As Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) expanded its services to keep pace with a growing city, managing its network of stakeholders became increasingly complex.
Today, SPU serves over 1.6 million people across the greater Seattle area, and its programs have grown in number and scale—from infrastructure upgrades to environmental initiatives that touch nearly every resident and business in the city.
To support this evolution, SPU adopted Consultation Manager, a centralized stakeholder relationship management (SRM) platform that provides clear visibility, streamlines communication, and fosters collaboration across teams. Alongside Consultation Manager, SPU also leverages Social Pinpoint, a complementary digital community engagement platform, to gather feedback through surveys, further enhancing their ability to connect with and understand the needs of the communities they serve.
Together, these tools streamline workflows, improve stakeholder engagement, and strengthen SPU’s capacity to build lasting, accountable relationships with residents, businesses, and community groups—now and into the future.
A Vast, Growing Network of Stakeholders
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) provides essential services like drinking water, stormwater and wastewater management, and overseeing garbage, recycling, and compost services. As Seattle continues to grow rapidly—adding tens of thousands of new residents over the past decade—SPU’s projects and stakeholder relationships have become more complex and interconnected. Whether it’s a street restoration, utility upgrade, or regional environmental initiative, SPU teams must engage a wide range of stakeholders, from residents and businesses to community groups and regulators.
Maintaining strong, consistent engagement with these stakeholders is critical to delivering services effectively. These relationships aren’t one-off interactions—they require ongoing coordination and collaboration across multiple projects and programs.
“These stakeholder relationships are long-term—they can last months, years, or even decades, and often overlap across multiple projects and programs,” explains Maria McDaniel, Senior IT Business Analyst at the City of Seattle. “That’s why coordination is key. Different teams often engage with the same communities, and without a clear, consistent approach, things can easily fall through the cracks.”
Beyond relationship-building, SPU’s engagement efforts must also meet a range of formal requirements. Many projects are subject to regulatory oversight, public consultation mandates, and environmental review processes that require clear, consistent documentation of who was engaged, when, and in what context. Meeting these obligations goes beyond basic outreach—it demands a system capable of tracking interactions, preserving records, and ensuring accountability across teams, programs, and timelines.
Disconnected Systems, Siloed Data, and Manual Work
Before adopting Consultation Manager, SPU teams were juggling a patchwork of disconnected tools to manage stakeholder relationships—Excel spreadsheets, handwritten notes, and one-off systems built around individual consultants or projects.
These tools may have captured fragments of information, but they didn’t offer a shared or reliable source of truth. Stakeholder histories were scattered, and teams lacked a consistent way to access or share engagement records across the organization.
“Before Consultation Manager, we didn’t have data that talked to each other… we couldn’t tell if someone we talked to on Project A was also affected by Projects C and D,” explains Elaine Yeung, Strategic Community Affairs Advisor at the City of Seattle. “You’d realize too late—wait a minute, that’s the same person, and they’re getting separate outreach from different teams like we’ve never spoken to them before.”
This lack of visibility led to real challenges. Stakeholders would receive overlapping or even conflicting communications from different project teams, while critical context got lost between handoffs or staff transitions. Without an integrated platform, there was no easy way to track the full history of engagement with important groups—or to surface cross-program issues that might require coordination.
It also put SPU at risk of falling short on formal requirements. Without centralized records or consistent documentation practices, it was difficult to demonstrate compliance with public consultation mandates, environmental review processes, or regulatory reporting standards. Maintaining records often meant manually sifting through electronic and paper files—an inconsistent, frustrating, and ultimately unsustainable process.
Searching for a Scalable Stakeholder Management Solution
Some SPU programs adopted customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to add structure to stakeholder management. Yet, without organization-wide implementation, many teams continued using disconnected, siloed tracking systems. On top of that, the CRMs lacked the scalability, flexibility, and customization needed to support a cohesive, organization-wide approach as the number of stakeholders grew and management became more complex.
Recognizing these challenges, SPU launched an options analysis to find a more adaptable and scalable solution—one that could consolidate multiple disparate systems into a single platform to improve coordination, eliminate redundancy, and effectively meet their evolving needs. The goal was to select a system capable of supporting current operations while growing alongside the organization to accommodate future needs.
Maria McDaniel worked with SPU to identify 116 critical requirements before beginning a review of potential vendors. Consultation Manager stood out early, not just for its out-of-the-box functionality and configurability, but for its ability to flex and grow alongside SPU’s multi-layered structure.
One major selling point? Consultation Manager’s pricing model, which doesn’t charge per user.
“That was a big deal for us,” says Maria. “We didn’t want to be limited by licenses. We have so many teams that need access and we knew that number would grow.”
Another standout feature was the platform’s integration with Social Pinpoint’s community engagement platform, offering a critical link between public engagement and internal recordkeeping.
“We wanted to use web forms—or surveys, as Social Pinpoint calls them—on SPU’s public-facing site to gather direct feedback from the community,” Maria explains. “In the past, a lot of stakeholder intake was done with PDFs or Microsoft Forms, and the data lived in Excel or got copied and pasted into Access. It was manual and tedious. Now, the input collected from the community goes straight into Consultation Manager, where it’s tied to actual contacts, programs, and projects.”
SPU’s public-facing surveys, powered by Social Pinpoint:
Both platforms’ flexibility, integration capabilities, and commitment to partnership ultimately set it apart. Unlike other platforms, Consultation Manager and Social Pinpoint could adapt to SPU’s continued growth and complex organizational structure—rather than forcing SPU to adjust its operations to fit the systems.
Phased Rollout and Hands-On Support
The rollout of Consultation Manager and Social Pinpoint was carefully planned to ensure a smooth transition across SPU teams, allowing for targeted support, clear benchmarks, and the opportunity to adapt as needed.
“We knew it was important to set clear expectations and align everyone involved,” explains Maria. “When you’re introducing a platform to so many teams, having a plan is key. It’s not just about launching the tool—it’s about making sure everyone understands what success looks like.”
Weekly working sessions with Consultation Manager kept the process collaborative and adaptive.
“Everyone was available and willing to support us,” Maria continues. “The Consultation Manager team didn’t just hand over the tool, they helped us figure out how to make it work for our structure. It always felt like: okay, if Plan A doesn’t work, what’s Plan B? What’s Plan C?”
Elaine, whose team was the first to go live, echoed that sentiment:
“Compared to our previous platform, the support with Consultation Manager was a huge improvement. They walked us through deduplicating data, cleaning up records, and showed us how to manage that process long-term. It wasn’t just, ‘Here’s the tool, now go use it.’ It was, ‘Here’s how to make the most of it.’ That made a big difference.”
Elaine was involved early in the process, which helped ease the transition for her team. “Before the platform was rolled out to my team, I was already connecting with the Consultation Manager team. That gave me the opportunity to understand the system’s functionality and prepare my team for what was coming. Most of the time, new tools just appear, and you’re expected to figure it out as you go. But this time, it felt different — it was a true partnership, and our team’s needs were heard and addressed at every stage.”
Elaine also praised Consultation Manager’s user-friendly interface, which contributed to a smoother onboarding process.
“The interface is really wonderful! It’s so much easier to navigate and much more intuitive. That made training and onboarding simpler for everyone involved.”
She further emphasized the value of collaboration in ensuring the system meets SPU’s specific needs. “Sometimes, we knew the outcomes we wanted but struggled to define the exact requirements for the system. Consultation Manager helped bridge that gap, working with us to translate our goals into a system design that worked for everyone.”
Knowledge Sharing at Scale
Beyond the hands-on support, SPU also benefited from Consultation Manager’s robust self-service resources, which provided a level of support they hadn’t experienced with previous systems.
“Before Consultation Manager, we had to create our own manuals to train new team members or consultants,” says Elaine. “And those would get outdated fast. With Consultation Manager, we now have access to video trainings, up-to-date documentation, and a searchable knowledge base.”
Maria adds:
“We have our own governance protocols, but we didn’t have to develop any training materials for Consultation Manager because the videos are amazing.”
This shift has made onboarding easier, more consistent, and more sustainable over time.
“It’s peace of mind knowing new team members are getting the right training straight from the source,” Elaine adds. “And for me personally, the help articles and videos make troubleshooting quick and easy.”
Driving Visibility, Coordination, and Everyday Efficiency
Now live across multiple teams and programs, Consultation Manager is making a noticeable impact on how SPU staff manage, share, and act on stakeholder information.
When asked about the biggest benefits so far, Maria points to visibility.
“Anyone using Consultation Manager can look up a contact and immediately see which programs that person is involved with,” says Maria, highlighting the level of visibility Consultation Manager has brought to SPU. “That means if they have questions, they know exactly who to talk to internally. It encourages people to have conversations with their teammates and helps break down silos.”
That cross-program transparency is already driving better coordination across departments. Stakeholder data is no longer trapped in spreadsheets or isolated systems— with Consultation Manager, it’s centralized, shareable, and actionable. Teams now have a clearer picture of how different initiatives impact the same individuals or communities, helping them align outreach efforts and avoid unnecessary duplication.
The platform’s integration with Outlook has also streamlined a key piece of everyday work. Each project is assigned a dedicated email address, allowing staff to BCC the system directly and automatically log communications.
“This changed how we work,” says Elaine. “Before, project managers had to forward every email, and we’d manually log them. Now, they just BCC a unique address and it’s in the system, linked to the right project. It’s a huge deal.”
Social Pinpoint surveys are now directly integrated into the system, with responses flowing automatically into Consultation Manager. This eliminates manual data entry, improves data quality, and ensures every piece of community input is linked to the appropriate contact and project—bridging the gap between public engagement and internal coordination.
With hundreds of active projects, Elaine also relies heavily on the platform’s filtering and dashboard tools.
“With our previous system, it was all or nothing. You could only view one project at a time,” she explains. “Now, I can pull up several projects in the same neighborhood and get a clear view of what’s going on. This kind of segmentation is especially important given the location-based nature of SPU’s work.”
Being able to isolate or cross-reference data by project, location, or stakeholder helps teams focus on what matters most without getting overwhelmed by irrelevant information. It supports more targeted communication, sharper insights, and better collaboration across programs that often operate in the same areas.
That same clarity and continuity extend beyond current projects. In a department where initiatives can span years, and where staff and consultants frequently rotate, Consultation Manager has become a critical tool for preserving institutional knowledge. By capturing a centralized record of all stakeholder interactions, the platform ensures that context isn’t lost when teams change.
“Teams can now track the full engagement history with a person or group, even if the staff member who interacted with them three years ago has moved on,” says Maria.
A Foundation for Long-Term Impact
With Consultation Manager and Social Pinpoint, the SPU team has the tools, flexibility and support needed to manage the growing complexity of stakeholder engagement—while staying adaptable as priorities shift and the city continues to evolve.
“Because the tool is so easy to use, we stand a better chance of getting accurate and complete data into the system,” says Elaine. “That’s important not just for what we’re doing now, but for what comes next. These are long-term relationships with the public, and Consultation Manager becomes part of that legacy. It’s the record that gets passed on.”
Maria also highlights the platform’s ongoing evolution:
“I love how the enhancements keep coming. Consultation Manager and Social Pinpoint are growing with us. That’s what I call scalable.”
For SPU, this isn’t just about adopting new software. It’s about building the foundation for meaningful engagement across a growing city. With Consultation Manager centralizing stakeholder data and Social Pinpoint enhancing community engagement, SPU is better equipped to serve its communities with continuity, transparency, and care—while also ensuring regulatory compliance. This unified approach isn’