Holden Advisors Blog

(Excerpt form Tannis' current featured blog)

One of our large, multinational clients was aggressively addressing the discounting culture pervasive in the organization. With various verticals, multiple product lines and more than 10,000 customers they were struggling to measure the effectiveness of the various pricing initiatives and identify areas to prioritize efforts for maximum impact. Because of the magnitude and complexity of the organization, they got stuck in the weeds with day to day problems.

Every company that we have worked with wants to grow. They set growth targets and communicate it to their shareholders. Achieving these targets can mean make or break for the organization. At times, we see companies become overwhelmed with options in their pursuit of growth and while under immense pressure from shareholders, seem to be standing still versus moving forward. If you are in a company in a mature industry, chances are there aren’t many green fields left to grow. Faced with this situation, what can a company do? How can a company exceed market expectations and drive shareholder value?

From: Inc.  Elon Musk Shows How to Be a Great Boss in 1 Simple Letter

We talk a lot about how sales teams can Negotiate with Backbone, and rightly so.  This is a huge opportunity to take action in limiting discounts that companies think they need to give to win business.  Our clients’ sales teams are making significant improvements on margin in negotiating their very next deal after learning the Backbone framework.

Congratulations! You just inked a major deal that you’ve been working on for the past six months. You carefully worked the deal through a complex buying process, beating out your major competitor in the process. Your quota is almost clinched for the quarter. Time to focus on those other prospects that you have shortchanged recently in the hope of making it over the finish line.

We all like to believe we understand the value our products and services will bring to our customers.  We study our products and link the benefits of what our company delivers to our customers and their respective business; believing we can make a positive contribution.  However, why is it the messages we work so hard to develop often fall on deaf ears?  Why does it seem the value message we believe in, comes short of getting passed our immediate contacts?

What if I told you that just by focusing on improving your teams’ price negotiation muscles, you can improve your topline by 2 or 3%, maybe more?  What would this mean to the profitability of your company?  What would this mean for your own compensation?  Here are three simple but powerful backbone-building resolutions that will help your teams work smarter, not harder, in 2016:

The tale of the commodity Christmas tree.