Holden Advisors Blog

When determining product value, it’s important to go beyond cost and demand. Your customers’ perceived value matters too, especially if you want to build lasting business relationships.

Topics: Selling with Confidence, Uncovering your Value, Selling with Backbone, value selling

We live in a time of abundant choice, and our customers expect options. Providing customers with a large variety of products and features is a compelling way to sell more. But, as companies grow and diversify, it can be difficult to capture the monetary value generated by the long tail of these products using traditional product management tools and data. An example of these traditional methods includes simple gross margin and product costing techniques derived from accounting systems. These conventional accounting data sets fail to account for the value of diversification and the actual cost of complexity.

Topics: Pricing with Confidence, pricing metrics, value selling, pricing

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

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

The Buyer-Seller Gap is getting its share of press these days. Even HBR is in on the fun, having tabulated seven daunting reasons why salespeople can’t close the deal. It gets worse: only about 55% of us make quota. I wonder if accountants are as bombarded with data about how badly they perform.

Topics: Selling with Backbone, actionable insights, value, sales, value selling

 

One of the first things that first responders do when they start to treat a trauma victim is to find out where the victim is bleeding. Second, they determine which of those injuries is most life threatening. 

Topics: Selling with Backbone, actionable insights, buying center, value selling, revenue

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.

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, value selling

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?

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, value selling

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

Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, value selling