Bowtie Data Model framework credited to Winning by Design
1. Data Trust, Tracking & Attribution
Core Diagnostic · Checks 1 to 7 · Foundation (Shared Data Model)
1
Confirm which event each ad platform treats as the conversion, and that it matches a real business result: qualified meeting, sales-qualified opportunity, signed proposal.
2
Capture the Google Click Identifier (GCLID) and LinkedIn click data on every form, store it in the customer relationship management (CRM) system, and send qualified-opportunity and closed-won stages back to Google Ads and LinkedIn as offline conversions.
3
Check that each stage sends the right conversion value, so bidding steers toward higher-value projects and buyers.
4
Reconcile lead counts across analytics, ad platforms, and the CRM. Trace a sample of leads from first click to closed deal.
5
Check campaign tagging (Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters), lead source fields, and that the original source survives onto every lead and opportunity.
6
Set up a unique landing page per campaign as a tracking backup when cookies or tracking code are blocked.
7
Review current tools (CRM, marketing automation, forms, call tracking, analytics) for gaps and for tools that are not needed.
2. Buyer Voice, ICP, Buying Committee & Competitive Positioning
Core Diagnostic · Checks 8 to 20 · Left Bowtie: Awareness & Education
8
Map who authorizes, who influences, and who uses: the budget owner (owner, chief financial officer (CFO), operations executive), the technical evaluator (facility manager, energy manager, engineer), and procurement.
9
Interview 5-8 recent customers and 2-3 lost prospects: what triggered the project, what they searched for, who they compared, and what nearly stopped the deal.
10
Review sales call recordings for the most common objections and the questions each role asks.
11
Check that the website, headlines, and sales materials answer each role's main question.
12
Define the ideal customer profile (ICP) at two levels from won-deal data: the account (industry, company or facility type, size, region) and the contact (titles and seniority). Note which segments were expected to convert but did not.
13
Document the trigger events that make buyers realize they need a solution, and how they justify the purchase internally (their business case).
14
Test 4-5 segments in parallel before narrowing the ICP. Compare engagement and which pain point lands in each segment, then focus on 2-3 segments at a time.
15
Find high-value segments and how far they sit above the average customer: by industry, deal size, region, and source.
16
Calculate the Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM), and identify new segments and referral or channel partners.
17
Build a tiered named account list (Tier 1, 2, 3) from ICP fit plus buying signals: hiring, new sites or expansions, permits, funding or incentive deadlines.
18
Map the buying committee contacts at each named account. Check enrichment and data coverage in the CRM: correct roles, verified emails, current accounts.
19
Check intent sources (such as Demandbase or 6sense, plus website visits) that flag which named accounts are in market now.
20
Compare positioning, proof, offers, and pricing signals. Review competitor search and LinkedIn ads using the ad libraries, and which competitors artificial intelligence (AI) assistants name.
3. Website Speed, Session Replays & Conversion Path
Core Diagnostic · Checks 21 to 26 · Left Bowtie: Consideration & Selection
21
Run a speed test (PageSpeed Insights, DebugBear) on the devices buyers actually use.
22
Audit key page hierarchy: who it is for, the outcome with numbers, proof, and a clear next step.
23
Review offers for each buying stage (assessment, calculator, case study, consultation) and form length against lead quality.
24
Check what proof buyers can see before the first sales call: videos, spec sheets, price or payback ranges.
25
Check behavior analytics tools (Microsoft Clarity, PostHog, Hotjar, FullStory) on key pages and forms. Review session replays and heatmaps for dead clicks and scroll drop-off.
26
Check anonymous visitor identification (such as RB2B) to see which companies visit before they convert, where they came from, and which pages they view.
4. Organic Search, AI Answer Engines (ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity) & Proof
Core Diagnostic · Checks 27 to 32 · Left Bowtie: Inbound Discovery & Proof
27
Build a keyword map by buying stage (problem, solution, vendor comparison, funding and incentives) with volume, cost per click, and current ranking for each term.
28
Rank search terms by how strongly the ideal customer profile (ICP) favors them, using audience research, alongside total search volume.
29
Run a fixed set of buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Record which firms get named and which pages get cited, and keep it as the baseline.
30
Audit content for proof: case studies with measured savings, payback period, and project size; spec sheets; calculators.
31
Check search engine optimization (SEO) basics: indexing, page titles, structured data, internal links, and site speed.
32
List the associations and trade publications the ICP reads, for placement and link opportunities.
5. Paid Media, Outbound Infrastructure & Tiered ABM
Full-Bowtie Diagnostic · Checks 33 to 44 · Left Bowtie: Demand Creation & Outbound
33
Review Google Ads search terms: flag terms with clicks and no qualified leads, and separate branded from non-branded search.
34
Estimate the paid-search opportunity from your own numbers: search volume × click share × lead rate × close rate × average deal value.
35
Review LinkedIn targeting by title, company size, and target account list.
36
Review retargeting and nurture across the full sales cycle.
37
Review outbound email setup: separate sending domains and inboxes, warm-up, domain authentication (Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)), daily send limits, and bounce and spam rates.
38
Check list sourcing and enrichment (such as Apollo or Clay): verified emails and roles, and suppression of current customers, open deals, and opt-outs. Confirm only opted-in contacts get marketing email from the CRM.
39
Review sequences by segment and role: short plain-text emails that teach something useful, sent from a named salesperson, each with one clear next step.
40
Review LinkedIn outreach (connection requests, messages, founder- or executive-led posts) and how it runs alongside email.
41
Measure outbound on reply rate, positive replies, meetings booked, and visits to the landing page linked in the email. Do not rely on open or click rates (tracking pixels hurt delivery, and security scanners open and click emails).
42
Review account-based marketing (ABM) plays by tier: one-to-one for Tier 1 (custom pages, executive outreach), one-to-few by segment, and one-to-many ads to named-account lists.
43
Check response rules: high-intent signals from named accounts get an immediate sales follow-up, and account activity routes to the owner in the CRM.
44
Review partner and referral routes into named accounts: investors, board members, channel partners, and co-marketing.
6. Sales Handoff & Pipeline Economics
Full-Bowtie Diagnostic · Checks 45 to 52 · Center of Bowtie: New Customer Acquisition
45
Pull 12-24 months of won and lost deals. Rank them by source, industry, company or facility type, deal size, and sales cycle length.
46
Write down, with sales, what counts as a marketing-qualified lead (MQL) and a sales-qualified lead (SQL): title, company size, project size, timing, budget, and funding or incentive eligibility.
47
Set channel goals as sales-qualified leads by channel, so every channel is judged on lead quality.
48
Measure speed to first response on inbound leads, and the follow-up steps after the first meeting.
49
Review lost reasons and the share of deals lost to no decision.
50
Review handoff rules, response-time commitments, and CRM stage definitions between marketing and sales.
51
Calculate cost per qualified opportunity and customer acquisition cost (CAC) by channel, win rate by source, and sales cycle length.
52
Judge campaigns on lifetime value (LTV) as well as CAC, including repeat projects and multi-site expansion.
7. Onboarding, Retention, Expansion & Advocacy / Reviews (Trustpilot, Google Reviews, G2 & Clutch)
Full-Bowtie Diagnostic · Checks 53 to 60 · Right Bowtie: Onboarding, Expansion & Advocacy
53
Measure gross revenue retention (GRR), net revenue retention (NRR), and churn rate by original acquisition channel, segment, and first product bought, so you know which channels bring customers who stay versus customers who cancel early.
54
Audit the handoff from closed-won deal to customer onboarding. Measure time to first value and spot where new accounts stall in the first 90 days before they reach full adoption.
55
Review canceled accounts and interview churned customers to find the real reasons they left. Check whether drops in product usage, missed check-ins, or support tickets trigger early outreach before renewal.
56
Audit existing customer accounts for seat expansion, tier upgrades, cross-sell adoption, and rollouts to additional sites or parent companies, with clear triggers for account reps to reach out.
57
Check whether there is a repeatable process to ask happy customers for referrals right after a successful milestone, renewal, or high Net Promoter Score (NPS) response, rather than waiting for referrals to happen by chance.
58
Audit how satisfied customers are asked to leave public reviews on sites like G2, Clutch, Trustpilot, or Google, record short customer proof, and serve as reference calls for late-stage deals.
59
Deliver a dashboard of key metrics: cost per SQL, win rate, sales cycle length, pipeline by source, CAC, GRR, NRR, and LTV:CAC.
60
Group recommendations into quick wins, tests, and longer-term work, each with expected impact, cost, and owner.
Built for Post-Product-Market Fit Companies
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I work with post-Product-Market Fit companies that have active revenue, paying customers, and 12+ months of CRM and funnel data to inspect. (To keep my time focused on hands-on client work, I do not offer open free calls for pre-revenue startups with no historical funnel data.)