B2B messaging is in a scary place…

…a place where the mantra of “sell the outcomes” is now merging with “powered by AI” 😱

And while this has investors and founders going cuckoo for cocoas puffs…

…it leaves customers unimpressed and confused. 

But hey, who am I to complain. 

As long as customers are confused and startups keep using these vague and overpromising messages…

…Fletch will stay in business.😎

And I’m thrilled (and sad) to say: Business is boomin’

Me and Anthony dream of an era where we could go to any startup homepage and ACTUALLY understand what the product is, who it’s for, and what it does…

Since that’s clearly NOT the era we are in (yet)…

…I thought it might be fun to take a walk through the history of sales mantras that have fueled GTM teams over the past few decades. 


1950s-1970s

“People buy from people”

(Zig Ziglar era)

“Want to close more deals? Smile bigger, shake hands firmer, and talk about their family before selling them a life insurance policy.”

1980s

“Always Be Closing”

(The Boiler Room / Wall Street era)

“Coffee is for closers. Emotions are for losers. Now sign here.”

1990s

“Sell the solution to ’What keeps you up at night?’”

(The Consultative Era)

“Tell me your biggest pain point so I can dramatically nod and pretend this generic software will fix it.”

2000s

“Buy this or your company will die” 

(The Digital Transformation Era / Y2K Era)

“In five years, every business will be a tech company. Still using spreadsheets? Yikes.”

2010s

“Reframe EVERYTHING as a problem”

(The Challenger Era)

“Oh, you think you know what you need? Hate to break it to you… but you’re actually in grave danger.”

2020s – “It’s all about revenue and ROI, baby!”

(The ROI Era)

“Let me just whip out this totally unbiased ROI calculator that proves you’ll be rich if you buy today.”

TODAY – “AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI… Did I mention it’s autonomous?”

(The Hype-Driven AI Era)

“It’s AI-powered, machine learning-infused, blockchain-adjacent, and definitely not just a glorified IF/THEN statement.”

B2B messaging is in a scary place…

…a place where the mantra of “sell the outcomes” is now merging with “powered by AI” 😱

And while this has investors and founders going cuckoo for cocoas puffs…

…it leaves customers unimpressed and confused.

But hey, who am I to complain.

As long as customers are confused and startups keep using these vague and overpromising messages…

…FletchPMM will stay in business.😎

And I’m thrilled (and sad) to say: Business is boomin’

Me and Anthony dream of an era where customers can go to any startup homepage and ACTUALLY understand what the product is, who it’s for, and what it does…

Since that’s clearly NOT the era we are in (yet)…

…I thought it might be fun to take a walk through the history of eras of sales mantras that have fueled GTM teams over the past few decades.

1950s-1970s

“People buy from people”

(Zig Ziglar era)

“Want to close more deals? Smile bigger, shake hands firmer, and talk about their family before selling them a life insurance policy.”

1980s

“Always Be Closing”

(The Boiler Room / Wall Street era)

“Coffee is for closers. Emotions are for losers. Now sign here.”

1990s

“Sell the solution to ’What keeps you up at night?’”

(The Consultative Era)

“Tell me your biggest pain point so I can dramatically nod and pretend this generic software will fix it.”

2000s

“Buy this or your company will die”

(The Digital Transformation Era / Y2K Era)

“In five years, every business will be a tech company. Still using spreadsheets? Yikes.”

2010s

“Reframe EVERYTHING as a problem”

(The Challenger Era)

“Oh, you think you know what you need? Hate to break it to you… but you’re actually in grave danger.”

2020s

“It’s all about revenue and ROI, baby!”

(The ROI Era)

“Let me just whip out this totally unbiased ROI calculator that proves you’ll be rich if you buy today.”

TODAY

“AI native, AI first, AI powered"

(The Hype-Driven AI Era)

“It’s AI-powered, machine learning-infused, blockchain-adjacent, and definitely not just a glorified IF/THEN statement.”

TOMORROW

"Tell me what the product does"

(The Capability-Driven Era)

"It's a Gmail plugin that helps sales reps send better follow up emails.  We think it's way better than letting reps write their own messages."