Selling B2B Services to Holding Companies

June 04, 2025

by a searcher from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Campus in Marysville, WA, USA

Hi everyone! I recently looked at a business that provided corporate wellness consulting, and their entire client list was made of holding companies. Essentially, the business would get a contract with the holding company to provide services to each of the companies in their portfolio, so the business was getting 5-20 clients with each contract signed. For those of you that own multiple companies, what are your thoughts on this model? Would you hire a consultant to work with your entire portfolio of companies? If so, what are some key considerations you'd have when it comes to offer, selecting a consultant, delivery structure of the services, etc? Open question, so take it wherever you'd like!

Reply by a searcher
from University of Pennsylvania in Bellevue, WA, USA

I previously worked for a holding company that owned over 20 businesses (and had over 400,000 employees across them). If we came across a consultant or service provider we really liked, we'd often make a recommendation and introduction to our relevant operating companies but would leave the decision ultimately up to each operating company.

Sometimes. It really depends if the vendor can offer demonstrable value to the operating company. If yes, it's a huge advantage that it came recommended from the parent company compared to other similar vendors pitching for similar services.

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