REACHING

JIM HOLDEN REMEMBERS the original
inquiry that moved him to founding
Holden International, a privately owned
sales performance company now operating
in 25 countries. “When I first started out in sales,
I would win some accounts and lose others. I
needed to know what made the difference.” His
need to know drove him to document the details
of each sales campaign. He analyzed his results. It
became clear to him there was a process.
“Product, price, and company reputation
weren’t the key factors,” he says. He created a
pioneering methodology called Power Base Selling
that looks beyond current practices toward the
intangible aspects of selling. His focus switched
from what he was selling to how he was selling
and to whom. He asked who in the organization
has the most influence, not who has the highest
authority. Jim refers to this person as the “fox.” His
sales increased dramatically.
He believes that sales proficiency can be based
on skill and knowledge, not just innate ability. “I
was looking at it as a science,” says Jim, who has a
degree in electrical engineering.
In 1977 he resigned from a technology firm to
start a local rep firm. For two years, he applied his
new thinking to sales on a 100 percent commission
basis. With success, Jim, along with his wife, Chris,
founded Holden International. “Some family
members said, ‘Don’t do it. You’re young, don’t put
everything at risk.’ But I knew we could impact
the lives of a lot of people. It was worth taking the
risk.” Since then, hundreds of thousands of people
have been trained in Power Base Selling.
The company was recognized as innovators in
the field. “A direct correlation between our work
and results fueled our growth, particularly in
the high tech industry,” Jim says. Soon they were
winning contracts from Fortune 100 companies,
all of which were doing business globally.
It was a natural progression for the company
to move with its clients into international markets.
“We needed to understand what the issues were.
You can never plug an American program into a
foreign country.” While speaking at a conference
in New Delhi, Jim’s audience looked perplexed
as he introduced his fox concept. “It wasn’t until
I used the word jackal that signs of recognition
crossed their faces.”
JIM HOLDEN, Holden International
Continuing to position the company as
thought leaders, Jim hired Ryan Kubacki from
Microsoft Corporation to serve as president
of Holden International and Paul Dillon as
senior vice president of business development.
Both are Barrington High School graduates
with MBAs from Harvard and Northwestern,
respectively. Chris serves as the company’s chief
financial officer.
Holden International is introducing new
products using Internet technology to bring
live, instructor-led, custom classes to locations
around the world. On the current economy, he
says, “During good times it’s hard to disturb
the hierarchy of companies within an industry,
based on market share. During slowdowns
there’s an opportunity to alter the balance
of power through unconventional thinking
providing customers with unexpected value.”
He cites IT services in India, which are
currently dominated by a few large companies.
“We introduce new ways to provide value. This
economy is the domain of the progressive.”
112 Quintessential Barrington | QBarrington.com
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