The Leaky Bucket Problem: Why Targets Feel Hard to Reach

There’s a pattern that shows up when organisations talk about growth.

Marketing teams are active. Sales teams are under pressure. Campaigns are running. Funnels are in

There’s a pattern that shows up when organisations talk about growth.

Marketing teams are active. Sales teams are under pressure. Campaigns are running. Funnels are in place. There is no shortage of movement or intent.

And yet, something feels unresolved.

Targets take time to reach. Pipelines need ongoing attention. Work continues, but progress doesn’t always feel settled.

When you look closely, the issue is rarely effort. It’s where attention sits.

Most companies are structured around acquisition. Planning cycles, reporting, and success metrics reinforce it. New demand is visible. It’s measurable. It reassures teams that work is happening.

What receives less consideration is what happens after someone becomes a customer.

Retention is often assumed rather than intentionally designed. It rarely has clear ownership. It doesn’t always sit neatly within marketing or sales. Over time, it becomes expected to exist, but not actively shaped.

Once a transaction is complete, interest moves elsewhere. Communication slows. Touchpoints become less deliberate. Experience becomes uneven, not through neglect, but through an absence of intent.

Customers move on as the relationship fades. Signals of care become infrequent. Interactions feel transactional. The brand becomes less present, and space opens up for alternatives.

This is usually where things start to feel off. New people come in, but few stay. Numbers shift from month to month, yet the underlying picture remains largely unchanged. Teams stay busy, but it’s difficult to point to progress that holds.

The economics behind this pattern are well understood. Retaining customers has a direct relationship with profitability. Changes in retention influence long-term value. Despite this, many organisations continue to organise activity around acquisition because it is visible, measurable, and aligned to immediate targets.

Activity becomes a stand-in for progress. Campaigns show motion. New customers offer reassurance. Meanwhile, existing customers receive fewer signals that the relationship still matters.

Why not loyalty?

Customer experience is often described as intangible, yet its impact is tangible. A single negative interaction can influence behaviour. Not because something dramatic happened, but because of friction, inconsistency, or indifference.

Loyalty doesn’t disappear overnight. It wears away through small moments that don’t feel worth escalating. Over time, they shape perception.

Because people anchor their judgment in recent interactions, the last interaction often carries significant weight.

This pattern has played out across well-known organisations. Brands that focused on scale, pricing, or expansion without the same care given post-purchase saw trust weaken over time. Communication alone didn’t repair it. Limited offers failed to restore confidence. Customers didn’t stay.

Loyalty is often mistaken for an emotional state. In practice, it shows up in behaviour. It’s visible in return visits, repeat decisions, advocacy, and continued engagement.

The moment a customer engages with a brand, it begins to feel relational. Expectations shift. People look for reciprocity. Many perceive it to be one-sided, where care and attention are assumed but not consistently present.

Behavioural research supports this. Studies into customer–brand relationships show that people naturally expect reciprocity once trust is established. When effort, attention, or value isn’t returned, engagement fades gradually.

The point at which many relationships quietly weaken is after the purchase. Once commitment has been made, attention moves elsewhere.

Communication slows. Tone becomes functional. Presence fades into process.

Customers notice whether reassurance exists once the transaction is complete. They notice how easy it is to get clarity or help and whether they feel recognised or reset to anonymous.

They are assessing these small interactions, or their absence. 

How to fix the bucket?

This is why loyalty needs to sit at the centre of sustainable growth. Markets are crowded. Choice is readily available. Habit alone no longer holds these dynamics together.

Existing customers form the foundation of long-term value. Their behaviour reflects whether the relationship is working.

Addressing the leaky bucket requires taking a closer look to what customers experience once the sale is complete. It requires evaluating the post-purchase experience.

How does communication feel between purchases?

·       Where does friction exist?

·       Is there a link between new campaigns and existing customer drop-off?

·       Do actions reflect stated values when nothing is being sold?

Loyalty is formed; these are indicators that don’t appear in reports. It is about Care. Experience. Presence. When nothing is being launched. When no one is watching. When consistency shows up through repetition.

Advertising cannot compensate for a connection that is fading.

When customers leave steadily, growth feels fragile and demanding. This is where brands can pay attention to the experience being created over time. The bucket is fixed by deciding that retention deserves deliberate care and by showing that decision through consistent behaviour.