You've probably heard of a sales funnel before — you know, that diagram that shows how customers go from first hearing about your product to actually buying it. But have you heard of a growth funnel? Think of it as the sales funnel 2.0, but more helpful for businesses selling to other companies.
What is a Growth Funnel?
Here's the problem with traditional sales funnels: they stop at the sale. A growth funnel expands the journey by including what happens after someone becomes a customer, and even opportunities for growth beyond...
The biggest difference? A growth funnel brings your customer success team into the picture, and marketing and sales into customer success. This holistic team (all part of the RevOps process) helps your customers get the most out of your product or service after they buy it. Why does this matter? Because happy customers tend to stick around longer and tell their friends about you!
When you're selling to other businesses, this becomes super important. Why? Because when a business decides to buy something, it's rarely just one person making that decision. Usually, there’s a team of anywhere from 6 to 10 people who all have a say in the purchase. We call these "buying teams,” and they're a big reason why B2B companies need to think differently about their funnels.
The AAAERRR Framework: The Core of a Growth Funnel
Let's break down how a growth funnel actually works with a framework called AAAERRR (yes, it sounds like what a pirate says!). Each letter stands for a different stage in your customer's journey.
- Awareness - This is how you get your brand and offerings in front of potential customers. Are you appearing in the right places where your target audience is looking? Are you using the right messaging to capture their attention?
- Acquisition - What's the single most valuable action a lead can take that indicates strong intent to buy? Is your conversion process smooth and frictionless?
- Activation - This is where someone takes that first key action, like making a purchase or signing up. How will you get your customers hooked on your product or service? What's the "aha moment" that makes them feel like they’ve found a valuable solution?
- Engagement - Here, you're focused on keeping customers coming back. How frequently are they using your product? How deeply are they engaged? What makes them feel smart, accomplished, or like they're looking good to their peers?
- Retention - How can you further personalize the experience for each customer? Where are you most commonly losing them, and what's your strategy to intervene?
- Resurrection - This is where you re-engage with past customers who may have stopped using your product or service. What are you doing to win back those lost customers and get them active again?
- Referral - The highest professional compliment. When customers love what you do so much that they tell others about it. When's the best time to ask for referrals, and what incentives can you offer?
Why the Growth Funnel Is Critical for B2B Companies
Remember how we mentioned that B2B sales involve buying teams? Let's dig into why that makes things interesting — and why a growth funnel is such a big deal for B2B companies.
When businesses buy from other businesses, a lot of people influence that decision.
You might have:
- A manager who'll use the product or service day-to-day
- Someone from finance approving and watching the budget
- A tech person making sure everything will work with current systems
- A senior leader who needs to give the final thumbs-up
Not only are there a lot of people in the mix, but they also care about different things. For example, the finance person wants to know about costs, while the tech person is worried about how easy it will be to set up.
That's why B2B companies need to think differently about their growth funnel. You can't just focus on convincing one person — you need to speak to everyone involved. But you also need to know who the real decision-makers are. Sometimes, out of those 6–10 people, there are just 2–3 who really have the final say.
The Role of Customer Success in the Growth Funnel
Your customer success team plays three important roles in the growth funnel:
- Onboarding and Engaging Customers They help new customers successfully onboard and get immediate value from your offerings, ensuring they become engaged users.
- Retaining and Expanding Relationships They make sure customers are actually using your product or service and getting ongoing value. They also monitor for any early warning signs that a customer may be at risk of becoming inactive, allowing the team to proactively address any issues and maintain strong relationships.
- Turns Customers Into Fans Your customer success team makes sure customers are so happy with their experience that they can't help but tell others about it.
This is where Revenue Operations, or RevOps, comes in — it’s a function to make sure marketing, sales, and customer success teams all work together. When these teams share information and work as one unit, results improve. Your marketing team knows what makes customers successful, your sales team knows what kind of support customers will need, and your customer success team knows exactly how to deliver on the promises made during the sale.
How B2B Companies Can Optimize Their Growth Funnel
Now let’s look at how to make your growth funnel work better, especially considering the buying teams we discussed earlier.
Focus on the Right People
Remember, only a few of the decision influencers will actually help make the final decision to buy. Here’s how to help navigate the process:
- Figure out who the real decision-makers are early (pro tip: they're usually the ones asking the tough questions)
- Address the full group, but give extra attention to those questions your identified key players brought up
Make Your Marketing Personal
One size definitely doesn't fit all in B2B. Each person in the buying team needs different information:
- Send the finance person data and ROI details
- Share technical specs with the IT team
- Give the end-users practical examples of how they'll use your product or service daily and how it’ll make their lives easier
Use Data to Get Better
At each stage of your funnel, you can learn what's working and what's not:
- Track which content different team members like
- Notice which features get people excited
- Pay attention to what makes customers stick around
And don’t forget to share your findings with the broader team, so everyone can learn and improve!
Building a Growth Roadmap for Your B2B Company
Let's wrap this up and talk about your next steps.
The growth funnel isn't just a new way to look at sales — it's a smarter way to grow your business. Here's why it matters:
- Your whole team (marketing, sales, and customer success) works together toward the same goal
- You can focus on the right decision-makers while keeping everyone informed
- You don't just make sales — you create long-term customers who bring in more business
Think about your current approach. Are you stopping at the sale, or are you set up to help customers succeed long-term? Are you talking to all the right people in the buying process? Most importantly, are your teams working together to make this happen?
Ready to Transform Your Growth Strategy?
Building an effective growth funnel starts with a solid, well-defined plan. Our team helps B2B companies build and optimize their growth funnels every day. We'd love to look at your current process and show you how to turn it into a powerful growth engine.
Learn more about our Strategic Marketing Plans and see how a clear roadmap can set you up for lasting success.
