Are you a hunter or a harvestor?

Throughout my past working experience with business owners, entrepreneurs and start-ups over the years, I’ve noticed that when it comes to acquiring new customers, most of them are hunters, very aggressive hunters. They pounce on new leads, chase the prospects and make themselves readily available to the prospect. They work around the clock on tight schedule, just to fulfill their customers' unrealistic request/ demand.

On the other hand, I’ve noticed that the most successful business owners and entrepreneurs take a different approach to customer acquisition: they are harvesters. They gather in all their leads, work hard to prevent any from slipping through the cracks, cultivate those leads and then harvest them when the time is right for the customer. They too, working very hard to maintain great relationship with customers.

The most interesting thing about these two styles is that the hunter usually gets tired, a bit humiliated and ends up getting small margins. On the other hand, the harvester stays fresh, confident and usually earns higher margins.

What I’ve described here is the difference between a sales mentality (hunter) and a marketing mentality (harvester). Every business owner or entrepreneur who experiences some level of success has hunting skills … and that’s good. But the difference between minor success and major success is the difference between hunting and harvesting.

Oh, and just so we’re clear … I’m not saying that harvesting is an easy, non-aggressive job. When it’s time to harvest, be sure you swing the sickle sharp and fast. I don't mean that hunting is not important. We just have to do it right.

Happy harvesting!