C3 · Funnel & lifecycle · 47 terms
Funnel
& Lifecycle
The bowtie model, not the funnel, is the right frame for SaaS revenue.
The funnel is an approximation that becomes less accurate the closer you get to enterprise. The bowtie is the correct model for SaaS: in a well-run B2B company, NRR-driven expansion ARR typically surpasses new-business ARR within 3 years of Series A. A company with 120% NRR doubles revenue from its existing base every 3.8 years without acquiring a single new customer.
Funnel vs bowtie
The traditional funnel (TOFU → MOFU → BOFU → Closed Won) models acquisition. It says nothing about what happens after the contract is signed — which is where 60–80% of SaaS revenue growth actually comes from. The bowtie model adds the post-sale half: adoption, expansion, retention, and advocacy. Treating revenue as "acquisition + expansion − churn" is a structural improvement, not a philosophical one.
Stages and qualification
The funnel has three coarse tiers. TOFU (top-of-funnel) is awareness: SEO, thought leadership, paid brand. MOFU (middle) is consideration: nurture sequences, webinars, comparison content. BOFU (bottom) is decision: demos, pricing pages, ROI calculators. The goal of each tier is to move leads to the next without burning them.
| Lead type | Full name | Definition | Owned by |
|---|---|---|---|
| MQL | Marketing-qualified lead | Has crossed a lead-scoring threshold indicating ICP fit + engagement. Mid-funnel. | Marketing → Sales handoff |
| SQL | Sales-qualified lead | Sales has accepted the MQL and confirmed it meets BANT / equivalent criteria. | Sales (SDR/AE) |
| PQL | Product-qualified lead | Free or trial user who has hit a product-usage signal indicating readiness to buy (seat cap, export attempt, power-user pattern). | PLG → Sales |
| MQA | Marketing-qualified account | ABM equivalent of MQL: the account (not contact) has crossed an engagement or intent threshold. Correct unit of measure for enterprise. | Marketing → Sales (enterprise) |
Qualification frameworks
| Framework | Full name | Best for | Key question |
|---|---|---|---|
| BANT | Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline | SMB / transactional | Is there budget approved now? |
| MEDDIC | Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, Champion | Complex enterprise | Who is the economic buyer and do we have a champion? |
| CHAMP | Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization | Mid-market | What challenges are they prioritizing this quarter? |
| SPICED | Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical event, Decision | Outcome-based selling | What is the critical event that makes this urgent? |
All 47 terms
- Account ExecutiveAE The quota-carrying rep who runs discovery, demos, and negotiation and owns closing the deal. sales
- Account Expansion Growing revenue within existing accounts through upselling, cross-selling, and seat/usage growth. sales
- Account ManagerAM Owns the ongoing relationship with existing accounts, focused on retention and growth post-sale. sales
- Battlecard A quick-reference enablement asset on a competitor or objection — how to position against and respond. sales
- Buying Committeebuying group, DMU (decision-making unit) The set of people inside an account who collectively influence a B2B purchase — economic buyer, champion, technical eval… sales
- Buying Intent The inferred likelihood that a person or organization will purchase, read from behavior. sales
- Buying Signal A verbal or behavioral cue that a prospect is moving toward purchase (pricing-page visit, demo request, job change). sales
- Champion An internal advocate inside the buying account who sells on your behalf and navigates the org. A key MEDDIC qualifier. sales
- Cold Email Unsolicited outbound email to prospects who haven't engaged. Depends on deliverability, list quality, and personalizatio… sales
- CQLConversation Qualified Lead A lead that has engaged in a real-time conversation (chatbot, AI agent, or live chat) and shown enough intent or fit to … funnel
- Critical Eventcompelling event A dated, external trigger creating urgency and a deadline to buy (contract expiry, compliance date, launch). The 'why no… sales
- Critical User Journeybuyer journey, customer journey The mapped path a buyer takes — what they see first, what they do next, and what signals they emit at each step from awa… funnel
- Cross-Sell Selling an additional, complementary product to an existing customer. sales
- Customer SuccessCS, CSM The post-sale function ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes, driving adoption, retention, and expansion. No… sales
- Deal Desk A team/process that manages complex deals for pricing, approvals, compliance, and profitability. sales
- Decision Criteria The explicit factors a buyer will use to choose a vendor. Shaping these in your favor is core to complex-deal strategy. sales
- Decision Process The actual steps (technical eval, procurement, legal, sign-off) the buyer takes to purchase — mapping it prevents late-s… sales
- Discoverydiscovery call The early sales conversation to understand the buyer's situation, pain, and process before proposing a solution. sales
- Domain Warm-Up Gradually ramping sending volume on a new domain to build sender reputation and protect deliverability. sales
- Economic Buyer The person with financial authority to approve the purchase. A key MEDDIC qualifier. sales
- Email Deliverability Whether outbound email actually lands in the inbox; managed via domain reputation, warm-up, and volume control. sales
- Field Sales An outside-sales model where reps meet prospects in person, typical for high-value enterprise deals. sales
- Funnelmarketing funnel, sales funnel The model of buyer progression through stages of mindset: Awareness → Consideration → Conversion (→ Retention/Expansion)… funnel
- Identify Pain Surfacing the buyer's real, quantified problem — the basis for value and urgency. Shared across MEDDIC and SPICED. sales
- Inside Sales Selling remotely (phone, video, email) rather than in person; higher velocity, lower cost per touch. sales
- Lead A contact who has entered the top of the funnel but is not yet qualified. The raw input to the lead lifecycle. funnel
- Lead Handoff The transition of a lead from marketing to sales. The seam where alignment succeeds or fails; governed by shared MQL/SQL… funnel
- Lead Lifecyclelead lifecycle management The tracked progression of a prospect from anonymous visitor → lead → MQL → SAL → SQL → opportunity → customer, with sta… funnel
- MQLMarketing Qualified Lead A lead that has shown enough engagement and ICP fit to be deemed worth sales attention — typically by crossing a lead-sc… funnel
- Multi-Threadingmultithreading Building relationships with several stakeholders across the buying committee at once, rather than relying on a single co… sales
- Mutual Action PlanMAP, close plan, joint execution plan A shared, dated plan co-owned by the seller and the buyer that lays out the steps, owners, and milestones from evaluatio… sales
- Opportunityoppty, deal A qualified potential sale being actively worked in the pipeline, with a value and expected close date. sales
- Outer FlywheelAttract-Engage-Convert-Expand, GTM flywheel A cyclical alternative to the linear funnel: Attract -> Engage -> Convert -> Expand, looping back as expansion and advoc… funnel
- Pipelinepipe The total view of in-progress deals for a rep or team, with stages, expected value, timing, and likelihood to close. Dis… sales
- Proof of ConceptPOC, pilot A limited trial proving the product works for the buyer's specific case before full commitment. sales
- Quota The revenue target a rep or team is expected to hit in a period; the denominator for pipeline-coverage math. sales
- SALSales Accepted Lead An MQL that sales has formally accepted for follow-up. Sits between MQL and SQL; the explicit acknowledgment that closes… funnel
- Sales Enablement Equipping reps with the content, tools, training, and playbooks needed to sell effectively and move pipeline faster. sales
- Sales EngineerSE, solutions engineer The technical seller who provides proof (demos, POCs, architecture) alongside the AE in complex deals. sales
- Sales Playbook The documented, repeatable plays, messaging, and process a team follows for a given motion or segment. sales
- Sales Sequencecadence A predefined series of outbound touches across channels, executed via an SEP, designed to book meetings. sales
- Sales Stagespipeline stages The defined steps an opportunity moves through, e.g. identified → qualified → proposed → closed. Stage definitions must … sales
- SDR / BDRSales/Business Development Representative, xDR Entry-level sales role focused on finding and qualifying new prospects and booking meetings to feed AEs. SDR often = inb… sales
- SQLSales Qualified Lead A bottom-of-funnel lead showing clear buying intent (demo request, pricing inquiry, vendor comparison), ready for direct… funnel
- Territory Managementterritory planning, carving Dividing the market into territories (geographic, vertical, or account-based) and assigning reps to maximize coverage, m… sales
- TOFU / MOFU / BOFUTop / Middle / Bottom of Funnel The three funnel tiers. TOFU = awareness (SEO, thought leadership). MOFU = consideration/nurture (webinars, comparison c… funnel
- Upsell Moving a customer to a higher tier or larger plan than they currently have. sales