Holden Advisors Blog

2020 was an unexpected year for all of us. It was filled with unprecedented changes to all of our lives, a pivot (for most of us) to doing business virtually, and for us at Holden Advisors, a lot of new and interesting content relating to virtual negotiations and price changes in a pandemic. As we reflect on the past year, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued interest in our publications and spotlight the 5 articles you loved the most in 2020.

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, Pricing with Confidence, Selling with Backbone, Commercial Transformation

Given all the disruption and change this year, challenging your commercial organization’s go-to-market strategy is a totally reasonable endeavor. The big questions are:

Topics: Pricing with Confidence

The other day I received a call from the CEO of a technology company, and it was not to talk about his company. In this case, I was provided as a reference for a building contractor I had worked with several years ago. The caller’s name was Curt, and like many people building a home, Curt wanted to find a contractor who would do the job on time and not overcharge him. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, not always.

Topics: value selling, pricing

We have received many requests from companies wondering if it is a good idea to increase prices to offset declining sales during the pandemic. While the answer is generally no, it is important to recognize how buyers are changing their behavior and how the pandemic is causing disruption. So I thought it was wise to spend a few minutes reviewing the importance of understanding your distinct customer groups to bring clarity during economic chaos.

Topics: Pricing with Confidence, big data, value, pricing

Recently, McDonalds had a special pricing promotion that caused a 10% reduction in demand for fries. Allegedly, the drop in demand was the result of a 99-cent burger promotion. The promotion unintentionally incentivized consumers to switch from buying their usual combo meals that included fries and a drink at a bundled price. These combo meals are a traditional winner for franchises as customers who normally buy just the burger and a drink can opt to add fries at a discount versus purchasing all three items separately. They might even choose to “super-size” it with bigger drinks and fries at higher prices, adding more profit to the purchase. As a dad and now a granddad, I have fallen into that trap more than once!

Topics: pricing, bundling

During our recent Virtual Backbone workshops, our participants have been sharing interesting insights about the psychological aspect of negotiating. We wanted to share some with you:

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone

Recently, we launched our Virtual Backbone initiative to help improve sales teams' negotiating performance, all from the comfort and safety of their home office. The results are great, but we wanted to share a few additional insights based on participant feedback.   

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone

This is a scary time for suppliers and their sales teams. Customers concerned with the impact of COVID-19 are canceling or postponing projects and curtailing spending. As a result, suppliers are losing revenue and seriously considering pay cuts and/or layoffs to help them through this difficult time.

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, winning proposal, value selling, procurement

Early in 2019, I was speaking with the Chief Transformation Officer from one of our clients. After we described how a commercial transformation progressed when supported by our Negotiating with Backbone framework, he asked, “Is there anything else I should know?” 

Topics: Commercial Transformation

We’ve worked with many companies that are going through commercial transformations and, while I’m glad to see more and more companies adopting transformational efforts, the fact remains that many are doomed to fail.

Topics: Uncovering your Value, customer experience, Commercial Transformation