Why the Hunter–Farmer Lens Is Too Simple for Modern B2B Sales

For decades, sales organisations have used a simple distinction when discussing sales talent. Hunters acquire new customers. Farmers develop existing relationships.

The terminology is familiar, easy to communicate and intuitively appealing. It also reflects a genuine difference between new-business development and account management. But as a basis for designing a modern B2B sales organisation, the distinction is increasingly insufficient.

It reduces a complex commercial challenge to two labels and encourages leaders to classify individuals before properly understanding the commercial work that needs to be done. A more useful starting point is to examine the relationship between business strategy, customer buying behaviour, commercial tasks and organisational capabilities.

The problem is not the distinction. It is what we use it for.

There are legitimate reasons to distinguish between customer acquisition and existing-customer development. They often require different priorities, operating rhythms and commercial behaviours. The problem emerges when the distinction becomes a shorthand for individual capability.

A Hunter is assumed to be proactive, ambitious and good at opening doors. A Farmer is considered relationship-oriented, patient and effective at managing existing accounts. These descriptions may capture aspects of someone’s preferred working style. They do not establish whether that person can succeed in a particular commercial role. Nor do they adequately describe what customers need from the sales organisation.

Consider a strategic account manager responsible for expanding a relationship into new business units, engaging unfamiliar stakeholders and introducing solutions the customer has never purchased before. Is that person farming or hunting? In reality, the role requires both – alongside capabilities that neither label adequately captures.

Five reasons the Hunter–Farmer model falls short

1. Modern buying journeys do not follow a simple acquisition-and-retention model

B2B buying is increasingly characterised by multiple channels, independent research and changing customer expectations. McKinsey’s 2024 B2B Pulse found that customers use an average of ten interaction channels throughout their buying journey.

Gartner’s 2025 research found that 61% of surveyed B2B buyers preferred an overall buying experience without sales-representative involvement. However, buyers still value human interaction when it provides relevant guidance and contextual understanding.

This creates a commercial environment in which salespeople must contribute value at different moments rather than simply acquire or maintain relationships. They may need to identify a business problem, challenge assumptions, coordinate stakeholders, support evaluation or help the customer navigate internal decisions. The required capability depends on the buying situation – not whether the customer is classified as new or existing.

2. Existing-customer growth often requires new-business behaviour

The Farmer label can unintentionally encourage a maintenance-oriented understanding of account management. But developing a strategic account is not simply about preserving a relationship. It may require identifying new opportunities, accessing previously unknown decision-makers, challenging the customer’s existing approach and building a business case for additional investment. These are frequently behaviours associated with Hunters.

An established customer relationship does not automatically create access to the entire customer organisation. Nor does customer satisfaction guarantee further growth. Effective account development requires commercial curiosity, initiative, stakeholder management and the ability to create new value. A strong Key Account Manager may therefore need substantial new-business capability.

3. Winning complex new customers requires more than hunting

The opposite assumption is equally problematic. Winning a new enterprise customer is rarely just a matter of identifying a prospect, securing a meeting and closing a deal. Complex B2B purchases involve multiple stakeholders with different priorities.

The 2025 Edelman–LinkedIn Thought Leadership Impact Report highlights the influence of hidden buyers – stakeholders who may not be directly involved in the initial sales conversation but can significantly influence the final decision. Research from LinkedIn’s B2B Institute and Bain further illustrates how procurement, finance, legal and operational stakeholders evaluate suppliers through considerations such as risk, credibility and organisational trust.

A salesperson may be excellent at opening doors but less effective at building consensus, managing a complex evaluation or helping stakeholders navigate competing priorities. New-business performance therefore requires more than traditional Hunter behaviour.

4. The labels confuse personality with capability

When leaders describe someone as a natural Hunter or Farmer, they often combine personality, motivation, behaviour and skill into one category. These are different things. Someone may enjoy building relationships but also be highly effective at creating new opportunities. Another salesperson may be confident and outgoing but lack the commercial discipline required to qualify complex deals. A third may be relatively reserved but excel at consultative selling because of strong customer understanding and the ability to introduce valuable perspectives.

The danger is that organisations recruit and develop people based on broad assumptions rather than observable capabilities. A better question is: What does this commercial role require someone to do consistently and effectively? The answer should inform recruitment, coaching, development and performance expectations.

5. Commercial performance depends on the system surrounding the salesperson

A final limitation is that the Hunter–Farmer distinction places considerable attention on individual salespeople. But commercial performance is also shaped by strategy, leadership, market relevance, processes, tools and organisational support.

Salesforce’s sixth State of Sales research, published in 2024, found that surveyed sales professionals spent approximately 70% of their time on non-selling tasks. That finding illustrates why organisations need to examine how commercial work is structured and supported.

A salesperson struggling to create new opportunities may not necessarily lack Hunter capability. The organisation may have unclear positioning, poor targeting, inadequate sales support or an ineffective prospecting model. Similarly, limited account growth may reflect insufficient account ownership, fragmented customer information or a lack of coordinated leadership attention. Before diagnosing a talent problem, examine the commercial system.

A better approach: Design around commercial behaviour and task requirements

Rather than dividing the sales organisation into two fixed personality categories, I recommend examining four complementary commercial capability profiles. These are practical behaviour descriptions, not psychometric personality types.

Hunter – Creating new opportunities

The ability to identify relevant prospects, establish market access, initiate conversations and develop opportunities with unfamiliar customers. Particularly relevant when entering new markets or building a repeatable new-business engine.

Challenger – Creating new perspectives

The ability to understand customer challenges, introduce commercially relevant insights and help decision-makers reconsider their current approach. Particularly relevant when selling complex solutions, transformation or unfamiliar offerings.

Relationship Builder – Developing customer confidence

The ability to establish trust, understand customer organisations, develop stakeholder relationships and sustain long-term commercial partnerships. Particularly relevant in strategic account development and complex customer environments.

Process Seller – Managing commercial complexity

The ability to qualify opportunities, coordinate stakeholders, structure sales processes, manage decision stages and maintain commercial discipline. Particularly relevant in longer sales cycles involving multiple decision-makers and organisational dependencies.

These profiles are not mutually exclusive. A successful enterprise salesperson may need all four. A Key Account Manager may need strong Relationship Builder and Challenger capabilities, combined with Hunter behaviour when expanding into new parts of an existing customer organisation. A new-business salesperson may require Hunter capability to create access, Challenger capability to establish relevance and Process Seller capability to progress complex opportunities.

The objective is not to replace two restrictive labels with four new restrictive labels. It is to establish a more useful vocabulary for discussing commercial tasks, capability requirements and development priorities.

Start with the commercial task – not the salesperson

What are we trying to achieve? New-market entry, customer acquisition, strategic account growth, retention or more complex solution sales?

How do our customers buy? Who participates, what creates urgency and which interactions help customers make decisions?

What commercial behaviours does the task require? Prospecting, insight-led selling, relationship development, stakeholder coordination or process discipline?

Which capabilities do we already possess? Where are we strong, and where do we depend too heavily on specific individuals?

What organisational support is missing? Are strategy, leadership, marketing, sales processes and commercial tools enabling the required behaviour?

Only after answering these questions should the organisation define roles, recruit people or initiate development programmes.

The leadership challenge: Build complementary commercial teams

A high-performing sales organisation does not necessarily consist of individuals who are equally strong at everything. It consists of people whose capabilities collectively match the commercial tasks the organisation needs to perform. This places responsibility on leadership to understand individual strengths, design complementary roles, establish clear ownership and create an environment where different capabilities can contribute effectively.

It also changes the conversation around performance. Instead of asking whether a salesperson is sufficiently Hunter-oriented, leadership can examine whether the individual possesses the specific capabilities required for the role – and whether the organisation is providing the conditions needed to succeed. That is a more constructive starting point for recruitment, coaching and organisational development.

From labels to commercial organisation design

Clarify: Establish the commercial ambition, target customers and growth priorities.

Diagnose: Examine the actual commercial tasks, customer buying processes and current organisational capabilities.

Design: Define roles, responsibilities and capability requirements around the commercial model.

Activate: Translate the design into recruitment, development, coaching and operating discipline.

Evolve: Adjust the organisation as customers, markets and commercial priorities change.

This reflects a broader principle: Strategy × People × Execution. A successful commercial organisation requires alignment between all three. The Hunter–Farmer distinction can still serve as a useful starting point for discussing sales responsibilities. But it should never become a substitute for understanding what the business needs its commercial organisation to accomplish.

Don’t hire a Hunter or a Farmer. Build the commercial capabilities your growth strategy actually requires.

Explore your commercial organisation’s readiness

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Editorial note: The four capability profiles are practical advisory descriptions, not validated psychometric categories. External references provide context and do not independently validate the proposed model.