SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall Models

I'm sure everyone reading this has looked at something in their home and said, "This could be better organized". It might be your closet. It might be your kitchen. Regardless, a systematic approach brings order to chaos. This is where SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall models come into play. The Demand Waterfall was designed in modules that define milestones in the demand generation and management process. The stages are bundled together in a way that aligns them with common go-to-market strategies.

SiriusDecisions published an e-book entitled, "The Intelligent Growth Playbook: The SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall® Family" that reviews the evolution of the Demand Waterfall. In this article, I'll break down the three versions for you at a high level. My next articles will go in-depth for each version.

Version 1: The Original Waterfall

This version applies to companies that are in the infancy of their demand generation development. It's a simple process that breaks the complex demand journey into five defined stages:

1. Inquiries
2. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
3. Sales Accepted Leads (SALs)
4. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
5. Closed/Won Business

This version demonstrates a predictable flow and incorporates current conversion rates to show their effect on revenue. It also provides a common language for sales and marketing to align on and discuss strategy and outcomes.

Version 2: The Rearchitected Demand Waterfall

This version was updated in 2012. It has been enhanced to incorporate demand created by both marketing and sales. It also highlights the important roles teleprospecting and inbound marketing play in demand creation. This allows for greater granularity in the MQL stage of the process and addresses lead scoring for the automation qualified lead stage. As mentioned, teleprospecting plays a role in this more complex demand waterfall. Additional stages have also been added to provide additional insight for organizations that use internal and/or external teleservices to source and qualify leads.

Version 3: The Demand Unit Waterfall™

This version brings a new lens to the demand generation and managemet process. This last version is the most current. The methodology contained within takes the more complex technologies and buying processes into account. It also begins earlier in the demand generation journey, before direct contact has been made with the buyer, via the target demand and active demand stages. It has been updated to accommodate the rise in go-to-market strategies based on buyer needs, predictive analytics and intent monitoring, as well as the increased emphasis on account-based marketing.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, look for additional in-depth information on each of these three models in upcoming posts.