Some of these articles appeared in
The Lumber Co-Operator,
the official publication of the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association.


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For more information on The Lumber Co-Operator, or on the NRLA, please visit www.NRLA.org .



Article artwork is courtesy The Lumber Co-Operator.

 

For Pro Sales Excellence, Get the Basics
"Working with home channel organizations who seek improvements in all areas of operations inevitably leads to focus working with professional customer sales teams. These teams are typically truly desirous of personal success and the success of the customers. The owners and managers at the helms of these companies are amazingly talented and driven individuals. They have led their organizations to a plateau of achievement. Now they REALLY want to experience a swell of new sales and profits originating from their pro customer segment. I approach all projects in excellence, including initiatives in sales refinement, with the following rule: Once the basics are intact, then you get to build upon that foundation with any number of unique initiatives. If the basics are not intact, new initiatives will fail. Basics come first." >>>

Wave of Change:
Our Next Decade
"I have enjoyed extensive reading, numerous conversations, and an enormous amount of introspection since I was invited to identify trends over the next decade that I believe to be critical to the building materials industry. A project of such importance and potential influence for industry organizational leaders, dealer and vendors deserves considerable preparation. Indeed, I believe that our industry, the building materials industry, is at a crossroads of amazing potential. As at any crossroads, leaders in this noble industry face several directions for future engagement." >>>

Stop the Leak:
5 Simple Ways to Curtail Inventory Losses
"There isn’t a building materials in the world that hasn’t spend a significant portion of worry time fretting and figuring out why products have disappeared from the shelves. You think that your receiving processes are intact. You have a team of experienced sales people. You watch your daily invoicing like a hawk. You think that load check is pretty consistent. Maybe. Maybe on a good day, when everything runs smoothly, when everyone has gotten enough rest, in the weeks just before annual reviews, or just after last year’s awful inventory count. It is just so darned hard to be disciplined, even more difficult to instill a sense of discipline in your staff. You cannot ever have another product loss like this one ever again. Where do you begin?" >>>


To Build a Team
Reflections on Leadership and Team Building
for Our Generation
"Leadership and team building formulas are required for you to stay the course, yet those formulas shift over time. Trends manifest then quickly diminish and are robustly replaced with new ideals. Culture and custom varies greatly by region. Individual style manifests. To say that there is only ever one way to extend leadership is to speak in error. So how can you best develop and sustain the best possible team? A thousand possible elements in that endeavor would be correct. Here I offer the four constant elements to keep you on course in your leadership paradigm." >>>

Within a Culture of Excellence
The Embodiment of Pristine Operational Standards
"If you have neither a vision, strategy, nor target of disciplined excellence, then consider these consequences. You will lose your best employees over time as your operational standards slide continuously downhill. You will also lose your best customers as your facilities, merchandising efforts and employees lose polish and appeal. Then you PERSONALLY lose energy and finally lose heart as your business falls in decline. Unexpectedly, some other player in your market wakes up first to the benefits of a vigorous standard of execution. Then a national player like Depot or Lowe’s enters your market aiming to kick your butt. What in the world’s happening?" >>>

Force vs. Finesse:
The Payroll Puzzle – Part One
This is the first of three articles on the subject of payroll management, benefits, and human investment to be presented by the author in the coming months. At the heart of these thoughts is the urgent call to transformation in our business. We as leaders must look beyond our traditional operative models and embrace changes that invigorate our companies in ways never before imagined. >>>

Smaller is Better
Vendors Have Good Reason for Doing Business with Independents
"When one of those national big stores comes to our hometowns formerly served by the small store, the game changes. Our vendors play an important role in this new game. We all need to understand that there is every reason for our vendors to desire an evolved and evolving partnership with us as we venture forth with this new game. So much so, that they’re apt to boost teamwork with us small guys rather than with the big guys." >>>

Don't Throw in the Towel!
A two-part series on learning how to recognize when it's time to rejuventate your role in the business

"One day something begins to peck at us like a woodpecker on a rotten tree. Quiet little infrequent pecks grow to a pervasive thunder pounding over days, weeks, months, and years. We begin to suspect the unimaginable, that it is simply time to go." Part 1 >>>

"Financial challenges are all too familiar to all of us in the lumber and building material industry. These financial rhythms are usually endured without much trouble. However, sometimes bigger financial concerns come along that raise the question if it is time to rejuvenate the business and your role in it."
Part 2 >>>

Transforming Vendor Co-op into an Investment
"Vendor Co-op is a topic as dry as Ezekiel’s bones.Run an ad. File a claim, and take the usual 50/50 reimbursement. Over and over again. Yes, co-op is a dry topic INDEED. Let me juice it up a bit." >>>