"I started in the telecommunications industry in April 2026 and around the same time I began using Civic IQ as part of my prospecting efforts. In just over two months, through June 23, 2026, I have generated approximately 10-15 meetings with municipalities, counties, cities, and school districts."
About Forerunner
Telecom solutions built for enterprise and public sector clients
Forerunner Technologies Inc. is a telecommunications company selling enterprise phone systems and communication infrastructure to businesses, municipalities, counties, and school districts. Jack Huner joined as an Account Executive in April 2026, new to the industry, new to the territory, and tasked with building pipeline from scratch in the public sector market.
Challenge
Breaking into public sector telecom with no existing pipeline or relationships
Selling telecom upgrades to government agencies is fundamentally different from commercial B2B. Cities and school districts don't respond to generic cold outreach. They evaluate new vendors when a specific trigger exists: an aging phone system raised in a board meeting, a budget line item approved for infrastructure, a staff complaint surfacing in committee. Without knowing when those triggers fire, prospecting is guesswork.
Jack faced three compounding challenges when he started in April 2026:
No existing contacts or territory knowledge
Starting a new role in a new industry meant building everything from scratch. There were no warm accounts to re-engage, no incumbent relationships to leverage, and no playbook for which agencies were actively evaluating phone system upgrades.
No visibility into which agencies were actually in market
Government procurement conversations happen months before any formal RFP. A school district might discuss communication infrastructure needs in a January board meeting and issue a solicitation in September. Without monitoring those conversations, vendors get called in too late or not at all.
Limited time for manual research across thousands of agencies
Identifying the right contacts, understanding each agency's organizational structure, and finding relevant project context across municipalities, counties, and school districts can consume hours per prospect. For a new AE building a territory, that research burden directly competes with selling time.
"Instead of spending hours searching for the right contacts, organizational information, and potential projects, Civic IQ puts valuable insights at my fingertips."
Solution
Replace guesswork with signals and compress research time to minutes
Jack adopted Civic IQ at the start of his time at Forerunner, using it as the primary prospecting engine for his public sector motion. The platform monitors board meetings and public agency discussions across 80,000+ agencies, surfacing buying signals months before formal procurement begins.
Signal-driven prospecting instead of cold list pulls
Rather than buying a title-filtered contact list and hoping someone was in market, Jack used Civic IQ's signal feed to identify municipalities and school districts where specific telecom conversations were already happening: phone system upgrades, E-Rate program discussions, communication infrastructure budget items.
Agency profiles replacing hours of manual research
For each signal, Civic IQ surfaces the relevant contacts, organizational context, and meeting details in a single view. What previously took 30 minutes of searching across city websites was compressed into a quick review, freeing Jack to spend time on outreach and conversation rather than discovery.
Pipeline tracking tied to real opportunities
Specific opportunities, including a California city and multiple school districts evaluating communication upgrades, were added directly to pipeline, giving Forerunner's team visibility into deal stage and source. Key accounts like the City of Fortuna and several school district phone system projects are now being actively pursued.
"It allows me to focus more of my time on meaningful outreach and conversations with decision-makers rather than administrative research."
Outcome
15 meetings, 5-7 live opportunities, and $250K-$7M in potential pipeline, all within two months
From April to June 2026, Jack's first two months in telecom, Civic IQ became the primary source of qualified pipeline. The results reflect what happens when an AE has access to the right buying signals at the start of a territory build.
"Considering that I entered this industry in April and have been able to generate this level of activity and opportunity pipeline in such a short period of time, Civic IQ has played a significant role in helping me get up to speed quickly and build momentum. It has become one of the most valuable tools in my prospecting process."
Looking Forward
Scaling the signal playbook as the territory grows
With the initial pipeline established, Jack is deepening his use of Civic IQ as his territory expands, adding more signal types, tracking additional project categories across telecom infrastructure, and using the platform to stay ahead of renewal windows on early-stage opportunities. The goal is turning a strong two-month start into a repeatable, signal-driven prospecting motion at scale.