Holden Advisors Blog

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:

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.   

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?” 

Is your product a commodity? Is it really? Or, do your customers cry commodity during negotiations to get you to decrease your price? Watch the video below and listen as Adele McLean talks about how you can get out from under this tough negotiation tactic and avoid the commodity trap.

Recently I was talking with a few business partners about the latest business trends we see with clients. One hot topic is transformation! On any given day, another organization is appointing a new transformation leader, plotting a new strategy for organic growth, and talking about increasing profitability. On the surface, it makes sense. Successful businesses should consistently focus on revenue growth and margin improvement...right? But where is the best place to start?

Do you have a relationship with key decision makers? 

When facing low-priced competition, think twice before "sticking it to the competition" by going in with a low, low price. Watch the video to learn why:

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum how lovely are your branches.

Have you become trapped in your own mindset – convinced you are selling a commodity or that even you yourself have become commoditized? Are you falling prey to confirmation bias when you sell? Well, sellers, it’s time to wake up and start thinking differently.

At a recent partner conference, CEOs and Presidents of value-added resellers discussed how to support their commercial teams and navigate the evolving landscape of selling, training, organizational design, and trust. Listen as Adele shares the Executives' viewpoints on what to start doing now to defend value in the marketplace.