As many of you are starting to have those conversations about 2026 planning I thought I’d rewatch my webinar conversation with Ashley Faus and one of her messages that continues to stick is that of buyer journeys and the funnel.
Many marketers will continue to approach planning with traditional buyer journeys mapped out like they’re clean, predictable lines. Awareness – Interest – Consideration – Decision – Advocate.
But when was the last time you genuinely bought something that way?
Thinking about myself, I might:
- Review a supplier’s LinkedIn posts for a few months
- Listen to a podcast a supplier didn’t even know they were mentioned in
- Ask someone in WhatsApp group “Have you ever worked with these guys?”
- Read an article, forget about it, then remember a name on a conference badge six months later
Let’s be honest, that’s not a clean funnel. That’s chaos! But it’s human. And it’s every day reality. I love Ashley’s analogy about it’s more like a school playground!
And yet, so much of our professional services marketing planning still assumes control. Still assumes we can “nurture” people smoothly from stage to stage. Still tries to own a journey we only really get a glimpse of.
The uncomfortable truth is we no longer get to dictate the path.
But we do get to earn our place in the decision process, IF we’re consistently present in the places clients turn to long before they’re ready to buy.
And that’s the game we’re in now.
Less lead capture, more trust capture.
Less gated PDFs, more visible proof of thinking.
Less funnel thinking, more ecosystem building.
The old playbook assumes a buyer is waiting to be guided.
The new one assumes they’re already halfway there, so the question you need to answer in your 2026 planning:
Are we findable, credible, and useful enough when they finally look our way?