and refine it according to what the market actually does rather than what the plan predicted.
Our team consists of a GTM strategist responsible for segmentation and the model, an operator who embeds in RFP responses or channel onboarding based on the selected motion, and a measurement lead who creates the policy-scenario pipeline model. On your side, we require access to the person currently leading customer conversations – even when that's a founder or engineer rather than a dedicated salesperson – along with visibility into active pilot or channel relationships, ensuring we build from current reality rather than a hypothetical.
Weekly check-ins monitor pilot or RFP progress and channel activation, depending on the motion. Monthly reviews connect GTM activity with the policy-scenario model so leadership can distinguish durable pipeline from incentive-dependent pipeline. Initial engagements last 3 to 6 months – enterprise and utility motions generally require the longer end to complete a full pilot-to-RFP cycle, whereas channel programs may produce activation signals sooner.
- Clear primary GTM motion with a documented rationale for what's deprioritized
- Pilot-to-scale conversion rate improvement for utility/industrial sales
- Installer/contractor channel activation and reorder rate
- Pipeline forecast that holds up under a realistic incentive-policy scenario
If your climate tech company needs gtm strategy leadership, we should talk.
Expand your marketing team output with our experts
Let us take a custom approach to your growth goals by assembling and leading the best-in-class marketing team to support your next stage.
Frequently asked questions
What does a GTM strategy engagement cost for a climate tech company?
Most climate tech GTM engagements cost $18K to $40K monthly, based on how many buyer motions we're developing – one channel motion costs less than building an enterprise RFP function and a channel program simultaneously. That's a fraction of the cost of hiring a VP of GTM and supporting team before knowing which motion truly works.
When will we start seeing results from a climate tech GTM engagement?
Signals from a channel program – installer activation and first reorders – generally emerge within 60 to 90 days after onboarding and incentive structures go live. Utility and industrial pilot-to-scale motions progress more slowly because the buyer's procurement cycle, not your GTM plan, determines the pace; meaningful RFP or contract movement should be expected within 6 to 12 months.
How will the GTM team work with our current founders and engineers?
For companies that don't yet have a commercial function, we partner directly with the person currently managing customer conversations, often a technical founder. Together, we develop the pricing model, sales process, and hiring profile instead of delivering a deck they must decipher on their own.
How is Winston Francois different from a conventional GTM consultancy?
Most GTM consultants bring a standard B2B SaaS playbook to a market that doesn't purchase like SaaS – utilities use multi-year RFPs, homeowners purchase through installers, and incentive policy can reshape the addressable market. From day one, we incorporate segmentation and a policy-scenario layer into the plan rather than treating them as edge cases, and we remain embedded through the first pilot or channel cohort instead of leaving once the strategy deck is delivered.
How is ROI measured for a climate tech GTM engagement?
Measurement varies by motion: enterprise/utility uses pilot conversion rate and RFP win rate, channel uses installer activation and reorder rate, and anything dependent on credits or rebates uses pipeline coverage across different incentive-policy scenarios. We report monthly against these leading indicators rather than relying on one blended pipeline figure that conceals which revenue is durable and which could disappear after a single policy change.
Which climate tech companies are best suited to this service?
The strongest fit is with companies that have launched a working product but are simultaneously selling to multiple buyer types – or R&D spinouts with compelling technology but no commercial function yet. It's also well suited to teams whose pipeline depends heavily on a rebate or credit program and that need a concrete answer for what occurs if the program changes.
