Today’s sellers need to be agile and actively looking for problems and opportunities they can help their buyers address or capture.

Have you ever thought about the type of sales role you are in? Or managers, the type of selling profiles you need to achieve your objectives?

In the “old days” we looked for either hunters or farmers. Yet today’s business world complexities require a refinement of selling profile.

Professional selling has more nuances now than ever before. Because buyers are more educated, time restricted, and demanding, the role of salespeople is now more than filing someone’s wants or needs.

Today’s sellers need to be agile and actively looking for problems and opportunities they can help their buyers address or capture.

The new selling profiles are:

• Developers
• Dredgers
• Dispensers

The Developers were formerly known as farmers. They cultivate existing relationships and sales opportunities from leads.

Developers proactively seek sales opportunities and also react to marketing or corporate initiatives.

The Dredgers were known as hunters. They dig to find opportunities under the radar by looking for trigger events and strategic sales opportunities.

Dredgers proactively dredge the bottom of every possibility for an opening to a problem, opportunity, want, or need.

The Dispensers are the technical and service-oriented salespeople. These non-traditional salespeople probably never imagined themselves in a sales role and maybe don’t want to claim they are now either.

Dispensers are the eyes and ears in constant contact with customers—whether it be in implementation, service, or troubleshooting. They are in the best position to identify additional opportunities for your products and services.

How does knowing the selling profiles help?

For salespeople it allows you to identify your development opportunities, mentoring and coaching needs to target developing the skills and attitudes for the type of sales you are in.

For example, if you are a Dispenser, how much is cold calling or lead generation going to help you?

If you are a Dredger, training or a focus on account maintenance probably won’t help you in a substantial way either.

Managers, knowing the types of selling profiles you need to succeed will help you coach, make better hires, and ensure your pipeline is full and your forecasts are accurate.

If you are fortunate enough to have a large team, you can probably put people in the right spaces.

If not, you should evaluate what you need to move your business forward and ensure you have the right people in the right roles on your team.

Something to think about it, isn’t it?