Holden Advisors Blog

2019 was an exciting year for Holden Advisors, filled with thought-provoking and timely content reflecting key takeaways from special events and outlining optimal strategies to address the most pressing commercial challenges. 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 2019.

Are you sick of hearing about the need to protect your premium high value offerings and stop discounting? Well, you may be sick of hearing it, but it's true.

Generally speaking, as a seller to a seller, we know that big sales opportunities are both a blessing and a curse. While they offer the opportunity for “quota busting” years, they also carry a heavy spotlight and the pressure that comes along with it. This pressure churns our emotions, generating angst in even the most tenured sales pros. How do you deal with the stress?

Do you think your sales team effectively sells the value that you provide to your customers? And how would you measure that, anyway?

How many blog posts have you read that start with something like, “As a 20-year sales veteran, I’ve experienced …blah…blah…blah”?  It’s amusing how sellers use tenure as a crutch for complacency. It sounds reasonable though, right? Why shouldn’t my performance speak for itself? 

Do you have a relationship with key decision makers? 

Salespeople have bad habits, just like the rest of us. We all know this. Perhaps one of a seller’s worst habits, however, is rampant discounting. This habit is insidious, hard to break, and downright destructive. It falls straight to a company’s bottom line and eats up margins like PAC-MAN.

I recently renewed my car insurance. It had been a few years since I’d changed the policy, and the cars were now half a decade older, so I decided to call GEICO to see if they could save me some money; after all, they promise new customers that 15 minutes can save them 15% (or more) from their bill. I was underwhelmed with the call. It turned out they could offer me very little, even though the policy had declined in value due to the lower value of the vehicles covered. So I decided to shop around with competitors, and lo and behold, Progressive could save me – a new customer – $400 a year on my plan.

Apple and Amazon stepped into the ring again recently, like B2B’s answer to Mayweather/Pacquiao, to cut a deal to finally land Apple’s newest products in Amazon’s marketplace on release day. In the past, these two tech heavyweights have sparred over products, apps, and availability – tactically bobbing and weaving to boost profits and stock value. But the latest bout between the two rivals showcased Apple's experience and savvy negotiating tactics (more on these in a minute) as a way to win a pivotal round.

If you’re a fan of the 1960s television show, Get Smart (or saw the 2008 movie with Steve Carrell), you know that the good guys work for Control and the bad guys work for an organization called KAOS (pronounced, “Chaos”). As a pricing or finance leader, it sometimes feels like this reflects your life as well: you're trying to maintain control over your pricing and profit, but too many times when a negotiation is left in the hands of your sales rep, it turns into chaos.