Understanding Non-Linear Buyer Journeys in Sales Strategies

Chris D. · 2025-10-01 17:26:50.934772+00

Curious how are people accounting for non-linear buyers journeys? e.g.: Demo -> Free Trial -> Close vs. Direct log-in signup (free trial)-> request demo -> Close I’m betting has top answer :slightly_smiling_face:

Understanding Non-Linear Buyer Journeys in Sales Strategies | RevGenius

4 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Adam F.
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I think the order in which someone is going through the buyer journey is less important than what they're seeing at each stage. We map content to each stage in the buyer journey (using the SiriusDecisions framework although others are good), as well as to different ICPs, and then just listen to the buyer to know where they're at. The example you gave we would look at as being signals for where someone is in their journey more so than an actual stage in the journey, and you can use those signals to give them content that actually moves them forward towards making a decision. If someone requests a demo first or does the free trial first, they're probably pretty close to each other in the buyer journey and can see very similar content, it would just differ based on what ICP group they fall into.
David B.
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Remembers that the customer journey is theirs not yours. Denoting it as non-linear implies that it’s linear to begin with, which is wishful thinking at best. Here’s how I think about this: all interactions with your touchpoints are signals, not advancements down your funnel. Some interactions are stronger signals than others, and for certain ICPs a combination of signals tell a clearer story of buying intent. Example:
in a PLG motion, a prospect starts a 14-day free trial and consumes educational content during that period.
You know that prospects that demo are more likely to convert.
T-1 day, you offer them a 7-day trial extension. If they bite, ask what they would use the extra time for, then offer to demo the solution to their question/problem.
You now have 3 strong signals instead of 1: free trial, customer problem statement/JTBD, and a demo.
🙌1
Chris D.
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Unfortunately, the world we live in the CRMs are set up with linear stages denoted by chevrons. SFDC and Hubspot are set up with linear thinking in a non-linear world. operations wise, how are other people tracking this non-linear progression in their CRMs so they can track a customer journey ‘theirs’, not ours. David B. so, in your example, how are you tracking that journey in the CRM so you can see if a person went: PLG -> Demo - Closed (won/Lost) or if they requested a Demo online first -> free trial -> Closed Won (Loss) how are you marking this with fields or stages, etc. How do you operationalize your example?
David B.
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I use Clay to track signals from all sources. I can sort events by date to get an idea of linearity, but I’m more interested in which set of signals best predict conversion.

Adam F.
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I think the order in which someone is going through the buyer journey is less important than what they're seeing at each stage. We map content to each stage in the buyer journey (using the SiriusDecisions framework although others are good), as well as to different ICPs, and then just listen to the buyer to know where they're at. The example you gave we would look at as being signals for where someone is in their journey more so than an actual stage in the journey, and you can use those signals to give them content that actually moves them forward towards making a decision. If someone requests a demo first or does the free trial first, they're probably pretty close to each other in the buyer journey and can see very similar content, it would just differ based on what ICP group they fall into.
David B.
·
·
Remembers that the customer journey is theirs not yours. Denoting it as non-linear implies that it’s linear to begin with, which is wishful thinking at best. Here’s how I think about this: all interactions with your touchpoints are signals, not advancements down your funnel. Some interactions are stronger signals than others, and for certain ICPs a combination of signals tell a clearer story of buying intent. Example:
in a PLG motion, a prospect starts a 14-day free trial and consumes educational content during that period.
You know that prospects that demo are more likely to convert.
T-1 day, you offer them a 7-day trial extension. If they bite, ask what they would use the extra time for, then offer to demo the solution to their question/problem.
You now have 3 strong signals instead of 1: free trial, customer problem statement/JTBD, and a demo.
🙌1
Chris D.
·
·
Unfortunately, the world we live in the CRMs are set up with linear stages denoted by chevrons. SFDC and Hubspot are set up with linear thinking in a non-linear world. operations wise, how are other people tracking this non-linear progression in their CRMs so they can track a customer journey ‘theirs’, not ours. David B. so, in your example, how are you tracking that journey in the CRM so you can see if a person went: PLG -> Demo - Closed (won/Lost) or if they requested a Demo online first -> free trial -> Closed Won (Loss) how are you marking this with fields or stages, etc. How do you operationalize your example?
David B.
·
·
I use Clay to track signals from all sources. I can sort events by date to get an idea of linearity, but I’m more interested in which set of signals best predict conversion.