Tool Box
Issue No. 32 - December/January
How to pick the salesperson for your business
by Craig Stubing
Sam, our wise Sales Manager, was having a leisurely coffee with long-time customer Chris when the conversation turned to salespeople and the ‘sales styles’ they adopted when dealing with customers.
Chris was eminently qualified to talk about this. Chris’s business employed a small team of salespeople; it was also called on by a number of salespeople as part of the normal routine.
Chris, for whom this was a favourite topic, said, “In my experience most salespeople can be categorised, based on the way they deal with customers, as either Hunters or Farmers.
“I’ve also noticed that most sales operations can be categorised similarly; they are either hunting ‘estates’ or farming ‘estates’.
“It’s easy to separate the Hunter from the Farmer by observing three aspects of their behaviour; their focus, the way they respond to resistance from a customer and the way they use questions.”
Chris’s concept ran thusly.
The Hunters focus on their product or service; they start their sales discussions by talking about it and stick to it the whole way through. Their basic sales style is to ‘push’.
When they meet resistance in a sales situation they respond by applying pressure. They use questions sparingly and then only to ‘box in’ customers; they prefer to make statements and then pressure the customer to agree with them.
The Farmers’ focus is on the customer; they start their sales discussions by talking about the customer. Their basic style is to persuade. When they meet resistance in a sales situation they respond by seeking ways to persuade.
Initially they use questions to identify the customer’s needs and wants. Later they use questions as a way of identifying any obstacles to buying, thereby making those obstacles easier to deal with.
The Hunter often relies on aggressive cold-calling either by phone or face-to-face for lead...
