If the FTC ever decides to regulate the claims made by B2B marketers, we are in big trouble.

It’s the equivalent of a guitar manufacturer saying: “if you buy our guitar, you will write good songs.”

Or a joke my dad used to make:

“I could paint a masterpiece if I had a decent set of brushes.”

When we say that our software will “close more business for you,” we are making a categorical error.

The chisel did not make Michelangelo’s David.

Michelangelo did.

If you gave his chisel to someone other than him, you would not get the same result.

A CRM will not close more business for a dying company.

Nor will it close more business for a thriving company.

That thriving company would close the business with or without the CRM.

Software cannot solve fundamental business challenges.

Software cannot deliver business outcomes.

Software cannot increase revenue.

Software cannot acquire customers.

Software can only support functional aspects of your workflows.

Software is a tool, just like the chisel or the guitar.

We have been so brainwashed by the “lead with value” conversation that we routinely lie to our customers.

And you might not realize it, but they see through this.

It’s the very thing that makes them not believe us as marketers.

They know they are being sold a lie.