In the world of sales, there are three distinct roles that are all essential for business development and a strong pipeline of new sales opportunities.

Whilst traditionally, we may think of salespeople as those who “hunt” for new opportunities and bring in the business; there are two other very important roles who contribute to the overall sales success of every organisation.

Great sales teams have a balance of all three and recognise the importance of working together to generate new leads.

In my experience, we will all have a preference for one of the three personas based on our personality style, motivators and strengths.

Let’s explore the 3 personas:

1. The Hunter

Objective: Acquisition – Seeks out new opportunities and closes deals

Hunters generally act independently, are motivated by the win and are very competitive. They tend to have a relatively short-term focus and will move on to the next opportunity quickly after they’ve closed a deal. They feel confident contacting prospects and pitching their services. They love the thrill of the chase and will be persistent in overcoming challenges to win the deal. Hunters enjoy building relationships that could benefit their mutual success.

Traits: Outgoing, innovative, big picture (less attention to detail), risk takers and comfortable with rejection.

2. The Farmer

Objective: Retain and Grow – Nurtures existing relationships for future opportunities

Farmers are traditionally team players who love to HELP others. They enjoy building relationships and are focused on meeting their customer’s needs. Farmers are collaborative, motivated by helping their customers, delivering excellent service and value. They cultivate long-term relationships to retain and grow accounts with a proven track record of reliability. Farmers grow business revenue through WIN-WIN support aligned to the organisational and customer’s needs.

Traits: Organised with a good attention to detail, caring, patient, good listeners and dislike feeling “pushy” so prefer to help rather than sell.

3. The Fisherman

Objective: Attract – Draws interest through marketing and specialist knowledge

Fisherman use a “pull” rather than “push” sales strategy by attracting opportunities to them through using the right bait and knowing where to fish. They understand their prospect’s needs and create strategic, high value content to draw the prospect to them throughout the customer journey. They have a deep understanding of marketing and content creation to attract the opportunity, qualify and deliver value along the way.

Traits: Analytical, strategic, innovative, great story tellers and strong communicators to focus on what works.

While the Hunter seeks the thrill of new opportunities, the Farmer tends to the field of existing clients and the Fishermanattracts new prospects to the table.

All roles are essential for a balanced and effective sales team – when combined you will create a steady and sustainable harvest of long-term success.