What Is a Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy — and What Makes It Different in the Energy Sector

We've sat through dozens of conversations where a company executive leans forward and says, "We need a go-to-market strategy for Europe." The presentation deck is ready. The product specifications are polished. The growth targets are ambitious.

And then we ask: Why?

Not why Europe, specifically. That usually has an answer. But why now? What are you actually trying to achieve in the next twelve months? What does success look like if we strip away the aspirational language? Is this about revenue, validation, learning, or simply checking a box for investors?

The room often goes quiet.

Because here's the uncomfortable truth: before you can build a go-to-market strategy, you need to be brutally honest about your reasoning. Why do you need to enter this market at all? What is the actual goal, not the one in the board presentation, but the one that will guide real decisions when things get difficult? What assumptions are you making, and what happens if they're wrong?

These aren't philosophical questions. They're the foundation. Without clear answers, a GTM strategy becomes an expensive exercise in optimism.

Once that foundation exists, then we can talk about what GTM actually is. It's how a company brings its products or services to a specific market and turns capability into revenue. It's not a marketing plan. It's not a sales script. It's a structured approach that connects market selection, customer understanding, positioning, distribution channels, and early commercial traction into one coherent system.

But here's where most companies stumble. They assume that what worked in fast-moving industries will work everywhere. Speed and scale. Land and expand. Move fast and break things.

In the energy sector, that logic doesn't apply. Energy markets are slower, more regulated, and far more dependent on trust, references, and long-term positioning. A GTM strategy that succeeds in technology or consumer markets will often fail completely in energy and infrastructure. The rhythms are different. The relationships matter more. And the cost of getting it wrong is measured in years, not quarters.

What a GTM strategy actually covers

We've learned to recognize the moment when a client realizes their GTM strategy isn't what they thought it was.

It usually happens when we start asking questions. Not broad, strategic questions, but specific ones. Which exact market segment are you entering? Not "Poland" or "renewable energy," but which part of the value chain, serving which type of customer, in which specific geography, and why does it make sense to start there right now?

Then: Who is your real customer? Not the end user of the energy system, but who actually makes the purchasing decision? Who influences that decision from the technical side? Who controls the budget? These are often three different people, in three different organizations, with three different priorities.

And here's where it gets uncomfortable: What problem are you solving? Not in technical language, not in terms of efficiency gains or innovation. In concrete commercial and operational terms that a developer, EPC contractor, or utility finance team would recognize and care about.

Finally: How do you actually reach your first contract? What does initial success look like, and what does it validate? Is it revenue, a reference, market learning, or proof of local capability?

We ask these questions because too many companies reduce GTM to lead generation or branding activities. Run some LinkedIn ads. Attend a trade fair. Hire a sales representative.

But that's not what GTM is. In reality, it's a decision-making framework. It shapes how resources are allocated, how partnerships are built, and how credibility is established in a new market. It determines what you say no to as much as what you say yes to. And in the energy sector, where relationships and reputation define access, getting this framework right is the difference between market entry and market disappointment.

Why the energy sector requires a different GTM approach

In our experience, there's one case that stands out. A technology engineering company that had successfully entered multiple markets in a remarkably short period of time. Fast execution. Aggressive targets. Digital-first approach. Mostly through acquisitions.

Six months later, they hadn't closed a single deal. Worse, existing clients of the acquired companies started resigning from cooperation.

It wasn't because their product and service offering was weak. It was because energy operates on a completely different clock. Projects take years to develop. Financing structures involve multiple banks, equity investors, and sometimes government guarantees. Decision-making is distributed across developers, investors, utilities, regulators, engineers, and procurement teams. The person who buys your equipment is often not the person who uses it, and neither of them is necessarily the person who decided it should be on the approved vendor list.

Different entities. Different incentives. Different timelines.

And then there's regulation. We've seen companies assume that because they're certified in one EU country, they're ready for Poland. But grid and local practices connection rules differ. Permitting procedures differ. Local standards and technical requirements can vary not just between countries, but between regions within the same country. A GTM strategy that ignores this regulatory and institutional context will struggle no matter how good the technology is.

But here's what surprises most newcomers: in energy, reputation and references aren't competitive advantages. They're prerequisites. You don't win projects because you have a track record of delivery. You get shortlisted because you have a track record of delivery. Proven experience and bankability are the entry ticket, not the differentiator.

This changes everything about how GTM works.

GTM in energy is primarily about positioning

In energy markets, success rarely comes from being first. It comes from being correctly positioned.

And we mean that literally. Positioning isn't branding. It isn't your value proposition slide. It's clearly defining where your company sits in the value chain and how local stakeholders perceive you before you ever walk into a meeting.

We've watched EPC contractors waste months because they never answered a fundamental question: who are you targeting? And more importantly—are you sure you want to be an EPC from day one, or maybe you should start with a BOP approach for the specific new market?

Equipment suppliers face the same challenge. At which project stage are you realistically involved? Are you specifying equipment during development, or responding to tenders from EPCs who've already locked in technical parameters? You can't straddle both. The market won't let you (well, sometimes only maybe..).

Engineering companies have an even starker choice: local long-term partner or external specialist brought in for specific scopes? Both are valid positions. But you cannot be both. And if you don't decide, the market will decide for you—usually incorrectly.

Here's what separates effective GTM strategies from expensive mistakes: they start with the market, not the product. They're built around how decisions are actually made locally, how shortlists are formed, where risk is transferred, and where gaps exist in the current ecosystem.

Only then do you figure out where you fit.

Market entry channels in energy look different

A company once asked us why their LinkedIn campaign wasn't generating pipeline. They'd spent months on digital marketing, attended two major trade fairs, and had a sales team doing cold outreach across Poland.

The answer was uncomfortable: because that's not how energy markets work.

Trade fairs, cold outreach, and digital marketing have their place. But they rarely drive early success on their own. In energy, market entry is driven by partnerships, local representation, professional associations, and early engagement with developers and contractors before projects even reach the tender stage.

Think about it from the developer's perspective. When they're forming a shortlist, they're not searching LinkedIn or reviewing trade fair booths. They're asking: "Who do we already know? Who's been recommended? Who's already working with contractors we trust?"

Being visible to the right stakeholders at the right moment matters far more than broad exposure. And timing is everything. By the time a project reaches public tender, the real decisions have often already been made.

This is why we tell clients something that sounds counterintuitive: your first contract is often not your most profitable one. But it is usually your most important one. It's not about margin. It's about credibility and future access. It's the reference that unlocks the next conversation, and the one after that.

In energy, market entry isn't a marketing problem. It's a positioning and relationship problem.

GTM as a living system, not a one-time exercise

We keep a folder of GTM strategies that companies brought to us. Polished documents. Detailed timelines. Confident projections. Most of them were outdated within six months.

Not because they were poorly written, but because they treated market entry as a fixed plan rather than a living system.

A go-to-market strategy in the energy sector isn't a static document you create once and execute. It evolves alongside regulation, market maturity, competition, and your own project portfolio. It requires continuous feedback, validation of assumptions, and willingness to adjust positioning as the market responds.

We've seen this play out repeatedly. A company enters targeting utility-scale solar, then realizes the real opportunity is in hybrid projects. An equipment supplier positioned as a premium provider discovers that bankability matters more than performance specs. An engineering firm learns that their assumed entry point—early-stage development support—doesn't match where local developers actually need help.

The companies that succeed are the ones willing to adapt.

For companies entering European energy markets, a disciplined GTM strategy often determines whether market entry takes months or years—or whether it happens at all.

Because here's the reality: in energy, GTM is not about aggressive promises or rapid expansion. It's about understanding how the market actually works and aligning strategy with reality. When done well, it becomes a durable foundation for long-term growth rather than a short-term launch plan.