Winning by Design Bowtie Funnel is the new SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall

For over a decade, the SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall set the standard for how B2B companies approached lead generation and pipeline development. First introduced in 2002, the model provided a clear framework for converting prospects into revenue, guiding leads through stages like inquiries, marketing qualified leads (MQLs), sales qualified leads (SQLs), and eventually closed deals. Its straightforward approach allowed organizations to synchronize their marketing and sales efforts, ensuring a seamless handoff between departments at every stage of the funnel.

The SiriusDecisions Waterfall was quite popular because it addressed a key challenge for businesses at the time: how to efficiently generate, nurture, and close new business. By breaking down the journey into measurable stages, the model empowered companies to focus on optimizing lead quality and pipeline development. In an era where outbound marketing dominated, and the acquisition of new customers was the primary focus, the demand waterfall was the right tool for driving top-of-funnel growth.

But as the market evolved, so did the needs of B2B companies—and this is where the limitations of the demand waterfall model began to show.

The Evolution Of B2B Growth Models

The B2B landscape today is fundamentally different from a decade ago. Companies aren’t just competing to acquire new customers—they are increasingly focused on retaining and expanding existing ones. Subscription-based SaaS models have taken over, and key metrics like Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) have become just as important, if not more, than traditional metrics like net new Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).

The problem with the waterfall model is that it ends at the point of initial revenue generation. It treats the customer journey as linear, with a hard stop at the "closed won" stage. But for modern SaaS companies, this is only the beginning of the customer relationship. Failing to focus on onboarding, product adoption, and expansion means missing out on significant opportunities for growth.

This shift has led to a need for growth models that go beyond prospecting and new customer acquisition. Modern growth strategies need to consider lifecycle marketing, from lead generation to post-sale engagement.

Terminus' Flip the Funnel and OpenView’s Product-Led Growth

As the limitations of the traditional demand funnel became evident, several new models emerged to address the changing dynamics of B2B growth. One of the earliest challenges to the traditional funnel came from Terminus, with its "Flip the Funnel" approach. Terminus, a leader in account-based marketing (ABM), insisted that the traditional focus on casting a wide net for leads was outdated. Instead, they proposed focusing on high-value accounts from the outset.

The “flipped” funnel starts by identifying target accounts first, then moving through stages of personalized engagement, culminating in retention and expansion. This model prioritizes relationship-building with key accounts, ensuring marketing and sales teams work in unison to drive long-term value from the most important customers.

Circa 2016, OpenView introduced a radically different approach through their Product-Led Growth (PLG) model, which places the product itself at the center of customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. The premise behind PLG is that a company’s product is its most powerful sales and marketing tool. Instead of relying heavily on sales teams to close deals, PLG encourages users to experience the product firsthand, often through freemium or free trial models. By delivering value through the product early, companies can shorten sales cycles and increase user adoption, leading to organic growth through user expansion and referrals.

Both Terminus and OpenView recognized the evolving B2B landscape and shifted their growth strategies to focus on high-value engagement and product experiences. While these models addressed different parts of the funnel—Terminus emphasizing personalized ABM for key accounts and OpenView emphasizing product adoption—both illustrated the need for a more holistic and customer-centric approach.

However, these strategies still left room for a more integrated model that seamlessly balances both lead conversion and revenue expansion. That’s where Winning by Design’s Bowtie Funnel steps in.

Winning By Design’s Bowtie Model: A Holistic Approach to Growth

The Winning by Design Bowtie model addresses the shortcomings of traditional models by taking a more comprehensive view of the customer journey. The Bowtie model extends from prospects into the post-sale relationship, treating customers as a core driver of growth.

In the Bowtie model, the "closed won" stage is merely the midpoint of a broader journey. It incorporates the critical stages of onboarding, product adoption, and customer expansion, recognizing that a customer’s value increases long after the initial deal is signed. By focusing on these post-sale stages, companies can drive expansion revenue and boost NRR—key growth metrics for SaaS businesses.

What makes the Bowtie model especially powerful is its applicability to both sides of the growth equation—new prospects and existing customers. It ensures that marketing, sales, and customer success teams are all aligned, working together not just to close deals, but to create long-term value for every customer.

As B2B companies shift their focus from just acquiring new customers to nurturing and expanding existing relationships, traditional marketing automation tools are not built to support the new age growth model. They were built to nurture leads and drive them through the early stages of the funnel, but once the customer signed, the marketing involvement often ended. This is where many companies miss significant growth opportunities.

Inflection.io changes this by offering a platform that’s just as effective for onboarding, product adoption, and customer expansion as it is for lead generation. Inflection is a modern marketing automation platform designed to support this modern approach to growth. Inflection helps companies drive better free-to-paid conversions, more effective onboarding, and intentional strategies around upgrades and expansion. Request a demo to see it live.