Why the Funnel No Longer Works
B2B buyers jump between channels, phases and buying groups. The Growth Circle replaces linear logic with integrated pipeline strategies.
Why does the pipeline remain empty even though marketing produces more content, activates more channels and deploys more tools than ever before? The linear funnel fails to map how B2B buyers make decisions today. They move across an average of 10 touchpoints, involve 22 stakeholders and jump between phases.¹
The scenario is familiar: Marketing generates leads, sales complains about quality, pipeline is missing at quarter end. The reason isn't lack of competence. It's an outdated model.
Funnel logic assumes sequential phases: Awareness, Consideration, Decision. Reality looks different. Potential customers use different channels simultaneously.¹ They research independently. They involve an average of 22 stakeholders – 13 internal, nine external.² Decisions are made by buying groups, not individuals.
A typical example: The CFO downloads a whitepaper while the IT director simultaneously books a demo. Procurement compares prices in the self-service portal. Three stakeholders, three channels, no linear phase. The funnel cannot map this.
The linear funnel is more than inaccurate. It prevents understanding these processes. Marketing counts MQLs. Meanwhile, the pipeline runs dry.
Linear funnels are based on an assumption: buying phases run sequentially and predictably. Reality shows something different. B2B buyers use different channels in parallel. They jump between phases. They interact across an average of 10 channels – from websites to video conferences to e-procurement portals.¹
A remarkable pattern emerges: one-third of buyers each prefer personal, remote or digital self-service interactions.¹ This "Rule of Thirds" applies regardless of industry, country or company size.
The focus on MQLs inevitably leads to false resource allocation. Only 21% of marketing leaders focus on buying groups and opportunity management.³ Yet 73% of B2B revenue comes from existing customers – not from new leads.²
The central problem: Reach is confused with influence. A touchpoint with high reach does not automatically influence buying decisions. Influence only emerges where attention, relevance and trust come together.⁴
Concretely, this means: companies invest in channels with high visibility – LinkedIn ads, SEO, events – without knowing which touchpoints actually advance opportunities. Pipeline growth results from influence, not from impressions.
What companies risk with funnel logic
Acht Länder, acht unterschiedliche Marketing-Prozesse – vor dieser Situation steht Manpower. Die Folge: Uneinigkeit darüber, welche Leads Priorität haben, sowie erschwertes Benchmarking und Austausch über Best Practices.
Um internationale Vergleichbarkeit zu schaffen und Lernprozesse im Unternehmen anzuregen, will das nordeuropäische Marketing-Team um Projektleiterin Tina Hingston ein länderübergreifend konsistentes Lead Scoring und Reporting einführen. Dafür holt sie sich Unterstützung des Strategiepartners andweekly.
Von der herausfordernden und zeitaufwendigen Rekrutierung geeigneter Fachkräfte sind Unternehmen in vielen Branchen und Regionen betroffen. Das Ziel von Manpower ist es, dem Personalmangel weltweit mit innovativen Lösungen zu begegnen. Die ManpowerGroup mit Hauptsitz in den USA und Niederlassungen in rund 80 Ländern zählt zu den weltweit führenden Unternehmen in der Personalbranche.
Kerngeschäft ist die Vermittlung von Fachkräften aus zahlreichen Branchen an Unternehmen, die sich nicht mit zeitaufwendigen Rekrutierungsprozessen beschäftigen wollen. Darüber hinaus hilft Manpower, kurzfristige Personalengpässe zu überbrücken und Produktionsspitzen mit geeigneten Human Resources auf Zeit abzufedern. Zum Unternehmen gehören zahlreiche Tochterunternehmen – darunter auch der IT-Dienstleister Experis, den wir bereits bei seiner Marketing-Strategie unterstützt haben.
Die ManpowerGroup unterhält in jedem Land ein eigenes Marketing-Team, das individuelle Ansätze im Online-Marketing verfolgt. Zwar wurde HubSpot als All-in-one-Plattform für Marketing in den meisten Landesgesellschaften etabliert, doch das HubSpot-Knowhow und der hinterlegte Lead-Management-Prozess sind sehr unterschiedlich.
Das Problem bei Manpower: Die uneinheitlichen Marketing-Prozesse der Landesgesellschaften führen zu inkonsistenter Lead-Qualifizierung: Ein Lead, der in einer Landesgesellschaft als Sales Ready eingestuft wird, kann in einer anderen als Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) eingestuft werden.
Daraus ergeben sich für Manpower folgende Herausforderungen:
Mangelnde Vergleichbarkeit. Unterschiedliche Definitionen und Prozesse machen es schwierig, die Leistung und Effektivität von Marketing-Aktivitäten zwischen verschiedenen Landesgesellschaften zu vergleichen. Ohne einheitliche Standards können sie Best Practices nicht identifizieren und erfolgreiche Strategien kaum replizieren.
Schwierigkeiten bei Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation. Inkonsistente Definitionen führen immer wieder zu Missverständnissen und Fehlkommunikation zwischen Marketing- und Vertriebsteams, insbesondere wenn diese länderübergreifend zusammenarbeiten.
Verpasste Verkaufschancen. Unterschiedliche und nicht immer optimale Definitionen von MQLs und SQLs bewirken, dass Mitarbeitende bestimmte Leads unter- oder überschätzen. Falsche Prioritäten in der Lead-Bearbeitung kosten wiederum wertvolle Ressourcen.
Standardisierung der Marketing-Automatisierungsprozesse für eine nahtlose Customer Journey in den verschiedenen Manpower-Landesgesellschaften
Entwicklung homogener Dashboards auf globaler Ebene zur einheitlichen Erfassung, Analyse und Vergleich der Performances von Marketing-Kampagnen
Optimierung der CRM-Strategie durch Implementierung von Best Practices für Lead-Erfassung, -Qualifizierung, -Scoring und Reporting mithilfe des HubSpot Marketing Hub
Erzielung von Effizienzgewinnen durch Reduzierung von Inkonsistenzen zwischen den Landesgesellschaften
Erhöhung der Transparenz zwischen den Landesgesellschaften hinsichtlich Lead-Generierung, Lead-Qualität und Marketing-Performance zur Verbesserung der Entscheidungsfindung und Performance
The Growth Circle model replaces linear funnel logic. It is based on two core elements: brand identity as a strategic foundation and customer experience as a continuous process – across all lifecycle phases. Presales, pipeline, postsale.
B2B buyers show four central behaviors: streaming (consumption of video and audio content), scrolling (browsing social media and feeds), searching (active research) and shopping (self-service and e-commerce).⁴ These behaviors do not occur sequentially. They run in parallel and iteratively.
The model uses "influence maps" instead of rigid phases. Influence maps show which touchpoints actually influence buying decisions – not just where buyers are visible. The vertical axis measures the degree of influence. The horizontal maps the customer journey without artificial boundaries between phases.
The benefit for pipeline growth: companies identify the 20% of touchpoints that drive 80% of opportunity progression. Resources flow to where they actually influence buying decisions – not to where most impressions occur.
Integration instead of isolation: The Growth Circle model interlocks marketing, sales and customer success around shared goals. Pipeline growth and customer lifetime value replace isolated metrics. Marketing expands its role across all opportunity lifecycle phases.³
The core differences at a glance
The "Rule of Thirds" is universal. In every phase of the customer journey, one-third each of B2B buyers prefer personal, remote or digital self-service interactions.¹ This distribution remains stable – across all industries, countries and company sizes.
More than half of B2B buyers expect true omnichannel experience. Not just different channels. Seamless transitions between them. 51% of buyers switch providers when this experience fails.¹
E-commerce has become the highest-revenue channel: 34% of earnings at companies that offer e-commerce come from this channel.¹ Personal sales interactions are becoming less important. Particularly notable: the willingness to handle large transactions over €500,000 digitally or remotely has increased significantly.
In practice, this means: a buying group member starts research in a webinar, configures the product in the self-service portal and then books a personal conversation with sales. Data from all three touchpoints must come together seamlessly – otherwise sales starts from zero.
Successful companies actively orchestrate journeys. They understand the preferences of their buying groups. They identify the most influential touchpoints. They guide buyers seamlessly through personalized experiences – regardless of channel.
The effect on pipeline quality: opportunities that emerge through orchestrated omnichannel journeys convert faster and with higher probability – because all stakeholders receive the information they need for their decision.
The average B2B purchase involves 22 stakeholders – 13 internal buying group members and nine external network members.² Marketing must transition from lead generation to buying group engagement.
Three critical phases structure this shift:
Only 21% of marketing leaders currently focus on this shift.³ Most remain with lead-based models – even though buying group complexity is steadily increasing. Successful CMOs expand marketing's role across the entire opportunity lifecycle. They work with shared KPIs: customer delight, engagement and pipeline velocity instead of isolated metrics.
What this means for growth: companies that address buying groups instead of individual leads shorten sales cycles by an average of 30% – because all decision-makers receive relevant information in parallel instead of being "warmed up" sequentially.
AI is the decisive enabler for personalized approaches in the Growth Circle. Without AI support, it is practically impossible to scale individualized experiences for every customer journey.⁴
The numbers show the trend: 19% of B2B companies are already implementing AI use cases, another 23% are experimenting with it.⁵ High-growth companies (>10% revenue growth) rely on AI at a rate of 57%.⁵ Data-driven teams that combine personalized experiences with AI have a 1.7 times higher probability of gaining market share.⁵
Important use cases: meeting support, smart research assistants (AI-powered research tools) and next-best action/opportunity prioritization. The perception of added value increases with maturity level: 45% of B2B companies using smart research assistants rate them as "extremely beneficial" – versus 25% of non-users.⁵
Crucial: AI requires robust data management. Successful companies break down data silos, standardize tech stacks and use e-commerce as a data hub for seamless customer journeys.
Concrete impact on pipeline: AI-powered next-best-action systems show sales in real time which buying group members should be approached next – and with which content. This accelerates opportunities and measurably increases close rates.
The traditional funnel follows sequential phases (TOFU-MOFU-BOFU) with clear handoff points. The Growth Circle model maps the reality of complex B2B buying processes: buyers move in parallel across an average of 10 touchpoints. Buying groups with 22 stakeholders make decisions together. 73% of revenue comes from existing customers. The circle integrates presales, pipeline and postsale as a continuous cycle with shared metrics – instead of isolated lead numbers.
Instead of MQLs and SQLs, successful companies focus on opportunity-based metrics: pipeline velocity (speed from first contact to close), buying group engagement (number of active stakeholders per opportunity), customer lifetime value, opportunity-to-close rate by buying group size, cross/upsell rate with existing customers. Crucial is the integration of marketing and sales KPIs across the entire lifecycle.
Identification combines intent data (digital behavior that indicates purchase interest), CRM analysis and account-based intelligence (account-based data analysis). Modern platforms analyze digital behavior at the company level, identify active researchers and map decision-maker structures. Important: buying groups vary depending on product complexity and industry. Analysis of historical closes shows typical roles and touchpoint preferences per segment.
E-commerce is not just a transaction channel. It is a data hub and influence multiplier. 34% of B2B revenue is already generated through e-commerce – even for large transactions over €500,000.¹ For complex products, e-commerce serves as a self-service portal: product configuration, price transparency, reordering. Crucial: seamless integration with CRM and marketing automation to track buying group activities and enable sales in a targeted manner.
AI analyzes historical touchpoint data and correlates it with conversion events. Predictive models show which touchpoint combinations lead to opportunity progression. Smart research assistants evaluate content relevance in real time. Next-best-action systems prioritize interventions based on buying signals. The combination of data-driven personalization and AI increases the probability of market share gains by 1.7 times.⁵
The linear funnel no longer maps how B2B buyers make decisions today. 22 stakeholders, 10 touchpoints, parallel channels – this complexity requires integrated models, not sequential phases.
The Growth Circle model is not a theoretical alternative. It is the operational answer to a changed reality. Continuous cycles instead of sequential phases. Buying groups instead of individual leads. Omnichannel orchestration instead of isolated touchpoints. Pipeline focus instead of vanity metrics.
The integration of brand identity as a strategic foundation, customer experience across all lifecycle phases and technology – especially AI for personalization at scale – creates measurable competitive advantages. 57% of high-growth B2B companies already rely on this approach.⁵
The consequence is clear: companies that still think in funnels today will lose pipeline tomorrow to competitors who think in circles. The shift is no longer an option. It is a prerequisite for sustainable B2B growth.
The question is not whether companies will make the change. The question is when and how quickly they will be there.
¹ McKinsey & Company (2024): Five Fundamental Truths: How B2B Winners Keep Growing
² McKinsey & Company (2024): B2B Pulse Survey 2024; Quoted in Five Fundamental Truths
³ Forrester Research (2025): A B2B CMO's Imperative To Drive Growth: Champion Revenue Process Transformation
⁴ Boston Consulting Group (2025): It's Time for Marketers to Move Beyond the Linear Funnel
⁵ McKinsey & Company (2024): Gen AI Adoption and Impact Data; Quoted in Five Fundamental Truths