Hunters vs Farmers. When It's The Right Time To Split (or Keep) Your Sales Orgs
In the world of sales, one of the most critical decisions a growing startup faces is how to structure its sales team.
Should you keep your account executives (AEs) managing new business acquisitions and existing client relationships? Or should you separate them?
This question becomes even more critical as your business scales.
The LinkedIn Model
During my four years at LinkedIn, I worked as a Relationship Manager (RM), overseeing around 50 mid-market and enterprise clients who had purchased Sales Navigator across Europe.
LinkedIn, like many large organizations, operates with two distinct sales motions:
New Business Acquisition: This team includes SDRs (Sales Development Representatives) and AEs (Account Executives), and it focuses exclusively on acquiring new logos.
Existing Business Management: This team is split into Customer Success (CS) professionals who focus on adoption and RMs who handle renewals and upselling.
This separation works well for large companies with established processes.
But what about early-stage startups?
That's where things get interesting.
As an early-stage startup, you're likely juggling two priorities:
Acquiring new customers fast.
Managing and growing your existing client base even faster.
At this stage, separating these roles may not be feasible.
Here’s how I'd approach it:
Phase 1: All-in-One Account Executives
When you're just starting, your AEs should handle everything, from closing deals with new clients to managing relationships with existing ones.
This approach offers several benefits:
Continuity: Your AEs maintain direct relationships with the customers they've sold to.
Product Knowledge: By managing the entire sales cycle, AEs gain a deeper understanding of your product's strengths and weaknesses.
Yes, this might slow down acquisition slightly since AEs are multitasking.
Phase 2: Introducing Customer Success
Once you reach your first million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), you should consider adding a Customer Success (CS) team.
These professionals focus on onboarding clients and ensuring adoption.
While AEs remain involved in renewals and upselling, their role becomes more strategic than operational.
Their goal is to make customers use your product or service. Nothing else matters.
Phase 3: Dedicated Account Managers
As your ARR grows beyond 5M ARR, you can hire your first Account Managers (AMs).
These specialists focus solely on renewals, freeing up your AEs' time.
They work with CS and onboarding teams to transition new clients and manage relationships.
They have sales goals, like renewals vs churn and upselling vs baseline.
Separate Hunters from Farmers
At around 10M+ ARR, it's usually time to split your sales motions entirely:
AEs focus exclusively on new business acquisitions.
AMs handle renewals and upselling.
CS/Onboarding Teams ensure adoption and customer satisfaction.
This structure allows your “hunters” to fully dedicate themselves to chasing new logos while your “farmers' nurture existing relationships correctly.
It will give you a good revenue balance, with AEs' goals focused on new business and AMs focused on renewing and upselling your customer base.
Final Thoughts
Early-stage startups benefit from initially keeping their AEs involved in both sales orgs.
But as you grow, separating these roles becomes essential for maximizing efficiency and revenue.
Remember, timing is everything.
Don't detach hunters from farmers too soon, but let them thrive in their specialized roles when the time is right.
Thanks for reading. See you next week.
