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46 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2025 Mastering the Hunter-Farmer Sales Model Would your sales manager know the answer if I handed a sales manager a list of their top 100 customers and asked, "Which salespeople acquired the accounts, and who kept them?" Your sales team should have the right balance of who finds the business (your hunters) and who keeps it alive, growing, and thriving (your farmers). If you don't have both, you're leaving a lot of money—and market share—on the table. Unfortunately, too many sales teams are lop- sided, and if you're running the sales team, it's your job to fix that imbalance. First, Understand the Difference "Hunters" and "farmers" aren't titles, but rather instincts, personas, and ways of being. It's how a salesperson operates. • Hunters are business developers with bold, aggressive, and curious personali- ties. They love the chase, and are at their best when walking into a room full of strangers or opening a cold lead list with a pen and a plan. • Farmers are nurturers who love stability, routine, and predictability. They shine in account management, checking in regu- larly, solving problems, upselling without pressure, and keeping clients happy for the long haul. You need both, and to know which is which. Step One: Evaluate the Mix Start by taking inventory of your team. You don't need a personality test—you need a behavior test. Look at what they do, not what they say. • Who on the team brings in new business consistently? • Who is best at growing existing accounts? • Who avoids cold calling like it's radioactive? • Who lights up when a lead needs to be chased down, but vanishes after the PO? • Who gets invited to customer weddings, and who can barely remember the buyer's name? Now, map it out by drawing a two-column chart with hunters on one side, and farmers on