funnel framework
The Bowtie Funnel: Pre-Sale and Post-Sale, Mirrored
The bowtie funnel draws the classic funnel and then mirrors it: a second, widening funnel for everything after the sale. By giving onboarding, retention, and expansion the same weight as acquisition, it fixes the oldest flaw in funnel thinking, that the model ends at the signature.
Where it comes from
Popularized by Winning by Design for recurring-revenue businesses, the bowtie reframes the funnel for a world where most value is realized after the first purchase.
The stages
- Acquire. The pre-sale funnel: attract and convert.
- Convert. The narrow center: the signature.
- Onboard. The post-sale funnel begins: first value.
- Expand. Retention and expansion widen the base.
- Advocate. Customers feed the next acquisition.
When to use it
Reach for the bowtie in any recurring-revenue or subscription business, where lifetime value, not first purchase, is the real prize and the post-sale half decides the economics.
How it maps to the marketinque funnel
The bowtie is the model marketinque is built on. The pre-sale half is the demand generation funnel; the post-sale half is the lifecycle marketing silo; the knot in the middle is the activate stage. It is why the funnel on the homepage is drawn as a bowtie.
Related frameworks
Made with marketinque