It Is Time To Let Go Of The Hunter.

The traditional “hunter” sales profile—aggressive, individualistic, and solely focused on chasing new deals—is increasingly out of step with the complexities of modern B2B sales. Here’s why many organizations are moving away from the “hunter” archetype and what they’re replacing it with:

Why the Hunter Profile is Outdated

1. Too Transactional for Complex Sales
   In SaaS, enterprise tech, and services, buying cycles are long and involve multiple stakeholders. Hunters often prioritize short-term wins over strategic alignment, which leads to churn and misaligned deals.
2. Undermines Collaboration
   The lone-wolf mentality can clash with the team-based nature of modern revenue organizations—especially where sales, customer success, product, and marketing must align.
3. Doesn’t Prioritize Customer Outcomes
   Hunters are often rewarded for closing, not for customer success. This misalignment can result in oversold or poorly qualified deals that damage long-term revenue.
4. Ignores Relationship Building
   The best sales reps today succeed by becoming trusted advisors. That takes listening, problem-solving, and co-creating value—not just prospecting and closing.
5. Incompatible with PLG, ABM, and Subscription Models
   Many revenue motions now involve land-and-expand, not one-and-done sales. You need reps who can manage the full lifecycle of the account, not just “kill and move on.”

What to Embrace Instead

1. Strategic Sellers
   These reps are domain-aware, consultative, and skilled in navigating stakeholder ecosystems. They’re aligned with MEDDIC/MEDDICC, Challenger, or solution-based selling approaches.
2. Customer-Centric Collaborators
   They work across departments (CS, RevOps, Product) to build long-term value, and are measured on net revenue retention or customer satisfaction—not just net new ARR.
3. Revenue Architects
   These are professionals who understand GTM strategy, territory design, buying signals, and data. They’re proactive, but not reactive.
4. “Farmer+” Profiles
   Account managers and expansion reps with the skill set to deepen relationships and generate growth—while still knowing when and how to prospect effectively.

Implications for Hiring and Enablement

• Revise Role Definitions: Move away from the binary “hunter vs. farmer” paradigm. Focus on hybrid roles or modular GTM teams.
• Incentivize Outcomes: Shift comp plans toward customer success, renewals, and expansion, not just logo acquisition.
• Train for Complexity: Invest in methodologies like Challenger, MEDDPICC, or ValueSelling, and coach around stakeholder engagement—not just objection handling.

Dispensing with the Hunter Sales Profile

The traditional “hunter” sales profile—typically defined by aggressive prospecting, individualism, and a narrow focus on new business—has become increasingly misaligned with the needs of modern sales organizations.

Why the Hunter Profile is Outdated

1. Too Transactional for Complex Sales
   Enterprise and SaaS sales cycles are long, involve multiple decision-makers, and demand strategic alignment over brute force. The hunter model often fails in these environments because it rewards speed and volume, not depth or fit¹.
2. Undermines Collaboration
   Sales has evolved into a cross-functional discipline. Success now depends on alignment with marketing, customer success, and product teams. Hunters, however, are often incentivized to operate solo, leading to silos and inefficiencies².
3. Doesn’t Prioritize Customer Outcomes
   When reps are focused purely on closing, they may overpromise or target poorly qualified prospects. This can lead to churn, poor adoption, and damaged brand reputation³.
4. Ignores Relationship Building
   Modern buyers expect long-term partnerships. According to LinkedIn’s State of Sales, top-performing reps excel in building trust and acting as advisors—not transactional vendors⁴.
5. Incompatible with PLG, ABM, and Subscription Models
   Product-led growth (PLG), account-based marketing (ABM), and subscription-based revenue models all require sellers who think long-term, understand product usage, and foster customer expansion. Hunters, who often move on post-sale, are poorly suited for these strategies⁵.

What to Embrace Instead

1. Strategic Sellers
   These reps understand complex buying committees and apply frameworks like MEDDPICC or Challenger to drive insight-led conversations⁶.
2. Customer-Centric Collaborators
   High-performing teams now include reps who coordinate internally and externally to align with the customer’s business objectives. They succeed by co-creating value and often carry shared KPIs across customer success and revenue operations⁷.
3. Revenue Architects
   Rather than just reacting to leads, these reps understand GTM strategy, segmentation, and signal-based selling. They operate with a systems mindset⁸.
4. “Farmer+” Profiles
   These are relationship managers who can also identify and capture expansion opportunities—making them essential in recurring revenue environments⁹.

Implications for Hiring and Enablement

• Revise Role Definitions: Eliminate the rigid “hunter vs. farmer” dichotomy. Consider hybrid roles or pod structures that combine prospecting, closing, and expansion¹⁰.
• Incentivize Outcomes: Shift comp plans from deal count to lifetime value, net retention, or multiyear growth¹¹.
• Train for Complexity: Adopt methodologies like Challenger, MEDDPICC, or ValueSelling. These frameworks prioritize stakeholder engagement and business impact over aggressive tactics¹².

Footnotes

1. Gartner. (2022). Future of Sales 2025: Why B2B Sales Needs a Digital-First Approach. ↩
2. Forrester. (2021). B2B Revenue Waterfall Replaces the Funnel. ↩
3. Harvard Business Review. (2016). Stop Selling Products and Start Selling Outcomes. ↩
4. LinkedIn. (2022). State of Sales Report. ↩
5. OpenView Partners. (2023). Product-Led Growth Benchmarks. ↩
6. CEB (now Gartner). (2011). The Challenger Sale. ↩
7. McKinsey & Company. (2020). Modern B2B Sales Requires a Team Approach. ↩
8. Winning by Design. (2022). Revenue Architecture: How Modern Sales Systems Work. ↩
9. SaaStr. (2021). Why Expansion Revenue Is the New Sales Frontier. ↩
10. Pavilion. (2023). Rebuilding the Revenue Organization. ↩
11. Salesforce. (2022). State of Sales. ↩
12. ValueSelling Associates. (2021). Creating Business Value in Complex Sales. ↩