GTM Live – The 5 Stages of Revenue Transformation

Stage 3: The Breaking Point (The Model Collapse)
Host: Carolyn Dilks (Passetto)
Date: December 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of GTM Live focuses on Stage Three of the five-part revenue transformation framework: The Breaking Point (also called The Model Collapse). Host Carolyn Dilks discusses what happens when B2B SaaS revenue leaders realize that their current go-to-market (GTM) measurement and reporting systems are fundamentally broken. This stage is a pivotal (and often painful) turning point: leaders either move toward true transformation or burn out. The episode provides clear frameworks, lived experiences, and actionable next steps for those ready to challenge the GTM status quo.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining Stage Three: The Breaking Point

• Stage Three is the moment of deep frustration and clarity:

  • Leaders are exhausted by constant scrutiny and defending their team’s value.
  • Activities and campaigns are being executed, but there’s no clear way to measure real impact in terms leadership values (pipeline, revenue, efficiency).
  • Self-doubt is replaced with questioning the foundation: the data model itself.

• Common feelings in Stage Three:

  • Overwhelmed by back-to-back meetings focused on justification.
  • “It looks like we’re doing nothing because you cannot measure what really matters to your C-suite and to your leadership.” (10:01)
  • Teams are stuck in silos, with different numbers and narratives, leading to finger-pointing and dysfunction.

Notable Quote

“No amount of hard work is going to fix a broken system.”
(07:07, Carolyn Dilks)

2. Personal Anecdote: Living Through the Collapse

• Carolyn’s own breaking point:
  • After launching a sophisticated ABM (Account-Based Marketing) motion, she was immediately asked, “How many leads did that campaign generate?”—despite knowing that meaningful outcomes take time.
  • The inability to track or tell the full story from initial engagement to revenue made her team’s work feel invisible: “All of that was invisible…unless an account became an opportunity that same week, it looked like we were doing absolutely nothing.” (18:53)

Notable Quote

“I genuinely considered leaving my job because I was just so tired of being under constant scrutiny and constantly having to defend everything I was doing.”
(26:01, Carolyn Dilks)

3. Why the System is Broken

• Outdated models:

  • GTM & marketing measurement models are built for MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) volume, not for modern B2B buyer journeys.
  • Leadership cares about pipeline, revenue, and efficiency—not vanity metrics.

• The “Triangle of Stuckness” Framework:

  • Left side: Activities are rewarded, not outcomes; metrics focus on what’s easy to measure, not what matters.
  • Bottom: Changing the model is perceived as too risky or complicated—leaders fear the effort required.
  • Right side: Company culture of urgency—quick to add more activity, try new tools, or shift tactics, instead of addressing root problems.

Notable Quote

“We are literally rewarded around the wrong business metrics…more calls does not equal more results, more MQLs and leads does not mean more pipeline. More campaigns does not mean more results. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
(40:31, Carolyn Dilks)

4. The Finger Pointing & Silo Effect

• Disconnected data and misaligned incentives cause marketing, sales, and revops to work in isolation—each “defending their own function” instead of collaborating on one customer-centric journey.
• “Everybody’s operating like separate teams running separate races and wondering why you’re not winning.”
  (13:14, Carolyn Dilks)

5. Hitting the Breaking Point – Now What?

• Leaders reach Stage Three and face a choice:

  • Leave the system (quit).
  • Continue defending (and lose ground).
  • Champion building a new data model/system.

• Why so many get stuck:

  • Change looks overwhelming.
  • Activity feels like progress and is easy to control.
  • There’s fear of being responsible for a new (and possibly risky) direction.

Notable Quote

“This stage—as brutal as it is—is actually the most important stage in your transformation journey…this is where you stop believing that working harder is the answer.”
(29:34, Carolyn Dilks)

6. Real-World Example: Why Some Don’t Choose Change

• Carolyn shares a story of a CMO at a $300M ARR company who, presented with clear data showing wasted marketing spend, refused to cut ineffective budget, saying:

  • “I have fought so hard to get this budget. I’m not doing that, so tell me where to spend the money.”
    (54:55)

• Result: That leader is no longer in the role, illustrating the personal risk of clinging to broken models.

7. What High Performance Looks Like (The Other Side)

• Team focus shifts from functional success to customer journey success.

• “The teams that are excelling…have removed the teams and functions from the equation entirely. They’re not asking, ‘Did marketing do their job?’ They’re looking at the customer and their full journey.”
  (01:00:01, Carolyn Dilks)

• Data and measurement are stitched together, creating a “systematic pipeline factory” with real visibility into what works (and what doesn’t).

• High-performing orgs act with “practice, not reaction”—with consistent, strategic measurement.

8. Recognizing You’re in Stage Three: Checklist

• Exhaustion from constant justification.
• Seeing impact but unable to measure/report it convincingly.
• Resorting to manual, duct-taped reporting.
• Teams operating with different stories and data.
• Beginning to question the GTM data/reporting foundation. (01:10:01)

9. The Two Most Important Questions

“At stage three, you’re asking two questions that are going to define everything that comes next:
1. What exactly needs to change in my data and in my reporting to get me where I need to go?
2. How do I go build that?”
(01:13:25, Carolyn Dilks)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This is the most critical stage in the entire transformation journey, because this is where you stop accepting the broken system. This is where you stop believing that working harder is the answer.”
  (01:12:40, Carolyn Dilks)

• “Transformation does not happen in your comfort zone or in the status quo.”
  (01:15:15, Carolyn Dilks)

• “You are not stuck because you’re not working hard enough. You are stuck because the system is broken. The moment you realize that, everything changes.”
  (01:23:05, Carolyn Dilks)

Actionable Takeaways

• Stop blaming yourself: Recognize systemic roots of recurring GTM challenges.
• Challenge the foundation: Shift from tactical tweaks to re-examining your measurement model.
• Document what needs to change: Write down the business questions you can’t answer today and what a working data model would look like.
• Commit to building new systems: Don’t fear the discomfort of unfamiliar territory—it’s where transformation happens.
• Move from defense to offense: Your new mandate is driving real revenue impact, not just defending activities and budget.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Framing Stage 3 – 00:00–07:30
• What Stage Three Feels Like – 07:30–13:12
• Carolyn’s Breaking Point Story – 17:40–28:00
• Framework: The Triangle of Stuckness – 38:15–44:20
• Why Most Get Stuck & Case Example – 50:30–56:50
• What High Performance Looks Like – 59:10–01:04:40
• Checklist: Are You in Stage Three? – 01:10:01–01:12:00
• Two Most Important Questions to Ask – 01:13:25
• Final Challenge & Takeaways – 01:18:43–End

Conclusion

Stage Three (“The Breaking Point”) is the most painful—and most pivotal—moment in a revenue leader’s transformation journey. It demands a willingness to challenge outdated measurement models, shift from activity to outcomes, and push through discomfort to build systems that accurately track what matters: real pipeline, revenue, and customer impact. Leadership here sets up all future growth. As Carolyn concludes: “The moment you realize [the problem is the system], everything changes.” (01:23:05)

Next up: Stage Four is about actually architecting and executing the new (better) model—so stay tuned for the next episode.