No Traction to Action: How Samsara Won Its First Major State & Local Government Contracts
“We had strong product-market fit in commercial fleet operations, but the public sector was entirely new territory for us to operationalize sustainably. We needed to understand how to translate our success to government agencies while aligning our entire organization behind this new market.”
The Challenge
Despite Samsara's rapid growth in commercial markets, the company had yet to establish a focused and sustained presence in the public sector. Government agencies across the U.S. were actively seeking solutions to modernize their fleet operations and enhance public safety, representing a significant opportunity. However, Samsara faced the classic challenges of a building a repeatable strategy to unlock this public sector market.
The company needed to build its public sector foundation from scratch – developing a overarching go-to-market strategy, creating government-specific sales motions, and aligning multiple internal teams around the unique needs of state and local agencies. Without established public sector expertise or SLED-specific materials, teams were struggling to effectively engage government buyers and navigate complex procurement processes.
Our Solution
Working across Samsara's sales, marketing, and product teams, we developed the company's first comprehensive public sector go-to-market strategy.
We orchestrated a coordinated approach that included:
Creating unified value propositions for different agency types (DOT, Public Works, Public Safety)
Developing the first set of public sector sales plays and campaign frameworks
Establishing relationships with key SLED partners and resellers
Building cross-functional alignment between sales, marketing, and product teams
Key initiatives included:
Public sector market analysis and buyer journey mapping
Sales enablement program for government opportunities
Partner ecosystem development with leading SLED organizations
Government-specific product packaging and positioning
Results
Market Foundation
2 major state and local agency wins
Established relationships with 3 key SLED partners
Created repeatable sales methodology for government deals
Sales Enablement
Developed 3 government-specific sales plays
Built public sector sales playbook
Created proposal and RFP response templates
Team Alignment
Unified product roadmap for government requirements
Coordinated marketing and sales campaigns
The above case study reflects strategies developed while our team served in public sector leadership at Samsara, now forming the foundation of how we help clients succeed in unlocking the public sector.
