Recently I asserted that if you are in a mature/commodotising industry, B2B sales organisation environment, and have determined that you have a case to avert the preferable consolidated Sales exec role and structure along the lines of split specialty role types, then avoid common mores of splitting by hunters vs farmers.  Rather split by front foot , proactive, pre-emptive, programmed activity focus vs back foot, reactive, responsive, unprogrammable activity focus, for good sales team design.  So, at the first/top level of good sales team design, I am arguing that consolidation and single team/single role type is the default preferred position, but if , by following the process I have outlined, you find a case to  split/specialise, then argue against the opening default position.

However your “hunting” function comes out in the sales team design debate/argument from above, I subsequently argued for a default starting positioning of splitting the “hunting” function into “flushing” (lead generation/qualification) vs “trapping” (face to face visiting for conversion of prospect to client), similarly for good sales team design reasons.  Why?

The same logic and rationale that has underpinned my line of argument throughout this entire sales team design series of posts…

Rather split by front foot , proactive, pre-emptive, programmed activity focus vs back foot, reactive, responsive, unprogrammable activity focus, for good sales team design. When it comes to the flushing and trapping elements  of hunting, trapping aligns to …

… front foot , proactive, pre-emptive, programmed activity focus

Whilst flushing is a support function that optimises for those doing the trapping, and can be done much more efficiently and effectively as an office based/ internal sales function.  Therefore split these tasks from those charged with the responsibility of trapping.  Even though , strictly speaking, the activities constituting good flushing do not align with this erstwhile mentioned description…

… back foot, reactive, responsive, unprogrammable activity focus

If allocated to those doing the trapping, it would assimilate to this.

Don’t go there.

Click here to refresh last weeks post – part one of the discussion – Having “mythbusted” the farmers vs hunters concept…now moving onto mythbusting the concept of hunting, for good sales team design