Paid search misconfiguration and wasted spend

In this episode, Carolyn and Amber break down a real-world case study of a $25M ARR enterprise SaaS company in a highly regulated industry that came to Passetto with strong teams, active demand, and declining win rates...but no reliable way to explain the genetic makeup of their deals or prove how marketing influenced revenue.

We break down what surfaced during a 14-day analysis: why most opportunities had no clear lineage, how underperforming channels like paid search were absorbing spend without driving meaningful conversion, and how marketing influence effectively disappeared once deals entered the sales cycle.

Most importantly, we share how rebuilding visibility across the funnel can turn win rate into a controllable lever, and why we estimate this shift alone could unlock ~$1M in incremental revenue, without increasing pipeline volume, budget, or headcount.

We break down the insights their team uncovered:

• Why 80% of opportunities ($3.5M) had no explainable lineage, making pipeline creation effectively invisible
• Why paid search underperformed by driving low-intent traffic instead of pipeline-ready buyers
• How marketing influence dropped to near zero in late-stage deals, leaving active opportunities unsupported
• Why win rate, not pipeline volume, was the primary revenue constraint
• How improving visibility alone created a clear, estimated ~$1M revenue upside using the existing pipeline and budget

This episode shows how a clear view into what actually drives revenue became a forcing function for action, giving this team’s leadership the confidence to move fast, fix foundational gaps, and use the findings as a business case for planning the first two quarters of 2026.

🔗 CTAs & LINKS:

• Get the visibility and strategic priorities your GTM team needs to move decisively. Book your 14-Day Sprint.
• Register for Passetto’s upcoming virtual events
• Book a free 1:1 Revenue Visibility Assessment
• Follow Carolyn on LinkedIn
• Follow Amber on LinkedIn

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This episode is powered by Passetto. If your pipeline dashboards aren’t giving you straight answers, you’re in good company. Most GTM teams simply don’t have the visibility to understand what’s truly driving pipeline and revenue, what’s slowing them down, or where to focus next.

Passetto changes that. In just 14 days, our Sprint gives you full-funnel visibility, clear answers about what’s working and what isn’t, and a focused set of strategic priorities to accelerate pipeline creation and align your teams immediately.