World Class Selling

JIM HOLDEN is the founder and CEO of Holden Corporation, an internationally recognized leader in sales and marketing effectiveness. The company has pioneered the first proven methodology to align sales and marketing in today's marketplace, working with major industries worldwide, including an impressive array of Fortune 1000 companies. Holden is the author of Power Base Selling: Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighter, also published by Wiley.

• Introduction: Selling at the Forefront of Change 1Value chain Management 2Integrating Sales and Marketing 4Integrating Sales and Human Resources 5Your Personal Challenge 7Chapter 1 The Competitive Landscape 10The First Reality 12Building Wisdom 14Building and Evaluating Value 15Performance Bonding 22Building Value Propositions 26Value-Based Relationships 30Chapter 2 Customer Relationships 36Value Expectations 39FOX Hunting 52Formulating Strategy 55Political Competition 60Chapter 3 The Competitive Salesperson 66Sales Currency 69Measuring Sales Currency 74Political Acumen 78Chapter 4 Competency Profiling 86Building a Competency Map 86Competency Profiling 92Sales Attributes 95Integrity and Performance 95Chapter 5 Creating Value through Technology 99The Technology Gap 103A Failed Attempt 104Formulating Value-Centric Technology Strategy 109Automating Value-Centric Sales Methodology 112Chapter 6 Segmenting the Market 122Choosing the Approach 124Defining Value Chain Levels 125Chapter 7 The Value-Centric Transformation 135Putting Strategy Back into Strategic Planning 136A Missed Opportunity 137Managing Value 139The Entire Buying Process 140The Customer Food Chain 146Defining Customer Buying Patterns 152Confronting Internal Politics 155Chapter 8 Selling to Value 160Accepting the Call to Action 161Creating Value Chain Language 164Selling to Blue Value 166Establishing the GLOS Ratio 169Selling to Green Value 171Business Solutions Accounts 175Qualifying Business Solutions Opportunities 178Business Solutions Competencies 181Strategic Accounts 183Strategic Currency 190Strategic Competencies 190Chapter 9 Integrating Sales and Marketing 194Approach to Market 195Achieving Sales and Marketing Alignment 199Marketing-to-Sales Cycle Alignment 203Emerging Internal Opposition 210Chapter 10 Integrating Sales and Human Resources 216Recruiting and Selection 217Performance Management 225Value-Centric Compensation 229A Blueprint for Value Chain Management 232About the Author 243Index 245

"World Class Selling is a must for any company executive and sales professional committed to achieving world class supremacy. Jim Holden has surpassed himself." -George E. Harvey, President, Business Group AT&T Canada "The Holden Corporation and its value concept teachings are not new to the Microsoft OEM division. For the past three years we have worked with them, immersing ourselves in their value management methodology, applying it to a variety of scenarios in our business, with excellent results. For us, World Class Selling is another great extension of what we have been practicing for some time. I'm sure it will make us an even better organization to reckon with." -Joachim Kempin, Senior Vice President, OEM Division Microsoft "In World Class Selling, Jim Holden adds another dimension to his teaching effectiveness. The real life highs, lows, threats and accomplishments of Mary Gagan establish the drama of what selling has become . . . an outstanding book which addresses a very complicated subject in a very interesting and comprehensive way." -William Y. O'Connor, Chairman, CEO, and President GTECH Corporation "The concepts put forth in World Class Selling, created by linking critical sales and sales related area of a business, will drive any company's ability to change as market circumstances change. Holden Corporation has been a strong, passionate and value-focused partner to ALLTEL. Their proven processes are helping link every employee, everywhere in the company, directly or indirectly to providing value to our customers." -Jeff Fox, President ALLTEL Information Services "Using the methods Jim Holden spells out in World Class Selling, we at Origin were able to use one common language and professionalize our sales process and sales force, resulting in an increased hit rate and lower sales cost." -Peter Overakker, Executive Vice President Origin International (The Netherlands)