What kind of cookies are you selling?

Sales is hard. Especially when “salesperson” isn't what you want to be when you grow up.

That was part of the tension for our co-founder, Aaron. He knew sales mattered. But rather than simply trying to get better at selling, he started questioning what selling actually meant.

One story that helped change his perspective involved Christmas cookies.

First, the good stuff

Aaron grew up in a small town in Montana. Every Christmas season, people baked cookies and made candy, arranged plates of holiday goodies and visited friends to share them.

As a kid, he had a system.

Favorites disappeared first. Second-tier goodies got their turn. A few unfortunate survivors stayed on the plate until they dried out and somebody threw them away.

The same plate. Different preferences.

Years later, that memory gave him a different way to think about sales. Some people really want your cookies. Some people kind of want them. Some people don’t want them at all.

So the question became: How do I clearly explain what kind of cookies I have - and find the people who want those?

A different question changes the work

Giving away cookies isn’t the same as selling a business solution. Nobody needs a procurement committee to approve a plate of holiday candy. Usually.

But the shift in perspective mattered.

Start with “How do we convince more people?” and you may reach for more outreach, a stronger pitch or another campaign.

Start with “What do we offer, who wants it and why?” and there’s different work to do. You need to understand what someone is trying to accomplish, explain where you can help and recognize when your offering isn’t a good fit.

That can change more than your wording. It can influence which customers you pursue, which offers you develop and where you spend your time.

One of the roots of Muto

This was one of the ideas that helped lead us to the Growth KB: an identity foundation built around Story, Ideal Customer Profile and Style.

The purpose isn’t to make a business sound more impressive. It’s to help people - and the AI working with them - share a clearer understanding of what the business offers, who it can help and how to communicate that honestly.

We’re building and refining that foundation ourselves. This first edition of Rebel Field Notes starts with one of the stories behind that work.

Try it with your own business

Finish this sentence without using your product name or a phrase like “innovative solutions”:

We help _____ accomplish _____ when _____.

Then ask: Would the right person recognize themselves? Would they understand what becomes possible? Can we actually deliver what that sentence promises?

If the answers are fuzzy, another campaign might not be the first thing you need to build.

Hit reply: What’s your version of the cookies? What do people come to you because they specifically want?

The Muto team

Muto · Engineer Frictionless Growth.

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