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ASK THE EXPERT: August 2015

Lastly, and this may be a long-shot, appeal to those trade associations with which you belong. You may unearth some power in numbers. Ask for their support in bringing together other dealers similarly abused. These dealers may be of the same mindset as you. Together, your enhanced diplomacy and/or more substantial market-share offering to bad and good suppliers respectively may yield untapped benefits for all.

Business is simple. Pick a side. You’re either with us or you’re not.

Buried in Estimates

“We are totally overwhelmed with estimates. It seems we get one done and four or five come in. I know it’s a good problem to have, but not when our customers need them back in a timely manner. We have had to ‘not quote’ some of them because they only give you a few days before they are due. Any suggestions on managing the demand for estimates?”

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Signed, Overwhelmed

Dear Overwhelmed,
My first thought re: your good problem of too many quote demands is to make sure you do not minimize the value you provide with a complete, detailed quotation. The time and talent necessary to complete such a task accurately is in decreasingly limited supply. The bad news is you are swamped. The good news is your clients and prospects are coming to you.

As to the source of your quoting pressure, I am going to assume it is professional. Should it be retail, my answer is simple. Start charging amply for this service. If you already are, charge more. Be it a deck or a whole house package, a fair but substantial fee (that can be returned in part or whole for a sold job), will quickly separate those serious about working with you versus those heading to Home Depot after they leave your store.

My next thoughts before getting to the meat and potatoes of my answer are twofold. One, keep in mind that many professional contractors missed the class on Planning. Secondly, everyone knows LBM dealers offer estimating services. And yet, rarely can I recall seeing much promotion with a schedule and retail fee structure posted. Rather than allow customers to put us on the defensive by expecting a detailed, accurate quote in less than 3-4 days, promote this valued service with a timeline and fee structure. For your best customers or when time allows, you can be the hero by shortening the lead time and/or waiving the fees.

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Let me preface my meat and potatoes answer with an admission that I proudly admit to being old school. When I began my career, and with the roughly 50 outside sales reps (OSRs) that I had the pleasure of working with during my career, rarely were we really burdened with too many quotes. The reason? Our OSRs understood that the primary responsibility for this important facet of our business was theirs. By ideally having every assigned and prospective account’s quotes prepared by the assigned OSR, you…
1. Demonstrate to the client the OSR’s commitment.
2. Make sure your OSR is intimate with every detail of the project.
3. Create a situation where you and the OSR have some skin in the game.

Imagine you were a pro contractor. Would you not value the loyalty and commitment from a dealer and an OSR who not only burned the midnight oil to know every aspect and detail of your jobs, but also was joined at the hip with you financially? You’d never leave!

Lastly, make sure you know the batting averages of your regular accounts and OSRs (% of jobs received divided by total quotes prepared). If you aren’t measuring it, we all agree you aren’t managing it either. For those garnering their fair share and then some of business, roll out the red carpet for their quoting needs. I’d even recommend funding a 3rd party for any overload. These horses pull your wagon. Take care of them.

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For those clients or OSRs with lousy batting averages (less than 20%), it’s time for a talk. Remember if nothing changes the outcome is predictable!

By promoting the service, establishing a conservative timeline guiding customer’s expectations, utilizing your competent sales staff, and measuring everyone’s performance, you can quickly turn a managerial headache to a positive difference-maker for your company.

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