The End of Commitment

We don’t live in a commitment economy anymore.

We live in a subscription one. And, for me, it’s changed everything about how I build, scale, and sell companies.

There was a time when signing a new client meant something more permanent. Not forever, but at least long enough to hit a snag and work through it. You could mess up, own it, fix it, and still keep the relationship.

That’s fading.

And to be fair, it might already be gone.

Now it’s toggle on, toggle off. Streamlined. Instant. No hard feelings, just “unsubscribe.”

I saw this shift happen while running my marketing agency, Pneuma.

Older clients stuck with us. They wanted to make it work. If something was up, they would pick up the phone and call. To them, the relationship was a commitment. It’s success relied just as much on their behavior as it did our performance.

Younger clients? They were out the second we didn’t deliver something sharp, useful, or fast enough. You could feel the grace window shrinking in real time. Even if you delivered something picturesque, you could still be cut.

As much as that might sound like a complete, it’s not. It’s simply recognition of how things are changing.

And look, I get it. Put yourselves in the shoes of your customers. Most of them are juggling a dozen-plus subscriptions already. Gym, Netflix, Phone, Food, etc. When something stops being valuable, it’s gone. There’s no ceremony. It just stops.

What was once a behavior confined to B2C, it’s everywhere now.

Whether you’re selling software or strategy, people don’t want to commit unless the value is obvious. And even if it is obvious, that only buys you a little time. You have to prove it again next week, and the following week, and the week after that… You get the point.

So no, loyalty isn’t dead. But it’s not built the same way anymore. It’s not about how long they’ve been with you. It’s about what they’ve seen lately. It’s about how you show up when they open the app, the file, the call.

You can’t assume trust. You have to earn it. Over and over.

What does this mean for you?

Working Theories

Tenure bought you patience. Not anymore. If people don’t see the ROI, the relationship doesn’t matter. History gets ignored fast. I would go so far as to say, don’t even rely on your past with the client. Each day/week/month is all the client will remember, so focus on what’s next.

In the past, I relied on “4 Reports” to drive a majority of our relationship with clients. Each had a different purpose, tailored to continually create value between client / agency, but keep the momentum strong as well.

More on that below.

Resources

Doc Referenced In The Video

Full List Of Working Theories