advice you can really use - lat · advice you can really use ... must share in the pain (at 50%,...

Hanley Wood November 13, 2010 PROSALES 2006 Excellence Breakfast.1

Craig Webb, Editor, ProSalesLumbermen’s Assn. of TX and LA Board MeetingNov. 10, 2010—Austin, TX

60 Ideas in 60 Minutes!60 Ideas in 60 Minutes!Advice You Can REALLY Use

"Never order barbeque in a place that also serves quiche.”--Lewis Grizzard

Roads Scholar

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43 states visited since joining ProSales in Sept. ‘06

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1. Act Like a Startup

Denair Lumber, Riverbank, CA

Creative Thinking in Carolina

Worth Supply, Charlotte, NC


Even the Pencils Are Special

Worth Supply, Charlotte, NC

2. “Home on the Range” Day …

Standale Lumber, Grandville, MI

… or “Whining Wednesdays”

You Can Cry on Only One Day at Campbellsport (WI) Building Supply

3. Creative Marketing Events

The Annual “Running of the Dachsunds” in Kearny, NE

Bucks for Bucks

Ward Lumber, Jay, NY

Chicks Love Kittens & Puppies

Curtis Lumber, NY & VT


13 Hot Dogs in 8 Minutes

Speonk Lumber, Speonk, NY

Boot-Scootin’

Creativity

Parr Lumber, OR & WA

Sponsor a Playhouse Contest

Sliters Lumber and Building Supply, Bigfork, MT

Hold a Contractor Truck Wash

4. Learn Energy Star for Homes V.3 What’s In Store for 2011


5. Inventory Alerts

Create a report in which you estimate when your inventory on hand will be exhausted. Color-code them thusly:• RED—Will run out of product in seven days.• YELLOW—Will run out of product in 14 days.• GREEN—No danger.

Use the report to help assure you don’t run out of needed products—but also that you’re not overstocking, either.

6. The 21st Century’s Homestead Act

A Yen for Home Offices, Outdoor Life

Source: AIA Survey

Think Outdoors, Think Sheds

Bloedorn Lumber, North Platte, NE

7. Give Business Cards to Your Drivers

Nielson’s Building Center, Point Roberts, WA

8. Put Brain in Gear Before Mouth


Those SOBs Sure Are Cheap Today 9. Reward Accuracy, Punish SloppyKitchen Sales: If errors are held to 0.2% of sales, give a $500 bonus. If they exceed 0.3% of sales, reps must share in the pain (at 50%, 75% or 100% of the company cost).

For OSRs: Give $500 bonus if credit returns are kept below 0.4% of sles. If they go over 0.4%, OSR pays for a percentage of what’s above 0.4%.

Lead rewards: $50 gift card to people that pass on leads that turn into sales.

Smoot Lumber (Stock Bldg Supply), Alexandria, VA

10. Develop an Emergency Plan

Ideal Lumber, Galveston, TX (After Hurricane Ike)

Develop an Emergency Plan

Riverside Lumber, New Orleans

11. Upgrade Your Inside Sales Reps

Ganahl Lumber, Los Alamitos, CA

Five Steps Leading To Better ISRs• Listen To Them

They’re uniquely positioned to give you a sense of what’s happening, and it makes them feel they have input.

• Get Them Onto the Job SiteSeeing how products are used and how the customer works will cement relationships.

• Train Them To SellInclude inside repos in your sales meetings and teach them the basics of selling.

• Empower ThemGive ‘em a bit more authority on issues like price adjustments, product returns, and rush deliveries.

• Recognize Their ContributionsPut ‘em on a task force or other initiative that shows you value their work.


12. Organize Your Showroom

Jackson Kitchen Designs,

North Andover, MA

13. Profits Through

Pink Unicorns

The World’s Most Famous LBM Exec

Photo Courtesy Warner Home Video

14.

15. Woody!

GutherieLumber,

Livonia, MI

The KISS Approach


Simple But Effective Memorably Consistent

16. Provide camera-equipped

cellphones to your drivers so they can

take photos of loads they deliver

17. What’s on your business card?

Watch Out for Typos

Billboard in South Bend, Ind.

18. Reviewing Job Candidates 1x1

Ganahl Lumber, Anaheim, CA


19. Reduce Your Electric Bill How TW Perry Cut Its by 13.4%:1.Have sr mgt create a Corporate

Energy Conservation Strategy.2.Negotiate long-term electricity

and natural gas supply contracts.3.Fix thermostats to 76 degrees in

hot weather, 68 in cool weather.4.Perform routine maintenance every

quarter on all HVAC equipment.5.Ban portable (foot) heaters, “as they

are energy hogs and notorious for blowing breakers.” (Be resolute here.)

6.Turn off PCs, monitors and non-essential printers/faxes in off hours.

7.Unplug ancillary devices, such as cell phone chargers, when not in use.

8.Turn off all lights when not in immediate use.

20. Track Your Performance Publicly

ProBuild, Littleton, CO

21. Put Your Pieces in PlaceWork with the yard foreman to organize the loading area so the top 20 or top 40 moving products are immediately at hand. This cuts load building time and turn-around time for the trucks, and reduces wear and tear on the fork lift.

Rasure Lumber, Goodland, KS

22. KISS ‘em, Make ‘em Laugh

Franklin Building Supply, Boise, ID

Potter’s Ace Home Center, Jamestown, TN McCoy’s Building Supply, San Marcos, TX


Franklin Building Supply, Boise, ID

23. Watch Your (Website’s) Language

24. Time for a Technology Upgrade? New Ways of Reaching Customers

E-Mail Newsletters

Herrman Lumber, Springfield, MO

Consider Getting a Smarter Phone


25. Everybody Has a Mother

Thomas Lumber, Orlando, FL

26. You Can’t Say ‘Thank You’ Enough

Galehouse Lumber,Doylestown, OH

27. Don’t be a Scrounger…

Be aProblem

Solver

Example: EPA’s Lead Paint RuleWhat is the primary source of supply for the tools and supplies you will need to do RRP-related work?

Source: Remodeling magazine reader panel survey, September 2010

This Dealer Makes It Easy

Kohl Building Products,

Reading, PA


28. Corporate Chaplains: Cost-Savers 29. Watch Home Shows on TV

HGTV’s “Holmes on Homes” attacks lousy building practices.

Canada’s Avenging Angel

He has “Make It Right” tattooed on his arm.

Picture Homeowners’ Reaction

30. Improve Your Sales Techniques

How Effective Is Your Sales Team?


Is It the Sales Manager’s Fault?If the sales staff is weak, it could be because the sales manager isn’t providing enough training. Do this:• Count the number of sales calls

and categorize them by appointments and cold calls to create a track record of constant improvement.

• Go out with your sales rep on client calls but don’t lead the sale. Instead, observe how the sales rep is doing and critique him/her afterward.

Scheduled Appointments Create Results

If your sales rep drives 30 minutes or more to make a cold call, deduct $50 from his/her pay.

31. New Worker Feedback Forms

Stephens Inc., Fuquay-Varina, NC

32. Limit Opportunities To Cheat

Internal Controls Worth Adopting

• Segregate sales, cash and account adjusting work. Use separate people to make cash deposits and reconcile the cash account. Accountants nevershould sign checks.

• Customers shouldn’t load their own goods; it gives them too many opportunities to take more than they bought (even if you have a gate guard).

• Control entries, exits and general access to goods, particularly high-priced, easily sellable items.

33. Pictures Are Better on the Radio

Dunn Lumber, Seattle


34. Get on Your Vendors’ Websites

Glenbrook Lumber, Oakdale, MN

35. Help a Builder: Enlist a Realtor

Some Builders Could Use Help

36. Motivate

Your Gate Guards

37. Metric: Hours by Employees/Day

38. Install More

Efficient Lighting


39. Don’t Ignore This WINK

Attention,Al Gore!

(Now Available:FSC-Certified Gin)

40. What About Green

Products?

Lead the Discussion

Jack Mackin, VP, F.D. Sterritt Lumber, Watertown, MA

Promote Yourself as the Expert

Ridgefield (CT) Supply Co.

41. The Silence of the Sale 42. Make the Everyday Special

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Coffee as Networking Tool 43. Turn Your Pets Into Stars

Pacific Building Center, Blaine, WA

I’m Ready for My Close-Up

44. How Do Your

Salespeople Dress?

45. Recycle Your Trash … But Beware of Thieves


46. Deck Your Halls With Local Talent

Almquist Lumber, Arcata, CA

Decorate Your Windows,

Too

Western Building

Materials, Gunnison, CO

You Can’t Spell Community Without UMark Gelhar’s Low- & No-Cost Ways To Be Neighborly• Ask attendees to a builders breakfast to bring food for

the local food bank. Deliver the goods in your truck. • You know those nail aprons with your company name

on them that no carpenter wants to use? Give them to the local high school's athletic department. Volunteers love ‘em for collecting tickets and at concession stands.

• Invite Girl Scouts or other youth groups to set up a table at the front of your store to sell their fundraising items.

• During the Holidays, make your location a Toys-for-Tots drop off center. Deliver the toys in your company truck.

• Take X and Y items, organize a yard sale and let a local charity sell soft drinks and BBQ at the event.

• Ask vendors for donations, hold a silent auction with employees, donate the proceeds to a local need.

47. Can Your Logo Meet Today’s Needs?

Bloedorn Lumber, Torrington, WY

Builders., Kearney, NE

What’s on the Sides of Your Trucks? 48. Se Habla Espan ̃ol Aqui

Central Valley Builders Supply, Napa, CA


49. Sell What Sells

Decatur (TX) Lumber

50. Old Medium, Creative Choices

Middletown (PA) Lumber

You Ought To Know Jack

JAY-K Lumber, New Hartford, NY

Expand Your Persona

He’s on Twitter, Too 51. Add Color to Your Reports


52. Turn Customers Into Billboards

Get Noticed Far and Wide

Even North Korea’s Great Leader pays

homage to the Frager’s T-shirt

53. Go After More Than

Just the Biggest

Fish

Focus on Market Share

Don’t Hunt Sales; Grow

Them

54. Go Where the Builders Go


55. Learn To Get Along With Politicians The GOP’s New Poster Child

Craig Fritsche, Tart Lumber, Sterling, VA

56. Donate Old Pallets to the Fire Dept.

Galliher & Huguely, Washington, DC, does this regularly.

57. Show How You Can Put it Together

Ferguson, Newport News, VA

Orchestrated Creativity

Ferguson, Newport News, VA

58. Got a Celebrity? Put Him to Work.

Allied Siding & Windows in Tomball, TX, had Nolan Ryan try to toss a baseball through one of its new impact-resistant windows.


59. Celebrate Success 60. It’s All About How You See Things

Cheer Up! Other Folks

Have It Worse.

How Will You Respond?

Accenture Sure Learned To Adapt Bonus Idea: Subscribe to ProSalesServes pro LBM dealersPart of Hanley Wood LLCSpecial features:– ProSales 100– Excellence Awards– Dealer of the Year– Online Surveys– ProSales Biz Update– Twitter– YouTube– WebbLog Blog– Digital Edition– Roundtables


Craig WebbCraig [email protected]@hanleywood.com

One Thomas Circle, NWOne Thomas Circle, NWWashington, DC 20005Washington, DC 20005(202) 736(202) 736--33073307

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advice you can really use - lat · advice you can really use ... must share in the pain (at 50%,...

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