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Jan 2, 2025 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
There are two ways most owners and managers find leadership for their business: they develop it or they hire it. Or they do some of both. In this article we are going to explore what to look for when hiring leadership. This undertaking is crucial for developing growth and ensuring smooth internal operations. Leaders set the tone for the company culture, drive innovation, and maintain customer satisfaction. Below is a guide on what to look for.
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Nov 6, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
Special orders have been a pet peeve of mine for most of my career in our industry. I have done research on special orders for a good 40-plus years and the results don’t improve much. Owners, managers, and salespeople simply neglect this opportunity to improve on their company’s gross margin. Here’s why I become so worked up when the subject of special order sales comes up. First of all, special orders are one of the largest product categories in almost every building supply business.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
When I ride with building material salespeople or interact with them in a seminar setting, one of the topics the conversation almost always evolves into has to do with customer loyalty. They want to know the secrets to building greater loyalty with their customers. They ask questions like, “Why are a few customers so loyal while the majority seem to always want to play one supplier against another? How can we break the loyalty prospects feel for the competition?
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Sep 1, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
I have spent over 1,000 hours researching building material salespeople who have acquired sufficient knowledge, wisdom, and judgment to sell at a relatively high gross margin. Notice the words I used. I did not use luck or false promises. Selling at a reasonably high gross margin requires dedication and commitment.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
I recently heard the question in this headline posed by a seminar leader. We sell commodities, right? Number 2 SPF is #2 SPF. Many times two competing salespeople could even be selling wood from the same mill.
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Jul 3, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
This topic is a highly controversial subject, and not an easy one to discuss. However, I do believe that both sales and credit personnel are teammates and cannot afford to operate independently. The ability of a company to collect its outstanding credit balances determines the long-term viability of the business. I am a member of a group who has spent their entire careers in the building supply industry.
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Jun 10, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
You don’t earn the long-term benefits of bringing in a new customer by leading with price. If you do, your image will be that of a nonprofessional. Salespeople who are insecure about either themselves or the products they sell know little else to do but to use low-ball pricing as a prospecting tool. Prospects have the highest attraction to salespeople who reek of professionalism, salespeople who have more value to offer than the salesperson they are presently buying from.
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Apr 9, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
Building material salespeople who wish to be in control of their futures have little choice but to become adept at prospecting for new business. When it comes to effective prospecting, shooting from the hip is almost a guarantee that you will never set any records; you need an effective strategy to convince target customers that your company is the right choice for them.
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Mar 12, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
In my first executive level job, I read “The Plateauing Trap” by Judith M. Bardwick. The insights Bardwick shared in this book were invaluable to me, both in my corporate life and in my consulting practice. The reason: Plateauing is inevitable. When you accept a job with a company, you envision doing well, receiving a raise in pay after a reasonable amount of time.
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Feb 2, 2024 | 
lbmjournal.com | Bill Lee
I frequently observe companies in our industry using highly-aggressive buying strategies to lower their cost of goods, but they provide their sales force with very little education on how to optimize gross margin. This sounds so bizarre that it’s difficult to believe. Highly-trained buyers can be extremely effective at negotiating lower market costs, but perhaps the same fervor doesn’t exist among the organization’s sales personnel with respect to gross margin.
