Sheeps & Goats

No, that isn’t a typo. Just a bit of “Singlish” (Singapore English that adds the ‘s’ to ensure sheep gets a plural).

This was a phrase that came up in conversation about whether sales people should concentrate only on new business or account management.

This is a classic debate. Hunters and Farmers are the descriptions most used.

(I touched on this in a previous post about Navies).

Hunters also like to call themselves Tigers. But I’ve never heard Farmers liken themselves to an animal.

I wonder why that is? And if they did, which beast would they choose? Lions? Squirrels?

In Singapore, the particular sales management I met liked to say that a hunter was a goat, a farmer was a sheep. Quite neat.

When salespeople are given a patch and expected to go after any business, regardless of whether it’s from new or existing clients, the word traditionally used is that they are Hybrids.

In Singlish, this became Blendeds.

It takes a rare rep indeed that can make a hit of being a blend of new and existing account selling.

I don’t recommend this path.

You should recognise whether you are best off with the sheeps or goats.

And my personal view is that the goats should have the opportunity to earn more.