A Great Sales Experience for Government Buyers Starts with Curated Content
Photo by Prathan Chorruangsak
In 2020, the Federal government shattered spending records by obligating over 665 billion dollars in contracts.
10.6 billion of that went to information technology and telecommunications services with another 3.7 billion dedicated to IT software - proving just how committed the government is to innovation.
The same is true for governments at the local level. The challenges of the pandemic taught government administrators that city innovation via govtech is no longer a “nice to have” - it’s the future.
From digital resident engagement to virtual record keeping and cloud computing, public sector spending illustrates that investing in new tech is a high priority.
Demand for innovative civtech products is growing among cities, counties, school districts and higher ed, and the willingness to sign on the dotted line is, too.
But determining the best solution can be daunting. Government buyers need to be certain before committing funds to investment technology. So, who’s actually behind these monumental spending decisions?
Government employees doing critical, mission driven work. The same people you depend on to claim your piece of the spending pie.
That means every interaction you have with a government employee can make-or-break your chances of making a sale, including the content you create.
Simply put, success in the world of marketing to the government begins and ends with content that appeals to your government buyer.
Government buyers are people first.
The secret to creating content that appeals to the government buyer is easier than you might think. Appeal to the person first, and organization second.
In the public sector, purchasers are bound by strict rules designed to hold public servants accountable to taxpayer money and protect against liability. Because of this, doing business with the government may feel like you’re doing business with the system, rather than an actual consumer.
But ultimately, a government buyer’s protective mindset is rooted in a strong sense of purpose and responsibility, one that makes any trust gained worth the time and effort you put in to secure it.
Sometimes, this trust begins with who you know.
But as federal, state and local governments slowly embrace the digital revolution, buyers are looking for new solutions for new challenges. That means they’ll need to start meeting new people and building trust from scratch.
As a vendor, how do you start building trust with your government buyer? Where do you start?
When selling to governments, content is key.
Even at the RFP stage, doing business with state and local governments starts with great content. The key is knowing what content appeals to government buyers the most.
Here are a few characteristics of great B2G sales content that will help you get in the door, build trust, and make it to purchase.
5 Characteristics of B2G Content that Builds Trust
Substantive
Government buyers are keenly aware of classic sales tactics and will do anything to avoid them.
As New York City CIO Tony Riddick comments for Government Technology, “Companies tend to come out of the woodwork to try to sell - even when they don’t have the relevant expertise.”
Your potential government buyer knows technology and likely already have solutions in mind.
So when you’re selling to an expert, generic emails and surface level blog posts are a waste of everyone’s time.
The quicker your content gets to the heart of their unique problem, the better.
But how do you know if your government sales pitch is meaty enough to draw the buyer’s attention?
Individualized
Your content should be specific down to the individual agency, department, division or team. Buyers want to compare apples-to-apples as much as possible. Sharing stories about how your product helped a large state agency may not address a small, local department’s unique problem.
The first touchpoint of a potential customer should demonstrate your professional knowledge of the individual customer and the entity they represent.
Remember, no two local and state governments are the same, and general language is as plain as day to the folks who take pride in their city, county or state’s unique characteristics.
Before engaging with a locality, consider these questions:
Who sets and controls budget priorities? Does the locality have a strong mayor system, Council or Board?
Are CivTech and innovation some of the known priorities of decision-makers and political leaders?
Does your government buyer work in IT? If not, what is the relationship with IT?
These questions get to the heart of the individualized priorities of an agency, as well as the unique decision-making processes of a department.
Considering questions like these will ensure the government buyer feels heard from the jump. Failing to consider where your solution fits into the organization can make your buyer distrust your ability to solve their problem.
Comprehensible
You are buried in your product, and that’s a good thing. But you can’t use the same company language to connect with government buyers.
The buyer is just as invested in their work as your team is in theirs, leaving them little brain space to decode jargon-laced content. The last thing you want is for your product to seem too complex to a government buyer. They don’t have the bandwidth to handle complex, so keep it simple.
Intentional copywriting is a core element of every sales strategy, but when designing a B2G sales strategy, copy is your chance to get in with the crowd.
Your content should reflect that you speak the language of government, and that you understand the road ahead.
Mission-driven
A public servant may work for the paycheck, pension or benefits, but many will also stay late and work overtime in order to drive meaningful change.
The government buyer - the recipient of your email, reader of your white paper, or participant in your webinar - represents the priorities of their government organization.
These dedicated, service-oriented individuals are more than just a cog in the machine. They’re critical members of a team rallied around a motivating mission.
B2G content that resonates with government buyers speaks to their mission. Like B2B and B2C content appeals to a buyer’s emotions, B2G content appeals to a government buyer’s mission.
To illustrate your understanding of the government buyer’s mission, your content should do two things:
Highlight the similarities in your company’s mission and the government’s mission,
Detail how your product will bring this government buyer closer to their mission-driven objectives.
Consistent
Just like selling to any other consumer, selling to the government requires building trust with government buyers.
Trust-building will always take time and effort, but when you’re looking to sell to the government, you’ll get more bang for your buck when you make nuanced, consistent content a priority.
But, word to the wise - there is a difference between desperation and consistency.
Following up on a first touch with a substantive, individualized, comprehensible message demonstrates consistency early in the process.
But calling a potential client’s mobile phone 21 times in a row (true story) or sending one copy/paste email after the other is desperation - and will get you blacklisted from the organization.
Government buyers have been party to both techniques. One is a business strategy, and the other is a waste of time.
B2G content that builds trust is a worthwhile investment.
Any current or former government worker will tell you that each workday introduces a new challenge, but those challenges are made worthwhile by the good they do for the community.
If your content can do one thing, it should empower your government buyer.
Whether it’s saving time, lifting resident voices, suring up security, protecting sensitive information, or expanding digital access, your product empowers the good government can do.
To secure an early foothold in the competitive B2G market, you must send that message in a way that appears nuanced, relevant, and mission-oriented to each government buyer you target.
The sooner you start building trust with curated content, the sooner your product starts doing good for your customers.
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