Reinterpreting the Bow-Tie model: the future of high-growth companies

Hi there!

Working with companies on GTM opened my eyes: buyers buy from most businesses with a model previously accepted especially for B2B SaaS, the Bow-Tie model, typical of businesses with expansion or recurring sales.

The Bow-Tie model starts with awareness, but that’s outdated. Today, education is the true starting point.

High-growth AI-enabled companies are moving beyond traditional awareness campaigns to create communities, deliver thought leadership, and build inbound momentum. They focus on becoming trusted educators first, and then use that as the foundation for outbound efforts.

The nonlinear customer journey: it’s messy. A JOURNEY OF TOUCH POINTS, NOT STAGES Nowadays the customer journey is no longer a predictable, linear progression of steps like awareness, consideration, and decision. Instead, it’s a tangled web of omnichannel and cross-channel interactions. Buyers engage with your product or service across different platforms and at unpredictable times. Sometimes they want real-time responses (say on WhatsApp), other times they consume information on demand (through webinars, community posts, or recorded demos). This shift is huge. Instead of thinking of your GTM strategy as a pipeline, think of it like a network of connections. Every touchpoint should not only deliver value but also be measurable in real-time, so you can adapt to the buyer’s pace and preferences.

Then, onboarding happens after a buyer has made their decision. But high-growth companies are turning this idea upside down: Onboarding can now be part of the selection process. Think about how trial experiences, hands-on demos, or sandbox environments allow buyers to experience the product before they fully commit.

The earlier they feel the value, the quicker they convert.

For complex products, early onboarding helps to overcome objections and builds trust in your ability to deliver value.

The future of high-growth businesses isn’t about following a funnel. It’s about empowering buyers in a messy, nonlinear world. Your GTM strategy isn’t just about filling a pipeline anymore.

What you should do

1. Lead with Education: Shift your GTM model to start with education-driven awareness. Build credibility and trust by educating prospects on their pain points before trying to sell them anything.
2. Onboard before Commitment: Don’t wait until after the sale to start onboarding. Let potential buyers experience your product through trials or personalized demo environments as part of the selection process.
3. Build an Omnichannel Data Strategy: Integrate real-time and async data across every channel (WhatsApp, email, webinars, etc.) into a single view, and track buyer behavior at every touchpoint. Use this data to create more personalized, relevant interactions.

Read the full breakdown here ?

If you enjoyed this, join 7,000+ Business Leaders and get actionable systems for?GTM, RevOps?and?Buyer enablement?to gain an edge in 15 minutes a week: Sign up for free here ?