Careers > Customer Value Expert

Posted 14 Dec, 2020

Summary

The Customer Value Expert facilitates the integration of customer value research and the resulting value messages into strategic price-setting and sales execution with our clients. The role includes building on Holden Advisors’ intellectual property (IP) to maintain our leading position in value-based pricing, sales transformation, and commercial excellence.  The Customer Value Expert educates project teams on key customer value concepts and skills, including value tools, the design of customer value research, and the execution of depth interviews. This role integrates quantitative and qualitative insights from projects to develop recommendations and deliverables for our clients and collaborates with marketing and business development team members to develop value messages for sales activities. This person should have an executive presence with the capability to present and defend a point of view with client leadership teams.

Nature of Work

The Customer Value Expert is a visionary for the development of IP and the integration of value concepts from Holden Advisors’ published works — The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing, Pricing with Confidence, and Negotiating with Backbone – as well as an extensive library of research and published articles. The Customer Value Expert learns from client engagements to further develop our portfolio of products, research, and articles that drive client revenue, and assists in building trusted relationships with key clients. This product portfolio includes value-based pricing consulting, pricing/marketing workshops, sales transformation workshops, coaching, digital learning, and change reinforcement tools.

The applicant must be curious by nature and have strong business acumen with an understanding of the key principles of pricing, sales, and commercial execution to identify opportunities to improve client business results. The applicant should also have strong interviewing skills when engaging with clients and client customers to develop and refine hypotheses on opportunities to improve customer business results. Demonstrated experience aligning client and/or commercial teams around customer value will be given preference. This position is 30-50% IP development/management and 50-70% billable client project work.

Responsibilities

The following list provides examples of typical responsibilities for this position:

  • Implements value consulting project methodologies and approaches
  • Guides project teams in the application of customer value to develop pricing and sales recommendations and deliverables
  • Leads customer value research projects, including design, execution, development of results and recommendations, and assuring alignment to project goals
  • Develops “sales-ready” content for sales transformation workshops, to drive needed change and enable Sellers to conduct value conversations with their customers
  • Coaches and/or manages key client stakeholders during projects
  • Acts as a trusted advisor to select client executives
  • Collaborates with internal marketing to develop content for campaigns and positioning Holden Advisors’ point of view
  • Develops business development content and participates in prospect development meetings and presentations
  • Educates Holden staff on value tools, methodologies, and applications to client engagement and workshops
  • Develops new hire customer value training
  • Researches, drafts and submits newsletter articles, blogs, and videos that reflect the application of Holden Advisors’ customer value IP
  • Develops and delivers workshops at conferences

Qualifications

MBA or equivalent with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in product management, pricing, marketing, or strategy applying quantified customer value and/or in-depth understanding of customer business needs to guide product development, value messaging, pricing, and sales.

  • MBA and a minimum of 5 years’ experience
  • Demonstrated business acumen
  • Customer-facing experience to assess customer needs and utilize these needs to develop successful, profitable product and services is highly desirable
  • Expertise in B2B decision-making and psychology of complex decision-making within an organization is a plus
  • Excellent verbal and writing skills
  • Ability to transform innovative, often ambiguous, concepts into practical, industry-leading practices, tools, and products
  • Consulting experience a plus

Travel Requirements

  • Position requires travel.
  • Position can be based anywhere in the US.

To Apply

Who We Are

Holden Advisors is a team of experts in B2B pricing consulting, customer value and price negotiations working with long-term clients to improve profit outcomes and sales performance. We specialize in advising clients to develop price-to-value capabilities and high impact sales negotiation skills for tangible financial improvement. Our subject matter experts foster an outside-in view of the customer while providing a lens to diagnose and solve pricing problems that interfere with profitable growth. Our collaborative approach builds client capabilities to realize their value and make profits grow.

Our Core Values

  • Client improvement
  • Open and honest communications
  • Positive conflict
  • Respect for the individual
  • The Power of Collaboration

 The Holden Advisors Difference

  • Thought-leadership.  We build competitive advantage in pricing by helping clients implement the right profit building solution.
  • Sales savvy.  We have the ability to improve sales effectiveness by addressing one of the most dreaded problems in the sales process: the price negotiation.
  • Collaboration.  We work with sales, marketing, finance and pricing to achieve pricing power.
  • Comprehensive view.  We look at both quantitative and qualitative aspects of pricing to help you illuminate an offering’s clear value to a customer.
  • Analytical and practical approach.  We transform exacting analysis into solutions your sales force can defend face to face with your customers.
  • Executive advisor.  We have decades of experience as sales managers, marketers, and world-class pricing leaders, so we know first-hand what you’re facing.
  • Focus on action.  We go beyond strategies and automated systems to help you build pricing confidence into the way your team operates.
  • Straight talk.  We identify the tough issues and tell you what we think and why—so you can confront challenges head-on.