Value-First Framework
How humans naturally progress through relationships
An 8-stage framework describing how people discover, evaluate, realize, and multiply value—replacing artificial funnels with recognition of natural human progression.
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We scored them as MQLs because they downloaded a whitepaper. They weren't ready—they were just curious.
Marketing automation pushed them to sales before they'd even finished researching. Now they won't respond to anything.
We treat everyone post-sale the same—but some are struggling to implement while others are ready to refer us everywhere.
Our 'leads' aren't leads. They're people researching WITH AI now—they know more than our SDRs before they ever talk to us.
The Core Issue
Traditional funnels treat people as data points to be scored—not humans in relationships. And AI has made the old qualification model obsolete.
The Value Path recognizes how people actually move through relationships—rather than forcing them through stages your marketing automation created.
Discovery & Evaluation
Audience
"I am learning"
Researcher
"I am researching"
Hand Raiser
"I need help"
Buyer
"I am buying"
Creation & Multiplication
Value Creator
"I must create value"
Adopter
"I realize your value"
Advocate
"I tell others about you"
Champion
"I am a raving fan"
The shift from TO to OF occurs at the moment of purchase or commitment.
"I am learning"
Earliest moments of possibility recognition. Casual exploration without pressure. Building general awareness through content.
"I am researching"
Active investigation and evidence gathering. Comparing approaches. Building comprehensive understanding through focused exploration.
"I need help"
Explicit signal of readiness for expert guidance. Has questions requiring human answers. Authentic interest after sufficient research.
"I am buying"
Actively making purchasing decisions. Building internal conviction and coordinating stakeholders. Navigating organizational dynamics.
Key insight: People move through these stages at their own pace. Your job is to recognize where they are and support their progression—not push them forward.
"I must create value"
Active implementation with pressure to prove decision wisdom. Building new capability. Navigating organizational change.
"I realize your value"
Genuine value realization and validation. Using new capabilities. Proving success. Optimizing usage and deepening integration.
"I tell others about you"
Natural sharing within authentic influence spheres. Telling peers about success—internally first, then externally. Organic referral generation.
"I am a raving fan"
Industry leadership and methodology co-creation. Building communities of practice. Strategic partnership and mutual value multiplication.
The hidden goldmine: Most companies lump all post-sale customers together. The Path OF Value reveals four distinct stages—each requiring different support and representing different opportunity.
Stage 6 (Adopter) is the most critical yet under-tracked stage in most organizations.
No visibility into whether customers are actually using what they bought
Can't tell Value Creators from Adopters from Advocates
Ask for referrals before people have realized value
The fix: Track the transition from "I must create value" to "I realize your value." That's when advocacy becomes natural—not before.
Each Value Path stage requires visibility from different Unified Views. Together, they enable you to recognize and support natural progression.
Recognizes relationship signals
Tracks commercial process
Surfaces patterns & intelligence
Enables coordinated action
The Value Path is the what (how people progress). The Four Unified Views are the how (the visibility that enables support).
The Value Path transforms how you understand customer relationships—from mechanical funnels to recognition of natural human progression.
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