From the Archive: An original perspective revisited and updated for 2026.
Claws and fangs don’t make someone a great hunter. Knowing when, where and how to use them does.
For decades, salespeople have been categorized using two familiar labels.
Hunters find new business.
Farmers develop existing accounts.
It is an easy distinction to understand, which is probably why it has survived for so long. It is also increasingly inadequate for the realities of modern enterprise selling.
Years ago, I questioned whether successful sales professionals were really defined by one of these two personas. My view was that many of the behaviors associated with successful “hunters” could be learned, developed and reinforced through the right environment.
Today, I would take that argument further.
The best enterprise sales professionals aren’t simply hunters or farmers. They know how to create, develop, expand and protect business—and when each discipline is required.
Demystifying the Hunter
There has always been a certain mythology surrounding the successful hunter.
They’re aggressive. Fearless. Relentless. Naturally wired for new business.
There are certainly personality characteristics that can make someone more comfortable with prospecting, uncertainty and rejection. But describing successful new-business sellers primarily through personality overlooks something more important:
Successful selling is built on behaviors that can be learned and repeated.
Great new-business sellers research markets, identify opportunities, develop relationships, create relevance, qualify effectively, navigate complex buying organizations and maintain discipline when an opportunity isn’t progressing.
They learn from what works.
Then they make it repeatable.
That isn’t instinct.
It’s a professional operating system.
Environment Shapes Sales Behavior
Organizations often say they want hunters.
Their job descriptions emphasize new-logo acquisition, market development and aggressive growth.
But what happens after the salesperson joins can tell a very different story.
I’ve watched organizations hire talented new-business sellers and gradually turn them into account managers—not because the individuals suddenly lost their ability to hunt, but because the environment rewarded different behavior.
Compensation matters.
Territory design matters.
Account ownership matters.
Sales process matters.
Leadership behavior matters.
And targets matter.
If an organization says new-logo acquisition is strategically important but makes existing-account revenue significantly easier and safer to monetize, sellers will eventually respond to those incentives.
People adapt to the systems around them.
That is why sales leadership cannot simply recruit for a desired behavior.
The organization has to create an environment where that behavior can succeed.
Hope Is Still Not a Strategy
One observation from the original article deserves to remain exactly where it belongs:
Hope is not a strategy.
Aggressive goals are part of business. Sales organizations should challenge themselves.
But there is a difference between an aggressive target and an unsupported one.
A credible sales target should have some connection to addressable market, territory potential, historical performance, pipeline generation capacity, average transaction size, sales cycle, available resources and expected productivity.
When targets become disconnected from those realities, behavior begins to change.
Sellers protect existing revenue.
They hold onto accounts longer.
They become reluctant to qualify questionable opportunities out of the pipeline.
Smaller, safer transactions become more attractive.
Activity increases while meaningful business development can actually decline.
And eventually the organization begins diagnosing a motivation problem when it may really have a sales-system problem.
Scarcity Changes Behavior
This becomes particularly visible during difficult economic conditions or periods of organizational uncertainty.
When sellers believe opportunity is scarce, rational risk-taking can give way to revenue protection.
The account producing predictable business becomes more attractive than the uncertain prospect that requires months of development.
There is nothing inherently wrong with protecting revenue.
The problem occurs when short-term security quietly replaces the organization’s stated growth strategy.
A salesperson hired to develop new markets gradually spends most of their time servicing existing customers.
The hunter hasn’t necessarily lost the ability to hunt.
The environment has taught them that farming is safer.
Leadership needs to recognize that distinction.
The Modern Enterprise Seller Needs Both Disciplines
Enterprise selling has also changed.
The idea that one person finds the customer, closes the transaction and simply moves on doesn’t reflect many modern enterprise relationships.
Large customers expect continuity.
Complex solutions require executive alignment.
Professional services, customer success, partners, technical teams and account leadership frequently participate throughout the customer lifecycle.
At the same time, existing customers cannot be taken for granted.
Competitors are constantly attempting to enter them.
Budgets shift.
Executives change.
Technology priorities evolve.
A strong enterprise seller therefore needs to operate across multiple motions.
They must be capable of opening doors.
But they must also know how to build executive relationships once inside.
They need to create opportunities.
But they must also identify expansion opportunities.
They need to close business.
But they also need to understand whether the customer actually achieved the outcome that justified the purchase.
That is not hunting or farming.
It is professional account development.
AI Makes the Distinction Even Less Useful
Artificial intelligence and modern sales technology make the old categorization even more questionable.
Research that once required hours can increasingly be completed in minutes.
Account signals can help identify organizations showing potential intent.
CRM intelligence can surface dormant relationships.
AI can assist with account planning, preparation and personalized communication.
These capabilities can make prospecting more efficient.
But they can also make account development more sophisticated.
The same technology that helps a seller identify a new prospect can help uncover an opportunity inside an existing customer.
So where exactly does hunting end and farming begin?
Increasingly, it doesn’t.
The real differentiator is whether the salesperson can recognize a business opportunity, understand its context and mobilize the right resources to pursue it.
Evaluate the System, Not Just the Job
This also has implications for sales professionals evaluating career opportunities.
A job description tells you what an organization wants you to believe about the role.
The operating data tells you how the role actually works.
Before joining a sales organization, I would want to understand:
- How were quotas established?
- What percentage of the sales organization achieved quota last year?
- How many net-new customers were acquired?
- What percentage of revenue came from new versus existing customers?
- What is the average sales cycle and transaction size?
- How are territories and accounts assigned?
- How does compensation reward new business versus expansion?
- What has sales turnover looked like over the past several years?
- What enablement and coaching are provided?
- What resources surround the seller during complex opportunities?
None of these questions provides the complete answer independently.
Together, they begin to reveal whether the organization’s expectations, incentives and operating model are aligned.
Build Versatile Sales Professionals
Sales leaders should be asking a similar set of questions internally.
Instead of:
Do we need hunters or farmers?
Ask:
What capabilities do our customers and go-to-market strategy require from our salespeople?
Some roles will naturally emphasize acquisition.
Others will emphasize retention and expansion.
Specialization still has value.
But specialization is different from assuming that salespeople belong permanently to one of two personality types.
The future belongs to adaptable sales professionals who understand how to create demand, develop relationships, navigate complex organizations, execute repeatable processes and expand the value they deliver over time.
Those capabilities can be identified.
They can be coached.
They can be measured.
And they can be developed.
The terminology may have changed since I first wrote about this subject, but the underlying lesson hasn’t:
Don’t hire a hunter and then build an environment that teaches them to farm.
Better yet, build sales professionals capable of succeeding in both worlds.