Tag: Sales Leadership
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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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What Builders Say About You Once You Leave the Room
Like many good sales lessons, this one started over beers. It eventually became the backbone of my book Behind Your Back: What Purchasing Managers Say Once You Leave the Room—and How to Get Them to Say Yes. Denver, Colorado.March of 2013. I was spending a week with a drywall supply company, helping them attract Hispanic talent…
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Reader Mailbag: How Worried Should You Be About Brad Jacobs and QXO?
Question: How worried do I need to be about this Brad Jacobs thing? Am I delusional to think that I will just adapt to whatever he does to the industry and use it to my advantage? — Chris, a multi-location LBM owner in the Midwest Answer: Hi Chris, on the Jacobs Roll-Up Apocalypse Meter (JRAM), you should…
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Your Sales Team Is in Drop Shock
The Hartmanns of Elgin, Illinois were not a camping clan. That changed exactly once—May 25th, 1988—when my father came home and announced, “There’s a tent in the back of the van. Drag it into the backyard. We’re sleeping outside tonight.” My brother, sister, and I sprinted to the driveway.For non-camping kids like us, this was…
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The Jerry Jones Problem: Why Sales Managers Who Still Sell Suppress Team Performance
Today’s newsletter is my January column in the LBM Journal magazine. Jerry Jones isn’t a cowboy; he’s a salesman. He’s a dealmaker, a gambler, and a showman. He’s the only NFL owner with a weekly radio show—just one aspect of his omnichannel approach to staying in the spotlight. As he once put it: “The Cowboys are a…
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Why “Holding People Accountable” Doesn’t Work—And What Actually Does
I grew up with a father who turned every post-game car ride into a coaching session. These trips were—hmmm, how can I say this with sensitivity?— not highly anticipated father and son moments. In high school, I played football, basketball, and baseball all four years. That meant lots of games… and a whole lot of…
The Craft of LBM Sales 