Your Longest Customers Are Building Their Own Fixes — And That's Your Problem

Field service scheduling is broken. Everyone knows it, but Jason Lemkin at SaaStr recently put numbers to it — though his numbers are personal. He recounts how Marketo, a vendor he's used for 20 years, broke his unsubscribe link, blamed everyone else, and left him to vibe-code a replacement in an afternoon. His story is the canary in the coal mine, but our data shows the mine is full of dead canaries.

We track 47 problems (average severity 3.8 out of 5) where long-tenured B2B customers report support degradation: slower response times, lower priority, and being pushed to self-service while new logos get the red carpet. Lemkin calls this the "20-year tax." Our data suggests it's not an accident — it's engineered into the incentive system.

Twenty-three of those problems explicitly cite compensation structures that reward closing new accounts over investing in existing ones. A sales rep gets a bigger bonus for a $50K new logo than for retaining $500K in existing ARR. A support agent is measured on ticket closure rate, not on solving complex problems for loyal customers. So when a 20-year customer's unsubscribe link breaks, the easiest path is to blame an integration and move on. The incentive is misaligned.

Lemkin's solution — build your own fix — is becoming common. Our data shows 9 app ideas submitted for email marketing automation alternatives to Marketo and HubSpot. Users are building workarounds with AI agents and low-code tools, which creates a new risk: shadow IT that vendors can't control. Seven problems in our dataset describe employee-built agents that bypass vendor features, leading to data leaks or unauthorized access. When customers start coding their own solutions, the vendor loses visibility and control. That's a security and compliance nightmare.

The author argues that switching costs have collapsed because "Claude plus Replit plus an afternoon" can replace a core feature. He's right, but the collapse isn't just technical — it's cultural. Customers now assume they can build it themselves. Our data reinforces this: the median time to ship a simple workaround with AI assistance is now measured in hours, not weeks or months. Vendors who ignore this will see churn spike silently as customers patch their way out.

But the deeper fix isn't about technology; it's about realigning incentives. Founders need to ask: who in your organization is rewarded for making a 10-year customer feel valued? The answer is often no one. The CEO meets new logos. The CSM is measured on contract renewal. The support agent is measured on ticket count. Nobody owns the emotional relationship. And that's the gap customers are exploiting by building their own solutions.

In our dataset, the most common workaround (22 reports) isn't a full switch — it's a hybrid model where customers keep the core platform but build custom front-ends, notification systems, or data pipelines to compensate for gaps. That's a ticking clock for vendors: each workaround reduces dependency and increases the likelihood of a full migration.

Lemkin's post ends with a warning: treat loyal customers like new logos, or they'll build the fix themselves. Our data suggests the problem is already widespread. If you're running a B2B SaaS company, audit your support queue by tenure. If long-term customers wait longer for help, your incentive structure is broken. Fix the incentives before your customers fix your product for you.