| Know someone who’d enjoy The Craft of LBM Sales Newsletter? Forward this to them so they can subscribe here—and never miss a Thursday edition packed with practical sales insights. |
It’s been nearly a decade since the release of the documentary Free Solo which chronicles Alex Honnold’s attempt to climb the 3,000-foot face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
Free refers to the lack of ropes. Solo means he climbed alone. Well, alone except for the team of heavily-roped filmmakers perched along the granite wall, prepared to capture one of three outcomes: an impossible, never-been-done-before success; a gruesome well-what-did-you-think-was-gonna-happen tragedy; or a rational decision to take up a safer hobby, like pickleball. (Spoiler alert: he didn’t die.)
The universal reaction to Honnold’s ambition was the same: This guy’s crazy. Why would anyone attempt this kind of risk?
Then you watch the documentary and understand how Honnold developed his strategy for survival. He divided the climb into segments. Then he identified the handful of moves that would determine success or failure. Climbers call this the crux—the most difficult section of the route.
Honnold acknowledged the risk and obsessed over every detail. He studied the wall. Yes, he understood that more than 30 climbers had died on El Capitan—many attempting climbs with ropes. And no, Honnold couldn’t eliminate all the risk. What he could do was thoughtfully and systematically reduce every avoidable one. Then he waited for the right conditions, took a deep breath, and began the climb.
Richard Rumelt, author of The Crux borrows the same climbing term to describe strategy. Strategy is ultimately an exercise in problem-solving, and every meaningful problem has a hard nut at its center. Solve the crux and progress becomes possible. Ignore it, and everything else is wasted motion—people scurrying about, consuming capital, talent, and time without advancing toward the summit. For many LBM dealers unhappy with their sales performance this year, the crux is the compensation plan.
Over the past year, I’ve seen the same problem appear in different forms. One dealer offers one of the most generous compensation plans in the industry. As the market softened, their top producer told me, “Honestly, I’m fine with fewer sales. I can finally catch my breath.” Another dealer pays hourly wages with overtime. Predictably, sales are down while overtime hours continue climbing. Both plans reward effort instead of outcomes that matter. The result? Salespeople spend their time overserving long-time customers while competitors steal midtier accounts.
Different companies. Different compensation plans. Stranded at the same place: halfway up the wall. The compensation plan rewards maintenance. We can talk about training and time management and trimming overhead, but sales growth won’t come from cost-cutting. It comes from identifying—and solving for—the crux.
Poor compensation plans ignore one of the most predictable forces in business: personal self-interest.
Humans spend more time doing what they’re rewarded to do. Whenever I suggest redesigning a compensation plan, I hear the same objection. “Oof. It’s just too risky.” And there is risk when changing compensation plans. Rumors spread. Emotions run high. Good people may consider taking their talents elsewhere. Mistakes can be expensive.
But there’s another risk that receives far less attention: the cost of doing nothing. Across the industry, many dealers are hunkering down, waiting for interest rates to fall.
Standing still isn’t risk-free. It’s just a different kind of risk. Like Honnold, the answer can be found in disciplined preparation. A thoughtful compensation redesign begins by assessing the current plan and identifying where incentives conflict with strategy. Next comes design: clarifying sales roles, selecting the right performance measures, and rewarding the behaviors that drive profitable growth. Before rollout, the plan is stress-tested using historical results, modeled for fairness, communicated repeatedly through internal marketing campaigns, and refined over time.
While none of those steps eliminate all the risk, they certainly reduce it. Just as Honnold spent years preparing for one climb, leaders should prepare before asking their sales team to climb a different mountain.
Every sales strategy has a crux, and the best leaders don’t ignore the risk. They study it. They prepare for it. Then they commit and begin the climb.
Thanks for reading.
I’ll be back next week.
The only podcast built for LBM sales leaders and reps.
The Craft of LBM Sales Podcast delivers practical sales coaching you can use immediately—anytime, anywhere.
Subscribe here:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Copyright © 2026
Bradley Hartmann & Co.
All rights reserved.
Contact Bradley Hartmann:
bradley@bradleyhartmannandco.com
The Craft of LBM Sales 