Funnels. We’ve all seen them. That tidy little diagram makes B2B buying look like a predictable, step-by-step journey from awareness to purchase. Marketers cling to it like a security blanket, hoping that if we just squeeze enough leads into the top, we’ll magically convert customers at the bottom. Cute theory. Too bad it’s completely detached from reality.
B2B buyers don’t march down a straight path. They zigzag. They research, get distracted, circle back, consult ten people, ghost your sales team, and then—when you least expect it—they’re ready to buy. And sometimes, after months of research, internal debates, and overanalyzing every detail, they pull the trigger on a six-figure software deal because of a snappy LinkedIn post and a half-hearted ‘let’s just do it’ moment. (You know the type—months of pitch decks, endless calls, and then boom, they buy after seeing a meme about your software on LinkedIn. Unbelievable, right?)
The problem isn’t just that the funnel is outdated—it’s that this neat, linear fantasy leads to terrible marketing. It forces us to obsess over MQLs that never turn into revenue, chase vanity metrics, and worst of all, create a disconnect between sales and marketing. The result? Wasted budgets, frustrated teams, and a buying experience that feels completely detached from how people actually make decisions.
Buyers Don’t Follow Funnels—They Make Decisions on Their Terms
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) argues that the traditional funnel is flawed because it assumes buying happens in a nice, tidy sequence. Instead, BCG proposes influence maps—a way of mapping how buyers interact with touchpoints in a non-linear, messy, real-world way. Buyers don’t “move through” stages—they engage, disengage, research, compare, and come back when they feel like it.
Antonia Wade, CMO at PwC and author of Transforming the B2B Buyer Journey, takes it a step further. She points out that B2B buying is deeply collaborative, involving multiple decision-makers who interact with content, peers, and sales reps at different times. Unlike B2C, where one person makes a purchase, B2B is a long, political, often painful process where consensus is everything.
That said, not all B2B buying is chaos. Lower-cost, repeat purchases or SaaS-based models? Those still follow predictable patterns. This nuance matters—while big enterprise deals are unpredictable, some transactions still have patterns we can analyze and optimize.
What B2B Marketers Need to Do Instead
Forget MQLs—Track Real Buying Signals
Your “top-performing” lead source might not be influencing decisions at all. Instead of fixating on MQLs, track engagement depth. How many decision-makers within an account are interacting? How often are they returning? Are they consuming content that signals buying intent? Influence beats volume every time.
Example: A CMO downloading an industry trend report is different from a CFO reading a pricing guide. Map intent accordingly.Ditch Funnels—Think Influence Maps
BCG’s influence maps provide a better model for understanding how buyers make decisions. In B2B, this means knowing where decision-makers spend their time—LinkedIn discussions, industry reports, third-party reviews, Slack communities, and direct interactions with your sales team. Multi-touch attribution models can help clarify which touchpoints drive conversions.
Example: A cybersecurity firm tracked anonymous website traffic spikes from finance executives after a CFO in their target industry posted about a new compliance regulation. That’s a buying signal worth responding to.Align Sales and Marketing Around Decision Triggers
The classic “marketing generates leads, sales closes deals” playbook is broken. Marketing and sales should collaborate to track and act on buying signals—like a spike in product-related searches, engagement from multiple stakeholders within an account, or direct inquiries about pricing.
Key Insight: Instead of hand-offs, consider real-time collaboration where marketing feeds sales relevant insights at critical moments.Use AI—But Don’t Screw It Up
AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s how we scale influence. Instead of generic nurture sequences, AI helps marketers adjust messaging based on real-time behaviors. If a CFO is downloading cost-saving reports while an IT director is reading about security features, don’t send them the same follow-up. AI-driven personalization is the only way to stay relevant in a fragmented buying journey.
Challenge: Many B2B companies struggle to integrate AI effectively because of fragmented data systems. The key is starting small—using AI for predictive lead scoring before rolling out automated, dynamic messaging.
The Psychology of B2B Buying: What Actually Drives Decisions?
B2B buyers don’t make decisions in a vacuum. They’re influenced by risk aversion, internal power dynamics, trust in vendors, and peer recommendations.
Risk Aversion: No one wants to be the person who made a bad call on a six-figure contract. How are you addressing perceived risks?
Internal Politics: Procurement, IT, and finance all have different priorities. Are you speaking to all of them?
Trust & Credibility: Are you leveraging third-party validation, customer stories, and expert endorsements to build confidence?
The Future of B2B Marketing: Influence, Not Funnels
B2B buyers don’t want to be “moved through a process.” They want information when they need it, in the format they prefer, and without feeling like they’re being herded like cattle. Our job as marketers isn’t to control the journey—it’s to influence the right moments, with the right content, and on the right channels.
That means ditching the rigid funnel model, embracing influence-driven marketing, and using AI to deliver personalization at scale. It also means acknowledging that while many buying journeys are unpredictable, some remain structured, and we need the right frameworks for both.
Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, let’s refine our strategies based on buying behavior, real-time data, and business context. Funnels may still have their place in simpler transactions, but for complex B2B sales, influence is the future. Let’s build for that.
