The opposition between hunting and farming often fuels debates in the world of business development. It’s an unavoidable question for executives, sales managers or recruitment managers who want to structure their team effectively. Knowing whether to favour a sales profile of hunter or farmer proves decisive for adapting your sales force to the reality of your company’s sales cycle.
Understanding the differences between hunting and farming
Having a clear vision of both approaches helps better select your candidates. Hunting refers to the active prospecting of new clients, whilst farming concerns client retention and optimisation of the business relationship over the long term. Short sales cycles generally favour a hunter strategy, whereas long cycles require farmers capable of building a lasting relationship.
This distinction directly influences team culture and the organisation of your lead generation efforts. To align recruitment with business objectives, it is therefore necessary to carefully analyse the role that each sales profile will play in the company.
The main missions of the hunter
The hunter focuses on conquering new markets. They do not hesitate to multiply contacts, probe the market and solicit new prospects. Their daily work is built around prospecting, appointment setting and rapid conversion of business opportunities.
A good hunter is tenacious, curious and enjoys stepping outside their comfort zone to win new contracts. This dynamic component proves crucial when the competitive environment is strong and growth depends on the ability to constantly find new targets. An engaging and effective method to reinforce this dynamic can be to use treasure hunt activities as team building exercises, thus fostering cohesion and a spirit of conquest.
The key qualities of the farmer
Conversely, the farmer brings stability. They thrive in managing existing portfolios, maintaining a deep client relationship and increasing long-term value through retention. Their priority consists of anticipating needs, preventing attrition and proposing personalised solutions over time.
Patience, empathy and excellent command of active listening are the major assets of this sales profile. A farmer naturally strengthens the trust established with clients, thus enabling opportunities for additional or cross sales.
Determining the need based on your sales cycle
We are specialists: Sales, Marketing, Management. Not generalists. When a generalist agency recruits a Sales Director, they read the CV. We know the reality of the job — the real trade-offs between prospecting and retention, what it means to manage a trilingual distributed team across the Benelux, how a commercial strategy that holds in complex B2B is structured. It’s this field knowledge that separates a placement that lasts from a placement that breaks at 18 months.
Before beginning a recruitment phase, analysing the sales cycle enables you to identify which profile will be the main driver of sales performance. Very short cycles, where decisions and signatures follow one another rapidly, accommodate hunters with a taste for immediate conquest more easily.
Organisations that rely on the progressive establishment of a solid partnership with their clients lean more towards farming. In these cases, it is less about generating a high volume of prospects than about installing a proactive approach of support and advisory over time. Furthermore, choosing among different activities suitable for team building can contribute to developing the collaborative spirit essential to the success of farmer profiles.
Comparative table of profiles according to sales cycle
| Sales cycle element | “Hunting” approach (hunter) | “Farming” approach (farmer) |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle duration | Short / very short | Long / spread over several months |
| Focus | New lead generation | Retention and client expansion |
| Type of relationship | Often transactional | Ongoing relationship and in-depth |
| Key indicators | Number of new contracts signed | Renewal rate, average basket |
This table enables decision-makers to visualise at a glance the major differences between hunting and farming based on sales stages. By clearly identifying the dominant cycle typology, the choice of the right sales profile becomes more evident.
List of criteria to guide the choice
- Nature of products or services sold
- Level of competition present in the market
- Expected repurchase frequency among clients
- Capacity for upselling or cross-selling
- Volume of accessible potential prospects
By cross-referencing these elements, each organisation can precisely adjust its sales recruitment plan to maximise the impact of its sales force at each stage of the customer journey.
Recruiting effectively according to your sales strategy
Conducting the right recruitment cannot be improvised. To achieve success, it is advisable to draft a detailed job description adapted to the chosen approach. Using recognised assessment tools makes it possible to reliably identify the sought-after soft skills, whether resilience for prospecting or service mindset for client retention.
Sourcing must target candidates who have already proven their effectiveness in situations close to those encountered in the company. A practical session or business case during the interview offers concrete visibility on the compatibility of the future sales professional with the chosen strategy.
Adapted onboarding and training
Recruiting the right sales profile is not enough if onboarding fails. Implementing a dedicated support programme promotes the appropriation of internal processes and adherence to company culture, whether the newcomer is a hunter or farmer.
Offering regular training guarantees the continuous development of skills, particularly in the face of evolving client expectations and the digitalisation of the business relationship. The consistency of these actions contributes to sustainably improving individual and collective performance.
The importance of balance in the sales team
Nothing prevents mixing hunting and farming under one roof, especially in hybrid sectors or within large accounts. The essential thing is to clarify roles and responsibilities to avoid grey areas and maximise everyone’s effectiveness.
A balanced approach allows both ensuring the constant conquest of new markets whilst stabilising and developing the existing portfolio. Adapting the team composition based on observed cycles provides a definite competitive advantage.
Frequently asked questions about sales recruitment based on sales cycle
What major differences exist between a hunter and farmer sales profile?
Hunter sales professionals focus primarily on lead generation and prospecting. They aim for signing new clients in the short term. Conversely, farmers work to develop the client relationship over time and seek to retain and grow existing accounts. This difference is reflected in their motivations and daily performance indicators:
- Hunter: volume of new clients, number of appointments obtained
- Farmer: client satisfaction rate, revenue from renewals and additional sales
How to adapt the recruitment process to the company’s sales cycle?
The sales cycle directly conditions the nature of the sales profile sought. For a short cycle, focus on a hunter with proven appetite for prospecting. For long cycles, favour skills in account management and client retention. Integrate these elements from the job description and test them via specific case studies during interviews.
| Sales cycle | Favoured profile |
|---|---|
| Short | Hunter |
| Long | Farmer |
What assessment tools to use to effectively distinguish profiles?
Several tools facilitate the precise identification of sales potential. Personality tests measure motivation, perseverance or sense of client relationship. Simulations, role-plays and business cases also enable observation of candidates’ reactions in real conditions:
- Psychometric tests dedicated to sales professions
- Case studies focused on prospecting or retention
- Simulations replicating complex client scenarios
Can hunting and farming be combined within the same team?
Yes, mixing hunter and farmer profiles often strengthens sales agility. This depends on the structure of the client portfolio, the business sector, and strategic objectives. Clearly distribute missions to avoid any confusion:
- Give certain sales professionals responsibility for conquest and others for account management
- Establish distinct objectives according to role
- Schedule shared exchange sessions to share best practices
To go further on specialised recruitment agency.
