Small Fish in a Big Pond: Why Farmers Must Hunt

Farmers Must Hunt

When most companies think about growth, they typically look outward—chasing new logos, running outbound campaigns, and filling the top of the funnel. But too often, they overlook the biggest opportunities: their existing clients.

Current clients are often a fertile ground for additional business or referrals to other qualified prospects—especially when you’re a small fish in a BIG pond. And if you’re not strategically selling into them, you’re leaving revenue, relationships, and opportunities on the table.

But here’s the problem: expanding inside a current account often requires the same skills as winning a new one—skills typically associated with a Hunter (Business Development ). Yet the responsibility often falls to the Farmer (Account Manager), who’s not accustomed or skilled at playing that role.

Farmers vs. Hunters

Farmers (Account Managers) are excellent at what they’re designed to do:

• Deliver great service.

• Respond quickly.

• Keep clients satisfied.

• Ensure renewals.

Hunters (Business Development), on the other hand, excel at:

• Identifying and engaging new stakeholders.

• Running discovery conversations.

• Building business cases for investment.

• Winning new business.

The challenge is that expanding and growing an existing account requires Farmers to think and act more like Hunters.

Partnership Reviews & the 4 R’s

Partnership Reviews are one of the most effective ways to strengthen relationships and grow revenue. They create the ideal time, place, and format to earn what I call the 4 R’s of Client Growth:

1. Retention

2. Repeat Business

3. Recommendations

4. Referrals

   
   

But here’s the problem: it’s not that the Partnership Review falls flat. The bigger issue is that it often never gets scheduled—or at least not with the right stakeholders.

Unless communicated effectively, Partnership Reviews can be seen as a courtesy, nice-to-have vs. a strategic opportunity to align key stakeholders from both organizations and maximize the relationship.

That’s why Farmers can’t treat it like a routine check-in. They have to sell their way into the meeting—just like a Hunter would when trying to win a new logo.

Treat Current Accounts Like Prospects

Once you’ve power-ranked your current clients and identified the most important Partnership Reviews to schedule, treat securing those meetings with the same discipline you’d apply to booking time with a new Blue Chip prospect.

In many cases, a casual, assumptive email won’t grab their attention or get the key stakeholder group to align their schedules.

• Identify the right stakeholders. Start with the person with the influence to mobilize others and bring the group together.

  
  

• Tailor your message. Speak directly to their priorities, performance measures, pains, and positive outcomes. Clearly articulate why it’s critical to invest time together.

  
  

• Guide your champion. Help your existing contact incorporate the right people into the conversation.

In short: Farmers must hunt. You have to re-sell the value of investing this time together, even though you’ve already won the business.

Punching Above Your Weight Class

Once you’ve secured your Partnership Review with the right stakeholder group, it’s critical to make the time worthwhile.

Preparation is key:

• Current State: Revisit the engagement (expectations vs. actuals). Proactively invite constructive feedback and share recommendations of your own to help them get more value from the partnership. This elevates you from vendor to partner.

• Desired Future State: Revisit the Business Case from the sales process (or most recent Partnership Review). Ensure you’re helping them navigate toward their goals. This is where opportunities for new or additional business emerge—whether with the same group or across other teams, departments, or geographies.

  
  

Once you’ve identified a new opportunity, schedule a Discovery Meeting with the appropriate stakeholders to build the business case and present your proposal—just like you would with a brand-new opportunity.

Don’t cut corners or assume anything just because they’re already a client. That assumption is exactly what leads to ghosts and no-shows.

Conclusion: Farmers Must Learn to Hunt

The truth is, if you want to grow your current accounts, you have to take a thoughtful, strategic, and intentional approach. Account Managers (Farmers) must learn to hunt—developing the same skills used by Business Development (Hunters) to identify, engage, and win new opportunities.

Whether that means training AMs to sell or bringing Hunters deeper into existing accounts, the shift is critical. Because if you don’t sell into your current clients, someone else will.

Revenue Compass Assessment

The Revenue Compass Assessment is designed to help leaders quickly see where their biggest opportunities for growth really are—whether it’s retaining current clients, expanding within existing accounts, or acquiring new ones.

It’s a high-level, objective way to identify whether your team is stuck in “service-only farming mode” and what needs to shift so you can capture more value from the accounts you already serve.

Take the free assessment here: Revenue Compass Assessment

Go Deeper

For more practical insights, check out these related posts:

• Earn the 4 R’s from Your Blue Chip Clients

• Partnership Reviews: The Key to Retaining Your Blue Chip Clients

• Center Your Blue Chip AIM: Time, Talent, Treasure

Carver Peterson helps growth-minded leaders and organizations achieve predictable and sustainable revenue growth through a refined strategy, defined process and aligned structure.