Leveraging Local GROUPS to Increase Public Sector Sales Opportunities

Challenge: 

A growing national payments solution technology company client wanted to expand its GPV (gross payments volume) and market share by expanding into the state and local government space to support government payments and raise awareness about security and cost-effectiveness of electronic payments. 

Stateside Solution: 

  • Worked closely with the client to develop a plan targeting selected state and local governments to raise awareness about the security, interoperability and cost-effectiveness of its electronic payment solutions and secure government business – initial focus on county governments and states in which the company had a physical presence.
  • Leveraged state official organizations and in-state facilities to develop relationships with business and economic development agencies in focus states, facilitating meetings with secretariat level agency officials, governors’ staff and key legislative leaders.  
  • Developed an ongoing electronic payments outreach plan for local government markets – utilizing the National Association of Counties (NACo) and National League of Cities (NLC), including plans for awareness-raising and relationship-building for the individual forums and meetings, briefings with senior NACo and NLC staff and elected leadership.
  • Managed ongoing follow-up, in-state meetings with targeted local government leadership and electeds following the meetings to continue awareness raising and also to secure business in those individual local governments.
  • Facilitated distribution of software and technical assistance to hundreds of Groups leadership and state and local officials as an element of the outreach effort and provided mobile payments technology to state and local officials and targeted legislative and statewide campaigns.
  • Integrated government customers, business units and payment intermediary partners of the client into the plan, including them in both Groups meetings and state and local official meetings to provide testimonials about their level of satisfaction and serve as subject matter experts. 

Results:  

The outreach program is ongoing, but the client is now serving as the payments provider to nearly 400 county governments across the country and beginning electronic payment pilot programs with multiple state governments.