Using The Hunter Vs. Farmer Sales Model To Build Your Team
In sales, we’re either hunters or farmers. While both are necessary for growth, understanding which stages in the sales cycle present each with the most opportunity is key. Using the principles of the hunters and farmers sales model, we’re going to show you how to build a well-rounded team with a dynamic funnel. The main difference between hunters and farmers can be summarized as simply as the relationship between inbound and outbound sales. Hunters portray your outbound sales operations such as prospecting and lead generation through a traditional sales rep role, while farmers take on inbound duties such as lead nurturing and encouraging upsells with customer support or service roles.
How To Use Hunters
Despite the aggressive tone the name suggests, hunters utilize a social skillset based in networking and empathy to ‘hunt’ for leads through creating unique touchpoints. Hunters are a brand’s first interaction with potential clients, which means they need to cover a lot of interactions fast, while identifying areas with a stronger opportunity for deals. Due to the fast-paced, constantly mobile nature of the job, hunter persona sales reps looking to save time and close leads are best suited for utilizing functions like our route accounting and mobile invoicing apps that allow them to handle office functions immediately while keeping manual processes in between to a minimum.
Good hunters recognize that refining leads and building long-term relationships are better suited to farmers, and instead use a wider net to send leads to the next cycle. Because of this, hunters can take a lot more liberties with how they want to approach deals, and thrive off of tools that allow them to be less rigid in their approach, instead creating a variety of paths to accomplishing a task depending on the changing needs of the circumstance.
How To Use Farmers
The farmers’ roles fit the name perfectly, as they patiently nurture existing customers already present in the funnel. The relationships they establish are their lifeline, and are meant to be stretched and maintained as long as possible. Farmers are the ones that will ultimately become the lasting impression of your brand, and the face leads begin to associate with it. Because of this, tools aiding in supporting customers with a convenient and comfortable sales cycle such as our B2B eCommerce portal and whitelabel eCommerce app are ideal.
The best way to utilize the farmers’ lengthy investments into developing timelines is through spotting opportunities or personalizing deals. A key function of our B2B eCommerce portal is being able to use specialized lists which you can assign both specialized products, and specialized pricing to. Leveraging familiarity of your customer for increased personalization is a win-win for both parties, and is how farmers can keep up with the rapid fully auto style of lead acquisition hunters employ.