The room where the deals happened got a lot quieter.
The channel problem
For years, a lot of technical B2B firms could treat marketing as a diary date. Book the stand, shake a few hundred hands, follow up for months, repeat.
That pattern weakened. Events still matter, but fewer buyers wait for an exhibition hall before researching a supplier. Search, AI answers, peer recommendations and paid media now shape the shortlist much earlier.
The demand did not disappear. It moved. The problem is being absent from the places where the buyer now looks.
Usually it shows up like this
Enquiry volume has gone flat.
Most new business still comes from referrals.
Competitors you do not rate are outranking you.
Nobody can say clearly what last year’s marketing spend produced.