Tag: LBM Sales
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How a Former Superintendent Somehow Raised $300,000 to Make a Movie.
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. My relationship with Jack Kennedy was forced upon me. By my project manager at the time, Lenny. “Jack needs help,” he said. “Train him.” Jack had arrived at our…
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The Mendoza Line
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. After the fourth bubble mailer arrived in two days with an eBay logo, my wife was forced to ask. “Do I need to be concerned with this?” No,…
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The $4.8 Million Basketball Coach Who Refuses to Use Email
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. Imagine, for a minute, you’re a college basketball coach. Just think of all the things you’d need to understand to compete—let alone win—the war for young talent these…
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Is It Loyalty—or Just Friction with a Friendly Face?
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. The world is filled with two types of people: Those you worry about and those you don’t. Given the volatility, uncertainty, and complexity within the construction industry today,…
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What the Record-Breaking London Marathon Teaches Us About Selling in a Slow Market.
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. You may have heard that Sabastian Sawe became the first human to break the fabled 2-hour marathon mark in London last Sunday. That’s false. Nearly seven years ago,…
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They Know Exactly Why You Lost. They’re Just Not Telling You.
I’m a little slow. It took me way too long to understand why builders don’t tell suppliers the real reason they lost the business. Flashback to October 2010. I was in area purchasing at Pulte Homes, managing a few dozen material and labor accounts across seven markets from Cleveland to Denver. Home starts were down…
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From Old Guard to Young Guns: Leading Sales Succession With Clarity and Standards
Today’s newsletter is my April column in the LBM Journal magazine. The “Point God” was in Purgatory. Well, Atlanta, anyway. Chris Paul, the 12-time All Star point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, was left by his team at Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport. His coaches and teammates had had enough. In the middle of their East Coast road…
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How a Stroke Taught Me Rejuvenation Is a Skill—and Made Me Better at Sales
Like many of you, the first quarter of the year starts with a flurry of activity. For me, that includes a lot of travel. I won’t list the airports, miles, or nights away from home—because you don’t care, and this isn’t a humblebrag about how hard I’m working. This is about what it reminded me:…
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Three Books Your Buyer Is Using to Negotiate Against You
The economic thrashing that was the Great Recession produced one unexpected upside for me: It scattered talented friends of mine all over the country. PulteGroup, like every other builder that survived that period, cut most of its headcount as it slammed the brakes on production. Many of the people I worked with there ended up…
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