Are your salespeople “hunter” or “farmer” types?
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2024 9:49 am
You are an entrepreneur. You started small but with big ambitions. You originally sold your products and services yourself, but you have reached a point where you need to hire someone to do it for you.
Perhaps your challenge is to pass on your knowledge to this person. Or, perhaps you acquired a company whose sales team isn't producing the results you expected.
Where to start?
You first need to think about what type of salespeople you need to achieve your desired results. You should consider different skill sets based on the products and services you offer. Ask yourself the following questions:
Do I have a lot of time and resources to devote to managing my salespeople or do they need to be autonomous?
Do I want to develop long-term relationships with my clients ?
Is my primary goal to make quick sales, while continuing to do business with acquired customers?
Does it take a long time to close a sale?
Do I need to network, seek out potential clients and explore new markets?
Is customer loyalty very important for my business?
Should I seek new accounts and new customers and explore new territories?
Do I have a salary cap?
Do I need someone who knows how to capitalize on business opportunities and close sales as quickly as possible?
Do I need someone who can communicate regularly with our good customers to sell them other products and services?
Do you need hunters or farmers?
If you answered yes to more of the questions with an even number, you probably need farmers. On the other hand, a majority of yes answers to questions with an odd number indicate a need for hunters.
Farmers are salespeople who work to build customer loyalty. They nurture them in the hopes of establishing long-term relationships between them and your business.
As for hunters, they are interested in customer acquisition. They like to find potential customers and look for people and companies that you could do business with. They try to make as many sales as possible.
If you need an inside sales team and you often talk about “customer service” and “account managers,” you probably need a farmer.
If you need field representatives instead and you use terms like “sales representatives,” “business development managers,” “outside representatives,” and “sales agents,” you are probably looking for a headhunter.
You have to make choices
Unfortunately, salespeople who are both "farmers" and "hunters" are rare (although they do exist; they are called entrepreneurs ). But there is nothing stopping you from including both categories in mint database your team, as long as everyone knows who is supposed to do what and under what circumstances.
Your salespeople need to reflect the results you want to achieve. Do you need people who don’t necessarily have to travel to meet with customers, who could work remotely, and who can do so from a cubicle or home office? In that case, an inside sales team is likely the way to go.
Conversely, outside sales representatives travel every day to meet with customers at their place of business or to negotiate contracts with various decision-makers. Over the course of their career, salespeople may move from working inside to outside sales, or vice versa , depending on their talent and experience.
Sales agents, another option
Another option is sales agents. These are usually attached to your sales team, but are paid on commission only. Whether they are based in your area or elsewhere, sales agents know your industry and the territory they cover.
Let's say your business is located in Ontario, but you're getting a lot of inquiries from California – which you think is a good potential market. You could start a long and expensive process to hire a sales person in California. But would you know where to start? A sales agent who knows the territory well can attract new customers for you while following up on the leads you provide.
Of course, there are drawbacks. To make a decent living, these agents usually have to work for multiple companies, and some might serve dozens of companies like yours.
You will need to adjust the compensation
Farmers and hunters sometimes have different goals. When the complexity and risk of transactions are higher, the compensation is usually more generous. Hunters can bring you more net new customers, increase your revenue, and steal customers from your competitors. So you will probably need to compensate them accordingly.
For farmers, their priority may be customer retention, and for that reason, upsells may need to be compensated appropriately. You should consider these important factors as you build your team. What are the standards in your industry? What constitutes fair compensation?
Choose based on skills and attitude
Each type of salesperson should have a specific set of skills and knowledge about products and services. A positive attitude and determination are also valuable assets.
Companies often struggle to find salespeople who have both the right skills and the right mindset. Sometimes the skills are there , but the mindset is a problem, or vice versa .
Salespeople who have both make a good impression on customers and the marketplace, and they help your company reinforce its brand promise.
The Benefits of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Setting goals is one thing, achieving them is another. With the help of your hunters and farmers, you must be able to handle all business opportunities.
It’s not enough to produce reports or hold sales meetings on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. To effectively manage the buying cycle of your current and potential customers, a CRM system is a very useful tool.
This type of system is excellent for forecasting your sales results in the short, medium and long term. As a business owner, you will need to clearly and precisely know your current and potential markets so that you can make course corrections if necessary.
List the pros and cons
You know your business and your products and services. To find the right type of salesperson for your business, list the pros and cons of each category.
Remember that businesses evolve over time. Your business model may have worked well in the past, but you may need to adapt it to the needs of today and tomorrow.
How did you grow your sales team? What challenges do you face? Let us know .
Perhaps your challenge is to pass on your knowledge to this person. Or, perhaps you acquired a company whose sales team isn't producing the results you expected.
Where to start?
You first need to think about what type of salespeople you need to achieve your desired results. You should consider different skill sets based on the products and services you offer. Ask yourself the following questions:
Do I have a lot of time and resources to devote to managing my salespeople or do they need to be autonomous?
Do I want to develop long-term relationships with my clients ?
Is my primary goal to make quick sales, while continuing to do business with acquired customers?
Does it take a long time to close a sale?
Do I need to network, seek out potential clients and explore new markets?
Is customer loyalty very important for my business?
Should I seek new accounts and new customers and explore new territories?
Do I have a salary cap?
Do I need someone who knows how to capitalize on business opportunities and close sales as quickly as possible?
Do I need someone who can communicate regularly with our good customers to sell them other products and services?
Do you need hunters or farmers?
If you answered yes to more of the questions with an even number, you probably need farmers. On the other hand, a majority of yes answers to questions with an odd number indicate a need for hunters.
Farmers are salespeople who work to build customer loyalty. They nurture them in the hopes of establishing long-term relationships between them and your business.
As for hunters, they are interested in customer acquisition. They like to find potential customers and look for people and companies that you could do business with. They try to make as many sales as possible.
If you need an inside sales team and you often talk about “customer service” and “account managers,” you probably need a farmer.
If you need field representatives instead and you use terms like “sales representatives,” “business development managers,” “outside representatives,” and “sales agents,” you are probably looking for a headhunter.
You have to make choices
Unfortunately, salespeople who are both "farmers" and "hunters" are rare (although they do exist; they are called entrepreneurs ). But there is nothing stopping you from including both categories in mint database your team, as long as everyone knows who is supposed to do what and under what circumstances.
Your salespeople need to reflect the results you want to achieve. Do you need people who don’t necessarily have to travel to meet with customers, who could work remotely, and who can do so from a cubicle or home office? In that case, an inside sales team is likely the way to go.
Conversely, outside sales representatives travel every day to meet with customers at their place of business or to negotiate contracts with various decision-makers. Over the course of their career, salespeople may move from working inside to outside sales, or vice versa , depending on their talent and experience.
Sales agents, another option
Another option is sales agents. These are usually attached to your sales team, but are paid on commission only. Whether they are based in your area or elsewhere, sales agents know your industry and the territory they cover.
Let's say your business is located in Ontario, but you're getting a lot of inquiries from California – which you think is a good potential market. You could start a long and expensive process to hire a sales person in California. But would you know where to start? A sales agent who knows the territory well can attract new customers for you while following up on the leads you provide.
Of course, there are drawbacks. To make a decent living, these agents usually have to work for multiple companies, and some might serve dozens of companies like yours.
You will need to adjust the compensation
Farmers and hunters sometimes have different goals. When the complexity and risk of transactions are higher, the compensation is usually more generous. Hunters can bring you more net new customers, increase your revenue, and steal customers from your competitors. So you will probably need to compensate them accordingly.
For farmers, their priority may be customer retention, and for that reason, upsells may need to be compensated appropriately. You should consider these important factors as you build your team. What are the standards in your industry? What constitutes fair compensation?
Choose based on skills and attitude
Each type of salesperson should have a specific set of skills and knowledge about products and services. A positive attitude and determination are also valuable assets.
Companies often struggle to find salespeople who have both the right skills and the right mindset. Sometimes the skills are there , but the mindset is a problem, or vice versa .
Salespeople who have both make a good impression on customers and the marketplace, and they help your company reinforce its brand promise.
The Benefits of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Setting goals is one thing, achieving them is another. With the help of your hunters and farmers, you must be able to handle all business opportunities.
It’s not enough to produce reports or hold sales meetings on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. To effectively manage the buying cycle of your current and potential customers, a CRM system is a very useful tool.
This type of system is excellent for forecasting your sales results in the short, medium and long term. As a business owner, you will need to clearly and precisely know your current and potential markets so that you can make course corrections if necessary.
List the pros and cons
You know your business and your products and services. To find the right type of salesperson for your business, list the pros and cons of each category.
Remember that businesses evolve over time. Your business model may have worked well in the past, but you may need to adapt it to the needs of today and tomorrow.
How did you grow your sales team? What challenges do you face? Let us know .