The cost of staying still is no longer theoretical
Most leadership teams would say they are customer-focused.
But somewhere between budgets, board packs and business-as-usual, something subtle happens.
The customer moves on.
And the business keeps talking to the version it remembers.
Not because anyone is careless.
But because customer expectations now shift faster than internal teams can realistically recalibrate.
By the time performance indicators start flashing, the gap has already opened.
What’s really changing beneath the surface
In both B2B and B2C markets, the shift is not always dramatic.
It shows up quietly:
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Customers take longer to decide
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They ask different questions than they used to
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They challenge price earlier
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They buy cautiously, or not at all
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They don’t return in the same way
This is rarely about demand disappearing.
It is about relevance weakening.
Why this is difficult to see from the inside
Most organisations are structured to optimise delivery, not reflection.
Marketing teams are:
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Busy executing plans signed off months ago
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Working to assumptions that once held true
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Under pressure to keep momentum, not pause and reassess
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Often removed from unfiltered customer conversations
Sales teams feel the friction first, but struggle to articulate it strategically.
Leadership teams see the numbers move, but not always the underlying cause.
This is why relevance gaps persist longer than they should.
The questions that reveal whether you are drifting
These questions are not theoretical.
They are designed to expose misalignment early, before it becomes a revenue issue.
Questions to ask internally
Customer understanding
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What matters most to our customer right now, and how do we know?
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Which of our assumptions about the customer are more than a year old?
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What has changed in their world that we have not responded to?
Value perception
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Why do customers choose us today, in their own words?
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Where are we being compared purely on price?
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What part of our offer feels essential, and what feels interchangeable?
Behavioural signals
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Where in the buying journey are decisions slowing?
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What objections are sales hearing more often than before?
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Which customers are quietly disengaging, and why?
Growth potential
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Why do some customers stop at one purchase?
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What would need to be true for them to buy more?
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Where are we over-investing in activity that no longer influences behaviour?
The questions worth asking customers directly
Leaders often underestimate how willing customers are to be honest, if asked properly.
Useful questions include:
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What feels harder for you now than it did a year ago?
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What has changed in how you assess risk or value?
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What nearly stopped you from choosing us?
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What would make you look elsewhere next time?
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What does ‘good’ look like from suppliers now?
The answers are rarely about marketing.
But they always have implications for it.
What strong organisations do differently
Organisations that stay relevant do a few things consistently:
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They revisit customer insight as a discipline, not a project
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They separate activity from impact
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They invite external challenge before performance drops
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They treat marketing as commercial infrastructure, not output
This requires perspective, not just execution.
A final thought for 2026
If your customers are quieter, more cautious, or harder to retain, it is worth asking a simple question:
Have they changed, or have we failed to change with them?
The answer usually determines the next phase of growth.
At The Marketing Centre, this is the work we are most often brought in to support. Not to add noise, but to help leadership teams reconnect customer reality to strategy, value and execution.
If nothing else, use the questions above.
They are often enough to reveal where attention is needed next.
