Land management is a great analogy for figuring out your next sales role.
When we hear the words “hunters” and “farmers,” our minds immediately go to two very different pictures: someone who aggressively stalks and chases down their food, and someone who meticulously spends time planting and nurturing their crop until it’s mature for harvest.
But in the world of EdTech sales, these go beyond a basic visual. They represent different approaches to growth, and hiring the wrong one at the wrong time (or not knowing which one you are) can cost you relationships, territory, and trust that took years to build.
Understanding the hunter-farmer paradigm in the context of EdTech can help you find the right sales candidate to help your team grow or help you look for the roles that best match your experience and personality.
So let’s map the terrain with some advice from Emmett Cullen, Partnership Manager at HireEducation.
So What Exactly Is a Hunter? What’s a Farmer?
And more importantly, what do these roles actually look like when you’re selling in EdTech?
“A Hunter is a sales rep who is chasing 100% net new business from a potential customer.”
The Hunter
Hunters are new business engines.
They thrive on the chase, strategic prospecting, and heavy consultative selling. Their energy comes from opening doors that have never been opened, getting that first meeting with a district that’s never heard of your platform, and closing deals where there was no existing relationship.
In EdTech, a hunter might be the person…
- Cold-calling curriculum directors,
- Pitching provosts on a new LMS
- Networking with Fortune 500 L&D teams at industry conferences.
Whether it’s a hard-to-crack school district, a university, or a corporate HR & Training department, they’re looking for a way in. They’re comfortable with rejection because they know it’s a numbers game.
The Farmer
Farmers nurture relationships.
They’re the ones who take a partnership and deepen it. They make sure that pilots turn into full adoption, that a single-school deal expands to a district-wide contract, and that a renewal is never in question because the customer feels genuinely supported.
In EdTech, a farmer might be the person…
- Who knows the superintendent’s priorities
- Who checks in with the implementation team months before renewal
- Who shows up to a board meeting to help their champion make the case internally.
You’ll recognize a farmer by their account depth. They can tell you every stakeholder by name, what the district’s strategic plan looks like for the next three years, and exactly when budget conversations start.
In EdTech, It’s Rarely One or the Other
In many industries, sales roles are clearly defined. You’re either opening new business or managing existing accounts.
In EdTech? The lines blur—a lot.
The same rep who’s nurturing a renewal in one district might be cold-calling the one next door. The account manager who just locked in a three-year contract could be tasked with breaking into a neighboring university system by Q3.
In EdTech, hybrid roles are the norm.
EdTech sales are relationship-driven in a way that few other sectors match. Decision-makers at schools and districts don’t buy from vendors. They buy from people they trust. Sellers must understand their world — the budget cycles, politics, accountability metrics, and the art of building buy-in. That part is pure farmer. But the long sales cycles, multiple stakeholders, and constant need to expand into new territory mean you’re almost always hunting and farming at the same time.
That’s what makes EdTech sales uniquely demanding and why the best sellers in this space carry both skill sets.
However, these skill sets aren’t equally easy to develop. Hunting is a more complicated motion.
A strong hunter can usually learn to farm — the relationship-building, the account nurturing, the long game. Going the other direction is a much tougher ask. Cold-calling into hostile territory, building a pipeline from nothing, earning attention where there is none — that’s a different kind of muscle, and it’s harder to train.
Tip: For hiring managers, that means a hunter who can shift gears might be your most versatile hire. For job seekers who lean hunter, that adaptability is a real selling point — don’t undersell it.
For Hiring Managers: Matching the Profile to the Moment
This is where a lot of EdTech companies stumble. They write a job description that says “we need a sales rep” without really asking the harder question:
What does our business need right now?
Hint: you don’t just need “someone to bring in revenue.” That’s not specific enough.
Most EdTech roles will require some blend of hunting and farming. But every role has a primary motion, and that’s what should drive your hiring profile.
- Is this role mostly about acquiring new business with some account nurturing on the side?
- Is it about deepening existing relationships with occasional expansion into new territory?
For a late-stage EdTech company with a solid number of logos, the primary motion is probably expansion and renewal. Lean toward a farmer who isn’t afraid to prospect when the opportunity is right.
If you’re early-stage or entering a new market, the primary motion is acquisition. Lean toward a hunter — and remember, a strong hunter can usually learn to farm. That flexibility might be exactly what a growing team needs.
“The best salespeople I’ve ever placed were self-aware enough to know which one they were. The worst hires happened when everyone pretended it didn’t matter.”
The mistake to avoid? Ignoring the primary motion entirely.
A hunter in a role that’s 80% account management will get bored and start chasing shiny objects. A farmer in a role that’s 80% cold outreach will struggle with the rejection and the lack of existing relationships to lean on. It’s like asking a fisherman to tend a garden — they’ll do it, but nobody’s going to love the results.
For Job Seekers: Know Which One You Are (And Own It)
If you’re looking for your next role in EdTech sales, the most powerful thing you can do is be honest with yourself about where your strengths really live.
Ask yourself: What gets me out of bed in the morning?
Is it the thrill of landing a brand-new account that nobody thought was possible? Or is it the satisfaction of watching an existing partnership deepen and grow year over year?
Neither answer is wrong. And in EdTech, you’ll almost certainly do some of both. But knowing your default mode helps you target roles where you’ll thrive instead of fighting your own nature.
When you’re in an interview, don’t just tell them you can do both (everyone says that). Show them you understand the difference and can articulate why your natural lean is the right fit for the primary motion of this specific role at this specific moment in their company’s growth. That level of self-awareness is rare, and hiring managers notice it.
And if you lean hunter? Remember that your skill set is the harder one to develop. That adaptability is a real asset — make sure your story reflects it.
The Bottom Line
In EdTech, the question isn’t really “hunter or farmer?” It’s “what’s the primary motion, and who’s best built to run it?”
If you’re hiring, stop writing generic sales job descriptions and start defining the motion your business actually needs. If you’re job seeking, stop trying to be everything to everyone and start owning what makes you great.
The sale is never just about the product. It’s about the people. The more clearly you understand what kind of salesperson you need — or what kind you are — the better the outcome for everyone. Especially the students.
If you need help figuring either one of these out, let’s chat.
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