Common Sense and Plain Dealing

Hunter? - Farmer?

Sales is sales? Wrong. Sales are sales? Wrong again… although grammatically more correct. In all of sales, retail and B2B, there are two different basic types of sales and salespeople. There are hunters and there are farmers. Yes, I am generalizing.
The two are radically different. Success in either requires different temperaments and skill sets. I think most sales reps sense that there is a difference; they either empirically or inherently know of it, yet most have never been able to articulate or even acknowledge it. Executive and senior management types will almost never differentiate between the two; - they’re just looking for "more sales now."

The Hunter

The hunter enters the wild in search of prey. If the hunter in the woods finds no prey, then there is no game to feast on. If the aim is off, time is wasted; energy and arrows or bullets are wasted. If the big buck is landed with a first shot, effort and expenditure is minimized; there is the instant gratification.

Instant gratification is BIG if you are a hunter. Big-shot hunters don’t even clean or retrieve their kill; they leave those tasks for other, more-lowly types.

Capital equipment would typically be sold by the hunter. This person will present features and benefits, will favorably compare value, might do some research, may establish some superficial relationships, and will inevitably, from the word go, focus on the close. It’s all about the close… no close, no reward. And it’s often inherent in the deal that the less the customer knows, the greater the opportunity for a more profitable deal. A quick deal is the most profitable deal. The hunter is gone as soon as the deal is sealed.

The execution, the details of delivery, the fine tuning of the implementation: the true hunter doesn’t handle those details. The hunter’s job is done when the arrow pierces the heart: the dotted line is signed by the buyer.

Although not B2B, the car salesperson is probably the prototypical hunter-salesperson. They really have to get the arrow through your heart before you leave their hunting ground (car lot). Any problems that might arise... not their problem.

The Farmer

The farmer starts out by evaluating a plot of land. (S)he decides that it is fertile, then will determine which crop (s)he will best match the situation. But at this point, he is not ready to plant those seeds: she has to prepare the land, pull the weeds, toss the stones, and do some fertilizing and tilling. Then and only then is the soil turned, and the seeds planted and watered. Scavengers are chased away, more fertilizer might be added, there is always more watering to do, always more weeds to pull, always more tending to the crops. Finally a crop is harvested and the process is repeated. Ideally, the soil is enriched and the farmer is richer.

Ditto the farmer type sales rep. Situation appraised, decide which product to proceed with, prepare, educate, overcome objections, deal with competition, deal with problems, earn some trust and respect, ideally the customer is enriched, the rep is richer, and they begin again.

Pharmaceutical reps, manufacturer’s reps, office supply, food service, software company reps, these would all typically be more in the realm of the farmer. Sure, there will be hunters in the bunch: like I said, upper management doesn’t differentiate.

The farmer rep process is a constant and continuous one, but it is a temporary one. (Everything is temporary, even us.) The farmer rep will usually deal with the same clients (customers) for years at a time.

Where the hunter rep will start with a cold call and bring the deal to a conclusion as quickly as possible, the farmer rep starts with a cold call and hopes to see no end, the deal is ongoing. For the farmer rep, ultimately it’s about earned trust and respect. It is constant and consistent and about actually giving a crap about the customer. If it is well done, it will be well rewarded. And yes, there will be gratification… but it sure as hell won’t be instant.