Jon Miller shared his predictions for where B2B go-to-market is heading in 2026. Buying is getting faster. Buyers rely more on AI. Sales engagement happens later. He's right on all counts. But there's an implication that deserves more attention: as go-to-market compresses, customer voice becomes more important, not less.
The Direction Is Clear: Less Vendor Control
Vendors have less control over how they are introduced, understood, and evaluated. That work happens earlier. And often, it happens without you.
What Replaces the Sales Conversation
If buyers are engaging later, something has to replace the role sales used to play early in the process: explaining tradeoffs, setting realistic expectations, building confidence, helping buyers justify decisions internally. That role is increasingly filled by customer voice. Real, experience-based insight from people who have already made the decision.
AI Raises the Stakes on Customer Voice
AI systems summarize vendors, compare options, and generate recommendations based on what's available. If your external presence is built on high-level sentiment and short-form reviews, AI will flatten it even further. Buyers enter the process with confidence but without context.
Reviews Are Now Part of the GTM System
Customer voice now influences whether you are considered, how you are compared, and how procurement evaluates risk. It functions as part of the go-to-market infrastructure itself.
What Buyers Actually Look For
Buyers read customer input to understand where implementations were harder than expected, what required more effort, which use cases fit best, and where the product may not be the right choice. This kind of detail builds trust because it reflects reality.
Bottom Line
The companies that benefit won't just move faster. They will invest in the inputs that shape how they are understood: detailed customer experiences, clear articulation of tradeoffs, structured credible peer insight. In a world where buyers don't wait for you to explain your product, the story that wins is the one your customers have already told clearly enough for AI and buyers to trust it.
Jennifer Geisler is Chief Marketing Officer at PeerSpot, where she leads global marketing strategy, brand, demand generation, customer advocacy, and AI-driven initiatives. A seasoned technology executive, Jennifer has helped lead two successful IPOs and has built and scaled marketing organizations across cybersecurity, SaaS, AI, and enterprise technology companies. Known for turning customer insight into market influence, she is passionate about helping technology buyers make more informed decisions and helping vendors better understand the voice of their customers.
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