Find the Right Place to Hang Your Hat: Hunters and Farmers -- Part 1 of 2
By Lee Salz
What Type of Buying Cycle Can You Survive?
[Another key area for review in matching your skill set with the right job is the hunter/farmer relationship that. This analysis will help you to identify which side of the sales equation best matches you: hunter or farmer. Even within the hunter role, there are differences. The transaction-sale hunter, the one who sells something one time to a prospect, has a different reading than the complex-sale hunter.]
In a short, transaction-style sale, the drive of the salesperson is much higher than the need to be liked. In essence, this is a quick transaction with little future-selling opportunity. The salesperson, in a transaction sale, engages one or maybe two buying players. Their responsibility is less focused on building relationships and more on completing the sale. The buying cycle is usually short. Health-club sales and car sales are great examples of the transaction sale. Since the goal of this selling environment is to close the deal in the first meeting, the "drive" of the individual will be the key to his success. If this person is more "likeable" than "driven," most will like the salesperson, but will buy from someone else. It is not that these salespeople shouldn't be likeable, just that they need to be significantly more predisposed to being driven.
In complex sales, this measurement is much more challenging. The complex salesperson deals with multiple buying players and the buying process is lengthy. Multiple phone calls and meetings usually occur during the course of the cycle. In this type of sale, the salespeople need to be likeable so that they can keep energy in the relationship. The challenging part of complex sales is that while the salesperson needs to be likeable, he still needs a slight dominance toward being driven to win. If the salesperson is not close to the middle of the scale, meaning that he is also likeable, he will struggle to be successful. He will not be able to build trusting relationships. Don't get me wrong: If he is more likeable than driven, everyone will like him, but few will buy from him. It is preferred that this candidate be more driven, just not as dominant as the transactional seller.
The lengthy process associated with the complex sale also means that the salesperson will not win as frequently as he would with the transaction sale. Some salespeople need to win every day, or every week. The complex sale usually means that winning happens a few times a year. Not everyone can handle that. Many salespeople need to experience the thrill of victory more frequently. Salespeople often try to fool themselves because they are again enticed by the almighty dollar. As this is a trait, the salesperson can rarely change this and failure occurs. Again, painful for all involved.
The big question to ask yourself is what type of buying cycle can you survive. Why do I call it surviving? By your very nature as a salesperson, you need the thrill of victory! Patience is not a virtue salespeople master. If patience is what we were after, we would all have become doctors. I've managed sales organizations that have had varying buying-cycle lengths. I've interviewed terrific salespeople who when they heard the buying cycle was 12 months or longer, discontinued the interview process. Imagine a sales cycle where it takes 12 months or longer to win. Granted, the win is about a half-million dollars in annual revenue, but still a long time for most to wait to taste success. And I appreciated that those candidates deselected themselves. They would have quit after three months of corporate investment and we both would have lost.
There are many salespeople who are accustomed to a longer process. They look at success at various intervals of the process rather than solely measuring themselves on winning the account. They use numerous metrics as part of their Sales Architecture to feel a more frequent win. If they scheduled an appointment with a key prospect, they felt a win. Others felt small wins as they moved through the cycle. This keeps them sane. It's like winning battles en route to winning the war. It takes a certain personal approach to be able to do this. If you are not cut out for a long buying cycle, do not be tempted by the gold at the end of the rainbow. You probably don't have what it takes to get there. I know that's a pretty aggressive statement, but remember, this book is for you. My goal is to make sure you make the best career choices for your own personal success.
From: Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager
© 2007 Lee B. Salz
CJW-040-014831
[Another key area for review in matching your skill set with the right job is the hunter/farmer relationship that. This analysis will help you to identify which side of the sales equation best matches you: hunter or farmer. Even within the hunter role, there are differences. The transaction-sale hunter, the one who sells something one time to a prospect, has a different reading than the complex-sale hunter.]
In a short, transaction-style sale, the drive of the salesperson is much higher than the need to be liked. In essence, this is a quick transaction with little future-selling opportunity. The salesperson, in a transaction sale, engages one or maybe two buying players. Their responsibility is less focused on building relationships and more on completing the sale. The buying cycle is usually short. Health-club sales and car sales are great examples of the transaction sale. Since the goal of this selling environment is to close the deal in the first meeting, the "drive" of the individual will be the key to his success. If this person is more "likeable" than "driven," most will like the salesperson, but will buy from someone else. It is not that these salespeople shouldn't be likeable, just that they need to be significantly more predisposed to being driven.
In complex sales, this measurement is much more challenging. The complex salesperson deals with multiple buying players and the buying process is lengthy. Multiple phone calls and meetings usually occur during the course of the cycle. In this type of sale, the salespeople need to be likeable so that they can keep energy in the relationship. The challenging part of complex sales is that while the salesperson needs to be likeable, he still needs a slight dominance toward being driven to win. If the salesperson is not close to the middle of the scale, meaning that he is also likeable, he will struggle to be successful. He will not be able to build trusting relationships. Don't get me wrong: If he is more likeable than driven, everyone will like him, but few will buy from him. It is preferred that this candidate be more driven, just not as dominant as the transactional seller.
The lengthy process associated with the complex sale also means that the salesperson will not win as frequently as he would with the transaction sale. Some salespeople need to win every day, or every week. The complex sale usually means that winning happens a few times a year. Not everyone can handle that. Many salespeople need to experience the thrill of victory more frequently. Salespeople often try to fool themselves because they are again enticed by the almighty dollar. As this is a trait, the salesperson can rarely change this and failure occurs. Again, painful for all involved.
The big question to ask yourself is what type of buying cycle can you survive. Why do I call it surviving? By your very nature as a salesperson, you need the thrill of victory! Patience is not a virtue salespeople master. If patience is what we were after, we would all have become doctors. I've managed sales organizations that have had varying buying-cycle lengths. I've interviewed terrific salespeople who when they heard the buying cycle was 12 months or longer, discontinued the interview process. Imagine a sales cycle where it takes 12 months or longer to win. Granted, the win is about a half-million dollars in annual revenue, but still a long time for most to wait to taste success. And I appreciated that those candidates deselected themselves. They would have quit after three months of corporate investment and we both would have lost.
There are many salespeople who are accustomed to a longer process. They look at success at various intervals of the process rather than solely measuring themselves on winning the account. They use numerous metrics as part of their Sales Architecture to feel a more frequent win. If they scheduled an appointment with a key prospect, they felt a win. Others felt small wins as they moved through the cycle. This keeps them sane. It's like winning battles en route to winning the war. It takes a certain personal approach to be able to do this. If you are not cut out for a long buying cycle, do not be tempted by the gold at the end of the rainbow. You probably don't have what it takes to get there. I know that's a pretty aggressive statement, but remember, this book is for you. My goal is to make sure you make the best career choices for your own personal success.
From: Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager
© 2007 Lee B. Salz
CJW-040-014831
Visit Lee Salz's Website: http://www.salesarchitecture.com
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