I should have been at a vendor event today. It was the usual format: case studies, product demonstrations, prospective client conversations, and market positioning. I had an invite but was removed from the guest list a few days ago.

The reason? I’m not a buyer, and that’s a very narrow view of how markets work.

I am an independent consultant who operates in the space between vendors and buyers. That means I hear what organisations are actually looking for, where budgets are moving, which problems are live, which vendors are being discussed, and what people are doing before it becomes visible in public.

This is the low-key, off-the-radar information people share with me. It helps form the context that the L&D industry operates in.

If you are a vendor chasing sales, people like me are not the enemy. We are often the people senior buyers speak to before they speak to you.

I have half a dozen conversations each week with people in and out of the sector, from both sides of the fence, wanting to take the temperature of AI, engagement, learning technology, procurement, capability, and what is actually changing rather than what people claim is changing.

Just this week I’ve spoken with a vendor in the public sector, a public sector buyer, two government departments, and a tech vendor. I’ve spoken with people on both sides of the Atlantic and corresponded with people across EMEA.

I am not saying consultants should be treated as more important than buyers. But if your market strategy only recognises the person holding the budget today, it will miss the people shaping the conversation before that budget is ever spent.

Chase the new buyer. Justify the marketing spend. Fill the room with warmish prospects. But do not confuse “not a buyer” with “not influential” because that is how warm markets cool down.