As price increases keep landing like a giant belch in church, your community of builders—clients and prospects alike—will wave off the stale air of “loyalty” and start shopping again.
The good news: Builders who’ve ignored your prospecting efforts will now be far more open to your ideas. Track your efforts and double down. Now’s the time to engage more with non-customers.
The bad news: Your customers will also be shopping around, talking to your competitors.
Yesterday I finished recording the audiobook for the 10th anniversary of Behind Your Back: What purchasing managers say once you leave the room and how to get them to say yes.
Rule 4.10 stood out as a timely reminder.
| LEARN THE BEN HARPER PRINCIPLE And it hurts me To look into the mirror at myself. And it hurts even more To have to be with somebody else. And it’s so hard to do, And so easy to say. But sometimes Sometimes you just have to walk away. Walk away . . . —Ben Harper :: Walk Away Walk Away is probably a bit too emo for the general construction crowd, but I like it. And here’s why you should, too. It’s called the Ben Harper Principle: If you merely pass along price increases without any ideas to offset them, I will walk away. Someone who simply passes along increases with a BS form letter from a manufacturer, shrugs, and says, “This is what they told me, so this is what I am telling you. Don’t shoot the messenger, okay?” isn’t interested in keeping my business. Individuals who do this are commoditizing themselves. They’re not thinking or caring deeply enough. They’re being lazy. If you simply pass on information—and building materials, for that matter— from one place to the next, you’re adding no value. You’re the pharmacist in the Jerry Seinfeld joke, simply taking pills from a big bottle and dropping them into a little bottle. Stop and think. Look at your business and consider ways we can offset the rising costs. Visit my jobsite and do the same. Hell, I don’t care if your ideas for offsetting these price increases don’t even involve your products! If you supply lumber and see an opportunity to save time and money in our landscaping packages, tell me! Offset your price increases with ideas. Remember the Ben Harper Principle: If you merely pass along price increases without any ideas to offset them, I will walk away. |
| Before sending your next price increase, gather your team for a 60-minute brainstorm. The goal: Dump as many cost-saving ideas on the table as possible. All ideas are good ideas. Edit later. Start with the little things your builder does that annoy you—these are often cost drivers. Then present your ideas like this: “Ms. Builder, while we can’t control these price increases, we’ve been thinking deeply about ways to reduce waste and lessen their impact to your bottom line. Would you be open to discussing these ideas with us?” She’ll say yes. For example: If the builder was more organized and made their schedule more reliable, could that eliminate one or two deliveries? Suggest it—be kind, candid, and specific. Their costs fall and yours do too. That’s what a value-added partnership looks like. It requires time, thought, and effort—which is why so few do it. Meanwhile, residential construction dumpsters overflow with waste in every driveway, waiting to be converted into new ideas. |
| There’s a classic scene in the movie Elf where Buddy the Elf chugs a two-liter bottle of coke and proceeds to rip a giant high-fructose corn syrup-drenched belch that lasts 12.66 seconds. Buddy then looks at his half-brother, Michael, and says, “Did you hear that?” Your local community of builders are like Michael right now. They’re rolling their eyes and waving off the stench of this third round of price increases on windows (or whatever), wondering what recourse they have in the matter. You can shrug and say, “I know. Tariffs are the worst, aren’t they?” and just pass it along. Or you can use this moment to deepen partnerships with existing builders, differentiate yourself, and win market share with prospects. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back next Thursday. |
Subscribe here to get the next edition of The Craft of LBM Sales straight to your inbox—weekly stories and practical advice to master the craft of selling.
Copyright ©2025
Bradley Hartmann & Co.
All rights reserved.
Contact Bradley Hartmann:
bradley@bradleyhartmannandco.com
The Craft of LBM Sales 