Hunter vs Farmer Sales

I find it very entertaining the organizations who want to build hunter mentality sales forces. When you think about what that means it is a one-time sales plan. It is the concept of the big kill followed by a feast. This one time sales plan is a peddler’s mentality. A Peddler’s primary selling skill is closing. With such a limited skill set peddlers are sales people who changes jobs regularly because they do not build repeat sales. This is a Neanderthal, over testosterone induced, short-term, predatorily mentality does not build long term organizational growth. Sales managers with this hunter mentality, usually have limited sales experience, if any, thus have a narrow prospective. People, who believe in this form of sales, also lack in sales training, nor do they have an understanding of professional sales management.

Societies that have enjoyed long term successful growth have done so base controlled dependable crop farming with predictable annual productions. Such food sources are the result of well-organized farming and domesticized ranching. Selection and quantity of crops to be planted is done with a long term perspective. Understanding not just the immediate food needs but more importantly planning for six months, one year, and two years into the future for both humans and domestic animal crops is a necessity for building a society.

Long term successful sales people build their careers similarly to long term successful societies, their success is based on goals and planning for years of future growth, not just satisfying immediate sales needs. Professional sales people who build life long careers do so by learning, developing, and routinely improving their selling skills. These people invest their time in front of customers asking questions and listening. They constantly invest in learning more about the products and services they sell; the products and services their competitor’s sell; and the market they sell in. They build long term relationships with customers by helping them grow their business thus needing more of that sales person’s products. They look for new uses of their product at existing customer’s business.

In addition to working with long term customers, professional sales people are constantly exploring their market for prospects they can convert to new customers. With a keen understand of each prospect potential use of their products and services professional sales people develop a specific plan for each of these prospects. The goal of professional sales people is building for the future with long term relationships.

The sales people with a farmer mentality are professionals with goals and long term business plans. These professional sales people can provide monthly sales projections by customer into the future. They can also tell what prospects they are working on to convert to customers and what the sales potential is for each. In most cases they can make projections as to when such prospect should become customer and what products or services they are most likely to purchase. Sales people who have a farmer mentality become a valuable resource to their customers.