The Selling Fox: A Field Guide for Dynamic Sales Performance

Holden considers the role of competition in a sales process more than any other author I have read. This consideration makes his works particularly valuable, and this book is no exception. Holden defines the term "Selling Fox" as an ethical, strategic, humble professional relentlessly working to deliver the sale to success. Holden defines four different sales strategies, and outlines how to tactically implement each one with authority to beat your competitor. Unfortunately, Holden's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. It is clear that Holden worked for organizations that have a significant market presence and are selling to clients who must buy. His advice on prospecting is laughably simplistic. When selling a consultative sale, for example, often the biggest competition is no decision, a fact which Holden never mentions. Regardless, Holden remains King of the Competitive Strategy for sales, and this book should be required reading for an experienced salesperson who is ready to get very serious about his or her career.

Jim Holden uses the metaphor of the Selling Fox to present ideas that will sharpen the skills of any competitive sales professional. Unlike many sales books, which have a "supervisory" voice, written from the perspective of someone who isn't actually battling away on the front lines, Holden writes about the reality of winning and keeping business. Foxes survive and thrive in an environment where another player is always scheming to steal their cheese, not move it. In fact, one unique aspect of this helpful guide is its practical advice on how to set traps for your competitors and take their clients away. That may not fit the rest of Holden's emphasis on integrity - but the law of the jungle is often what makes a sales professional a valued property. Maybe the fox analogy is overdone, but the phrase "super sales person" is even more careworn. We from getAbstract strongly recommend this book to those engaged in the noble business of selling, and to those who train them.

This is how to sell...in any and all competitive markets..If you are not aware or using this stuff...you are at a big time loss...or will loose sales to me.-Measure your personal performance and professional development -Establish and maintain executive relationships -Destabilize the competition to win market share (THE BEST.BEST.BEST STUFF) -Build personal credibility -Utilize advanced blocking and trapping techniques (GREAT IDEAS) -Objectively evaluate sales opportunities and pursue the right lead every time -Anticipate and defend against competitors' attacks (ONLY WAY TOO GO!)

All, I mean ALL, ALL selling, ALL selling is competitive (or you are not in sales) in the new age of selling...info moves faster...decisions are made with differnt spins...and he or she who discerns the buying process and measures every step wins. Jim shows you how...this info is not new yet an expansion of material first introduced years ago on Power Base Selling (the best book on Sage selling ever) and World Class...this book targets the individual skills and intuition of the Selling Fox. Great work. Have read 'SPIN-SPUN' selling and feel that executing that process can be a bigger negative vs. positive to gettting the job done...read 'High Prob Selling' and this will greatly compliment Holdens concepts to some extent. Holden's books will always house my shelf wtih ONLY a few others...'Toa of Sales,' Behr, 'Major Account Selling,' Rackham, 'Solution Selling and High Prob Selling" and of course the BOMB of them all 'The Selling Fox,' Holden. MUST READ! Honest and real!! No hype and bla-bla about... maybe this, that, and the other.

"The Selling Fox" dots the "i's" and crosses the "t's" on developing a personalized business development system, operative in any marketplace. As the author states, it is the centerpiece to his other two references, "Power Base Selling" and "World Class Selling." As advertised, it is a "field guide" for increasing sales performance, with reference points from how to create demand, to how to close business, right under your competitor's nose. The reference points of Jim Holden's personal ethos are integrity, intelligence, intensity, and innovation. Connect those dots and you'll have a picture of the man behind the fox.