Seller's dilemma:
How do you sell to customers
who already know it all?

CHICAGO, IL, July 28 — The rise of Web 3.0 has armed today's customers with all the information they need about the products and services they want to buy-and for sales professionals who cling to their old ways of selling, that's a problem.

"For most sales people, selling the same way that's always worked for you before is doomed," declares Ryan Kubacki, president of longtime sales training leader Holden International.

"Let's say you need to buy a complex B2B service. Ten years ago, you'd have to entertain a parade of sales people to show you their products and explain them. Chances are, one of them would stand out functionally, and that one would get your business. Product was king, and the seller controlled the conversation.

"But today there's more competition-and more products-- from all around the world. With the Great Recession, all those products are fighting for fewer available dollars. Customers can just research them all online and pick one. Sellers who still expect to be the customer's source of information are sentencing themselves to irrelevance," Kubacki asserted. "Sellers need to make the shift from information provider to business advisor."

Holden is responding with a series of moves designed to keep its graduates ahead of the curve. A centerpiece of this campaign is the new Holden Alumni Network, whose online headquarters The Fox Den is slated to open August 20.

"What we're relaying to our alumni is that they need to rise above traditional 'value-add' selling and step up to the new essential: 'Compete' selling. At The Fox Den, they'll find a treasure trove of insight on what that means-and on how to get it done," Kubacki said.

The Fox Den site will offer podcasts, webinars, white papers and blogs as a no-cost service to Holden Alumni Network members, Kubacki said. Holden alums and friends of Holden can register their interest in The Fox Den now by visiting http://www.holdenintl.com/news/register.html.

General information about Holden International can be found at HoldenIntl.com. For more details on Holden Alumni Network and The Fox Den, contact Jenae Meader at 312-476-8796.