Our History
In 1974 Jim Holden embarked on a sales career with a Boston-based technology firm
after completing his engineering studies at Northeastern University. Jim's intellectual
curiosity and drive to succeed led him to delve deep into the world of sales in
order to better understand the profession. He approached the sales process with
the scientific, process-oriented mind of an engineer and the desire to find a more
effective way to sell.
A new methodology. A whole new industry.
By applying objective, analytical thinking to selling, which had always been perceived
as a subjective and speculative art, Jim was able to develop a nontraditional, step-by-step
process to achieve sales success.
Jim Holden's research and analysis resulted in the application of a structured and
repeatable process to the art of selling. This innovative thinking became the foundation
for the groundbreaking Power Base® Selling methodology and a whole new industry.
In 1979 Jim Holden founded Holden International with the goal of providing value
to clients by creating innovative methods to improve sales effectiveness. His mission
was to empower organizations to excel while also helping sales professionals achieve
success both professionally and personally.
A company driven by innovation
In the years that followed, Holden International broke new ground in the sales profession
by introducing a variety of innovative and paradigm-shifting concepts, including:
addressing the treatment of politics in selling, competitive strategy formulation,
and opportunity analysis to qualify and win business; employing a four-stage model
to characterize and clarify sales proficiency; and aligning the sales process with
human resources and marketing to enhance sales success.
Holden International's thought leadership was supported and enhanced with the publication
of Power Base Selling: Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighter, Jim Holden's
best-selling book that explains what is often referred to as "the gold standard
for sales methodologies."
An expanded view for success
By 1999, with the publication of Jim Holden's second book, World Class Selling: The
Crossroads of Customer, Sales, Marketing and Technology, Holden International
had grown exponentially and its focus had expanded to include not just sales professionals,
but entire organizations.
This organizational view of sales effectiveness was the catalyst for several exciting
Holden innovations.
In 2003, Holden International introduced the Creating Demand process, a methodology
developed in response to the challenges of industry competition and commoditization.
Creating Demand helps sales professionals move up a client's value chain by creating
new opportunities rather than merely responding to client-generated requests for
proposals.
The Fox concept
Holden International also introduced the concept of "the fox," a powerful person
who is the center of influence within an organization's informal political structure,
but often works behind the scenes and "pre-wires" decisions. Finding and partnering
with a fox will advance both your company and your own career. The fox concept is
further explained in Jim Holden's third book, The Selling Fox.
The Sales Achievement Platform
Holden International is the first to bring together consulting services, training,
software and executive search into a truly innovative platform. The most recent
innovation is the Holden International Sales Achievement Platform. Introduced in
2007, it is a holistic, fully integrated, and customizable approach to driving sales
achievement across an organization and is the culmination of almost thirty years
of proven, real-world experience and results. The Holden Sales Achievement Platform
incorporates the latest innovations offered by Holden: the fully integrated executive
search option and efox, an intuitive, sophisticated, graphically intense software
solution that provides win/loss indicators and coaching insight driven by artificial
intelligence.
Sales achievement through innovation
Today, Holden International is a global company known around the world for powerful
thinking and an impressive track record of proven results. The company that began
nearly thirty years ago as one man with a passion for sales and a desire to improve
the selling process has become the industry leader that has trained over 300,000
sales professionals. Today, Holden International is made up of top professionals
who live and breathe sales and are driven to improve the sales process by producing
usable, sustainable, and profitable practices that provide real-world value for
our clients and enable them to quickly attain the highest expression of the selling
profession.
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