In this featured guest post, Codeable Expert Ricardo Filipo shares a sales mentality that can be used in all walks of life, but is especially useful to his role as a Codeable expert.
While reading, you’ll learn about two different mentalities, one of pursuit and acquisition, while the other of caretaking and nurturing, which Ricardo refers to as the Hunter and the Farmer mindsets.
A Hunters and Farmers mindset interpretation
Getting new customers and projects is one of the most critical jobs on Codeable. We do it with love.
We are WordPress experts. Among other activities, we participate in the company’s community, helping mates, growing the company’s roots, and working in design, coding, and fixing issues. We perform complementary activities when attending to our customers; eventually, everything revolves around projects.
Projects are the reality of our day-to-day. Our resources and money come from projects that reflect the market’s demand and demarcate what to learn and understand the society leading.
Behind projects are customers, our wealth, and our very assets. We assemble solutions, make ideas, and turn costs into profitable investments.
Hunters and Farmers, pursuant and caretakers, aren’t enemies. They have relevant qualities and duties, natural characteristics that, if adequately merged, will succeed.
We differentiate two distinct roles in sales:
- Getting a project from a new customer
- Getting a new project from a loyal customer
Hunters pursuantly close deals, while farmers retain those customers with care.
The Hunter naturally is conquering, active, responsive, intelligent, and quick. Contrarily, the Farmer behaves like a lover, attentive, hard-working, preserving, building, and protective.
Hunters are high-volume players and convert new leads. Farmers are relationship-builders and cultivate existing good customers, harvesting higher-value sales.
While a Hunter holds an agreement, a Farmer takes care of opportunities. While a Farmer cultivates a seed in fields, the Hunter finds precious plants in the forest.
1. Engaging
On Codeable, 35% of new customers arrive from organic growth. Other 65% come from partnership recommendations, our comprehensive affiliate program, and via word of mouth.
We don’t have a cold prospect in Codeable. Almost all leads are highly qualified projects. When they arrive, such as a preferred project; a farmer’s job. When they are posted for all experts; a hunter job and we engage if it matches our expertise and schedule.
We receive the customers politely and while building their trust, understand their needs, generally by asking questions. When multiple experts engage, they collaborate, making complementary queries and valuable comments.
Codeable is not like other free-lancer platforms, with sellers disputing the customer. On Codeable there is no race to the lowest price, creating bidding warns between contractors. Our experts work in cooperation to study and attend to customer needs.
As a team, Codeable experts work to understand the customer’s needs. The experts talk internally, discussing possible solutions for the project. This way, the customers have the perfect composition of experts. Whoever is available and closest to the client will take over the job, working in on-demand teams.
2. Understanding the Customer
Understanding and pursuing customer confidence is typically a Hunter Job. Customers sometimes don’t match our services because prices are too high or because of bid expectations, or even something else.
The expert and the customer both want to ensure they are a match.
Before the expert prepares a scope of work and estimate, the proposed solution needs to be fully understood by the customer. Quick video chats are welcome.
Consultation-style projects, where the expert and the client meet for an hour to discuss the client’s needs, are great, too, for beginning a long-lasting relationship.
Occasionally, there is more work in planning than can be provided for free. In these instances, a Discovery-style project might be the right place to begin.
Before we start, we must ensure the customer knows our company. Codeable has helpful articles about fees, price structures, agreements, payments, and all common questions. And the best resource in Codeable, the support staff, is always ready to help.
3. The solution
Hunting job. After the discovery phase, the expert still has some persuasive work. Usually, an expert has to deliver a pitch or develop a document that highlights the prescribed solution, and perhaps a visual prototype as well must be included alongside the Estimate.
If the expert misestimates and charges a small amount, he will need to bear the costs. Any mistakes in size, price, and effort could destroy the customer’s confidence or invalidate the budget.
The hunter’s conquering mood helps the farmer’s protecting mood, offsetting the perfect deal.
4. Deal
It’s time to close the deal, describing the project, scope, and estimate.
The Farmer is a pragmatic, methodic person who concludes this phase. It requires care of details. The customer believes he made the best choice, but If payment methods or the agreement aren’t acceptable, the deal cannot progress, and the relationship cannot thrive.
5. On board, time to work!
Our master of love and care, a hard-working, dedicated, sensible Farmer, will protect and serve customers’ needs. The long or quick trip must be made comfortable and secure, and the process must be straightforward and well-explained.
Communication, transparency, and support set the new customer up in the system, helping them integrate, load, and migrate data, set up the contracted customizations, and optimize the workflow.
6. Retention and Care
The expert at Codeable works hard, like a real Farmer in the fields, to cultivate the growing seeds, turning them into valuable fruits and vegetables for the client.
Customer retention involves constant interactions like periodically answering solutions questions, helping customers facing challenges, or performing regular account reviews.
It’s natural for Farmers providing them happiness and an extraordinary experience.
7. Renewing the Care
Farmers meticulously will know customers’ contracts expiring and will gladly help to renew them on time. The Codeable partners depend on the experts to maintain their customers and vice-versa.
Periodically, as a Farmer planting seeds, the expert will help the customer grow this business by proposing new tools and new profitable solutions. This virtuoso partnership will make both enjoy excellent harvesting.
Our duty in Codeable is to help customers. Our endeavor lead to making customers happy so they will return and everybody will enjoy the goods.
In closing…
We lead to growth with our customers, partners, and experts. We are proud to have a big heart and evolve as humans. We are Hunters, Farmers, and also Pursuant and Caretakes for a better planet.