There’s so much happening in the world right now. Rapid advancements in AI technology and its applications are ushering in an era of change that some are likening to the Industrial Revolution.
Dennis Hassabis, head of Google’s DeepMind thinks the future AI is bringing could be 10 times bigger than the Industrial Revolution, and maybe 10 times faster.
All that change has many fearful, but it’s important to remember that it’s bringing incredible opportunity with it. As a former Fortune 500 CMO and founder of an Inc. 5000 full-service marketing agency, I’ve learned one thing that applies now more than ever: If you want to lead, you have to listen.
Asking the right questions—and truly listening to the answers—is the most direct path to success both in the year ahead and in the years to come, even as AI drastically changes them.
Amidst such change, listening to the voice of your customers, employees, and donors remains one of the most powerful tools for business growth and brand transformation.
As we look ahead to 2026, you may be feeling the familiar pressure to “go faster,” “do more with less,” or “hit the numbers.” You’re not alone. But I want to challenge you to think differently.
Instead of rushing into a new year with half-baked strategies or recycled ideas, what if you paused—just long enough—to ask your customers, your employees, or your donors what they really want from your brand?
What if you started with understanding?
The insight you gain from that one choice can shape everything else that follows—your marketing, your culture, your positioning, your product development, even your operations.
Whether you’re preparing for a product launch, a rebrand, a strategic growth initiative, or a reset after a tough year, understanding the voice of your customer equips you with the data, insights, and direction to move forward with clarity and confidence.
Years ago, when I was leading marketing strategy for a Fortune 500 company, I found myself—and my team—constantly reacting. We were launching campaigns, chasing KPIs, and trying to outthink the competition without really checking in with the people we were trying to reach.
A true understanding of your customer digs beneath surface-level metrics. It delves through AI-powered quantitative data, qualitative insights, and secret shopping techniques to paint a 360-degree picture of your customer journey.
As you seek to better understand your customers, employees and donors, don’t stop at “how are we doing?” Ask probing questions like:
You may already be mapping out your budget for next year. Maybe you’re outlining campaign calendars, defining hiring goals, or even considering a pivot in positioning.
That’s all well and good—but what are those plans based on?
If your answer is “past results,” “gut instinct,” or “what the competition is doing,” then I encourage you to stop and reconsider. Because the market is changing. Your customers are evolving. The needs that defined 2024 may not be relevant in 2026.
That’s why the most successful brands in the next 12–24 months will be those that ground their decisions in current, actionable customer insight. Not yesterday’s assumptions.
Listening to your customers is critical—but it’s only one side of the story.
That’s where understanding the voice of your employees comes in. It’s critical to surface the internal truths—how your employees and stakeholders perceive your brand, how aligned they are with your mission, and what they believe differentiates your company.
You must then compare those internal perceptions to what you learned from your customers as you sought to understand their voice.
That gap is where you often find the root cause of marketing breakdowns, cultural misalignment, and brand inconsistency.
When your internal team is disconnected from how your brand, business or nonprofit is received externally, your messaging suffers. Your customer, employee and donor experience suffers. And ultimately, your bottom line suffers.
But when you close that gap—when internal culture and external communication work together—your brand becomes not only stronger, but more believable, more trustworthy, and more effective.
Understanding the voice of your employees helps you do exactly that.
For nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, it’s equally important to understand the voice of your donor.
Donors aren’t customers in the traditional sense—but they do have expectations, motivations, and emotional drivers that shape their giving behavior.
Studying them in detail helps nonprofits uncover the “why” behind donor decisions, including:
By gathering real feedback from current, past, and prospective donors, and comparing it against your internal team’s perceptions, you can build fundraising strategies that are informed, focused, and emotionally resonant.
Because when you can speak your donor’s language, you can move them to action—and keep them coming back.
Whether you lead a Fortune 100 company, a regional brand, or a purpose-driven nonprofit, the principle is the same: Ask first.
Start your 2026 strategy by grounding it in the real voices of the people who matter most. They give you answers—not guesses. They give you a true, unbiased picture of where your brand stands today and where it can go tomorrow.
When you listen to the voice of your customers, employees and donors, you won’t just feel more confident—you’ll be more confident. And so will your board, your C-suite, your marketing team, and your front-line employees.
If you’re feeling the pressure to do more, connect better, and grow smarter in 2026, take a moment now to invest in the research and insight that will actually get you there.
Let’s ask the right questions—together—and turn what you hear into strategies that truly deliver.
Are you ready to start listening?
Reach out, and let’s talk about how listening can support your planning for 2026.