What Jon Miller Gets Right About 2026 GTM and What It Means for Customer Voice
Jon Miller shared his predictions for where B2B go-to-market is heading in 2026.
The themes are clear. 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
Miller’s predictions point to a model where:
- Buyers complete more of the journey independently
- AI tools shape how vendors are discovered and compared
- Traditional GTM motions become more efficient and scalable
This changes something fundamental.
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.
Specifically:
- Explaining tradeoffs
- Setting realistic expectations
- Building confidence
- Helping buyers justify decisions internally
That role is increasingly filled by customer voice.
Not testimonials. Not curated quotes. Real, experience-based insight from people who have already made the decision.
AI Raises the Stakes on Customer Voice
Miller calls out the growing role of AI in buying. That’s where this becomes more urgent.
AI systems don’t create understanding. They compress it.
They:
- Summarize vendors
- Compare options
- Generate recommendations
And they rely on what’s available.
If your external presence is built on:
- High-level sentiment
- Short-form reviews
- Generic positioning
AI will flatten it even further.
Which means buyers enter the process with confidence but without context. That gap shows up later in stalled deals and harder evaluations.
Reviews Are Now Part of the GTM System
One of the biggest mistakes teams make is treating reviews as a downstream activity.
Something that happens after:
- The deal closes
- The customer is happy
- The campaign is done
That model doesn’t hold anymore.
Customer voice now influences:
- Whether you are considered
- How you are compared
- How procurement evaluates risk
It functions as part of the go-to-market infrastructure itself.
What Buyers Actually Look For
Speed hasn’t changed buyer psychology. Buyers are still trying to reduce risk.
They read customer input to understand:
- Where implementations were harder than expected
- What required more effort
- Which use cases fit best
- Where the product may not be the right choice
This kind of detail builds trust because it reflects reality. Uniformly positive feedback does the opposite. It creates skepticism.
Where Most Companies Get This Wrong
It’s easy to respond to Miller’s predictions by accelerating output:
- More AI-generated content
- More campaigns
- Faster execution
That can create momentum at the top of the funnel.
But without strong customer evidence:
- Buyers form incomplete views
- Sales has to re-educate late
- Procurement adds friction
- Decisions slow down when they matter most
The issue isn’t speed. It’s accuracy.
What This Means for CMOs
If go-to-market is becoming more automated and more independent, the role of the CMO shifts.
It’s no longer just about driving visibility. It’s about ensuring the market understands your product correctly before your team is involved.
That requires asking harder questions:
- Do our customers clearly describe our real use cases?
- Are tradeoffs visible and understood?
- Would we recognize ourselves in an AI-generated summary?
If the answer is unclear, the issue isn’t messaging. It’s the quality of your customer voice.
Bottom Line
Jon Miller is right about where GTM is going.
But 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
Because 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.
