What Kind of Fish Are You? Three Sales Styles That Drive Growth
- Marty Jalove Master Happiness
- Jul 2
- 6 min read
Quick answer: The best salespeople don't rely on a single approach. They combine three distinct styles, the Remora (hitchhiker), the Anglerfish (attractor), and the Great White Shark (hunter), and know when to use each one. Understanding which style dominates your current strategy is the first step toward more intentional, sustainable sales growth.
You've heard the complaints before. "Sales feel forced." "I hate cold calling." "I'm just waiting for referrals to come in." Sound familiar?
Here's the reframe: the problem usually isn't the salesperson. It's the fish tank.
Most of us default to one approach when it comes to growing our business. We stick to what feels comfortable, what worked once, or what someone told us to do. But the ocean doesn't reward one strategy, it rewards adaptability. The most successful salespeople aren't locked into a single style. They swim between three very different ones depending on the situation, the season, and the customer in front of them.
So, let's dive in. Meet your three fish.
The Remora: Are You Hitching a Ride on Someone Else's Success?
The remora is a fascinating creature. Rather than hunting on its own, it attaches itself to a larger host, a shark, a ray, a whale, using a powerful suction disc on the top of its head. It feeds on scraps left behind by its host, benefits from the host's movement, and rarely has to expend much energy of its own.
In sales, the Remora is the person who depends almost entirely on someone else's momentum. Referrals from one big client. Business flowing in from a single partnership. A loyal customer base that's been around for years but isn't growing.
Here's the honest truth: the Remora approach isn't all bad. Building relationships that generate referrals is smart. Partnering with businesses that complement yours can be powerful. But if this is your only strategy, you're at risk. What happens when the host moves on? What happens when that long-time client retires, downsizes, or finds a competitor?
The Remora waits. And in business, waiting is a slow leak.
Ask yourself: How much of your new business last year came from proactive effort versus opportunities that landed in your lap?
The Anglerfish: Are You Building a Light That Draws People In?
Now here's where things get interesting. The anglerfish lives in the deep, dark ocean, one of the most unforgiving environments on the planet. It can't chase prey easily. Instead, it evolved something remarkable: a bioluminescent lure, a glowing tip dangling from a modified spine above its head, that attracts curious creatures straight toward it.
According to Smithsonian Ocean, the anglerfish doesn't produce this light itself, it relies on tiny glowing bacteria to create the glow. But the effect is undeniable. In the dark, the light does all the work.
In sales, the Anglerfish is the business that builds so much visible value, through content, reputation, community, expertise, or extraordinary customer experience, that ideal customers are naturally drawn in. They see the light and swim toward it.
This is the salesperson who publishes genuinely helpful content. The small business owner who earns five-star reviews because their team is engaged, aligned, and exceptional at what they do. The consultant whose past clients become their loudest advocates because the experience was that good.
The Anglerfish strategy ties directly to two of the most powerful growth levers available to small and medium-sized businesses: customer experience and employee engagement. When your team is motivated, communicates well, and lives your company's values every day, your business naturally glows in the dark. People notice. People talk. People come to you.
The limitation? Even the most luminous anglerfish can find itself in a very empty part of the ocean if it doesn't also go where the fish are.
Ask yourself: What is your business doing today to create a light worth swimming toward?
The Great White Shark: Are You Hunting With Intention?
The great white shark doesn't wait to be found. It doesn't hitch a ride. It moves, deliberately, powerfully, and with purpose, toward its next opportunity.
In sales, the Great White Shark is the proactive hunter. This is the salesperson who picks up the phone, walks into a networking event with a plan, follows up three times when others follow up once, and creates pipeline from scratch when needed. They're not aggressive for aggression's sake, they're intentional. They know who they serve, why they're the best fit, and they go find those people.
For small and medium-sized businesses, this approach is often the most uncomfortable, and the most necessary. Growth doesn't wait for perfect timing. Markets shift, referrals dry up, and industries evolve. The businesses that thrive are the ones with leaders and teams who can shift from passive to proactive when it counts.
Here's what separates a skilled hunter from someone who just cold calls all day: clarity. The Great White doesn't chase every fish in the ocean. It hunts with purpose, using instinct shaped by experience. In business terms, that means knowing your ideal customer, having a compelling reason to reach out, and delivering value from the very first interaction, not just a pitch.
Ask yourself: When did you last proactively go after a new opportunity instead of waiting for one to arrive?
Which Fish Wins? The Best Salespeople are All Three
Here's the answer that you should be swimming toward: there is no single winning fish. The most effective salespeople and business owners shift between all three styles, and they do it intentionally.
They build referral relationships like a Remora, but they don't become dependent on any single host. They invest in customer experience, content, and culture like an Anglerfish, ensuring their business glows even when they're not in the room. And they show up like a Great White Shark when the moment calls for bold, proactive pursuit.
Think of it as a rhythm. Attract, nurture, hunt. Repeat.
The key is awareness. Most of us default to one style, often the one that feels safest, and underinvest in the others. The Remora-style business owner builds great relationships but avoids outreach. The Anglerfish-style marketer creates excellent content but never picks up the phone. The Great White Shark-style hunter lands new clients but struggles with retention because the customer experience hasn't been prioritized.
All three fish live in the same ocean. The question is: which one are you swimming as right now, and which one does your business need more of?
The Final Cast: Create, Don't Wait
Here's a question worth sitting with today:
Are you creating opportunities, or are you waiting for them?
Growth doesn't happen in the waiting. It happens in the doing, in the intentional decisions you make about how you show up for your customers, your team, and your market every single day. When your employees are engaged and your customers feel genuinely valued, your business becomes the kind of place people want to swim toward. Add proactive outreach to that foundation, and you've got something truly powerful.
At Master Happiness, we help small and medium-sized businesses build the culture, clarity, and communication systems that fuel all three of these approaches. Because meaningful growth isn't an accident, it's a choice made repeatedly, one conversation at a time.
Ready to figure out which fish your business needs to become? Let's talk.
What Kind of Fish Are You? Three Sales Styles That Drive Growth
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Remora sales approach and when should you use it?
The Remora approach relies on partnerships, referrals, and existing relationships to generate business. It works well when you have strong relationships worth nurturing, but it becomes a liability if it's your only strategy, as it depends entirely on outside momentum rather than proactive effort.
What does the Anglerfish sales style mean for small businesses?
The Anglerfish approach is about building so much visible value, through excellent customer experience, employee engagement, content, and reputation, that customers are naturally drawn to you. For small businesses, this means investing in your team culture and service quality until your business becomes the obvious choice in your market.
How can small business owners develop a proactive Great White Shark sales approach?
Start with clarity: know exactly who your ideal customer is and what specific problem you solve for them. Then build consistent habits around outreach, whether that's networking, follow-ups, or direct prospecting. Proactive selling isn't about pressure; it's about showing up with purpose and genuine value.
Why do the best salespeople use more than one approach?
Relying on a single sales style creates vulnerability. Referrals slow down, content takes time to generate leads, and proactive outreach can burn out without a strong reputation to back it up. Combining all three approaches, attracting, nurturing, and hunting, creates a more resilient and sustainable pipeline.
How does employee engagement connect to sales growth?
Engaged employees deliver better customer experiences, generate stronger word-of-mouth, and represent your brand more effectively in every interaction. According to the Master HAppiness growth framework, boosting employee engagement is one of the most direct paths to transforming customer experience, and customer experience is one of your most powerful sales tools.
Want to learn more about What Kind of Fish Are You? Three Sales Styles That Drive Growth? Contact www.MasterHappiness.com today.
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