Your sales team has diverse selling styles. How can you tailor incentives to maximize their performance?

In sales operations, it's essential to identify if your sellers are hunters or farmers. Hunters excel in sourcing greenfield accounts, penetrating new markets, and bringing in new clients. They thrive on quick wins and high-volume sales, needing incentives like high commissions and bonuses for new acquisitions. Farmers focus on existing customers, deepening relationships, and expanding sales within established accounts. They require incentives tied to customer retention, upselling, and customer satisfaction. By tailoring incentives to these distinct roles, we can maximize performance and drive both growth and customer loyalty.

Tailor your incentives differently for salespeople who are "Farmers" vs. "Hunters." Hunters thrive on new challenges and quick wins, working on greenfield accounts. Incentivize them with high commissions on new logo wins or bonuses for penetrating competitors' bases. Farmers focus on nurturing and growing existing customer bases. Tie their incentives to customer retention and increasing product scope within accounts. By customizing incentives to align with their motivations, you can boost performance and drive both short-term gains and long-term success.

To tailor incentives for a sales team with diverse selling styles, it's essential to understand and appreciate each individual's strengths and preferences. Start by recognising the different selling styles within your team, such as relationship building, solution-based, or competitive selling. Design a mix of incentives that cater to these styles. Offer role-specific incentives that reward individual achievements based on their unique responsibilities, and split incentives for collaborative efforts. Incorporate both monetary and non-monetary rewards, such as gift cards, tech gadgets, or activity days. Ensure that the incentive structure is transparent, achievable, and aligned with your company's goals to maintain fairness and motivation.

In sales operations, recognizing that not all salespeople have the same skillsets is crucial. Encouraging teamwork fosters the sharing of best practices and techniques. For instance, "Farmers" can learn effective prospecting methods from "Hunters," while hunters can adopt relationship-building strategies from farmers. Collaborative teams benefit from diverse perspectives, leading to innovative solutions for sales challenges. Hunters may bring fresh approaches to acquiring new clients, while farmers can deepen existing customer relationships. This synergy not only enhances individual performance but also drives the overall success of the team.