When hiring, experience can be overrated
The highest odds of hiring a highly productive salesperson is to hire a person with the raw talent to do the job, someone who...
Service: To market it, it’s best to measure it
I have never met a salesperson who didn’t claim that his company had terrific service. And by the same token I have never met...
Beware of copouts that stifle profits
Avoid denial. Managers who expect to grow and prosper must look at their businesses as objectively as would an outside analyst, so beware of...
Five steps to managing material returns
Many building supply businesses I visit have a sacred burial ground someplace on the yard or in a warehouse resulting in tens of thousands...
Where does the buck stop in your organization?
Although he did not coin the statement, President Harry S. Truman from the state of Missouri is given credit for popularizing the phrase “The...
What does “professional” mean in your organization?
Is “professionalism” something that is in the eye of the beholder or are there basics that all professionally managed organizations have in common?I believe...
Guidelines for incentive compensation in 2018
There is no topic I receive more calls about than that of incentive compensation. Here are just a few examples of questions that lead...
Breathing too much of your own exhaust?
Regardless of how successful you believe your company may be, your place of business is most likely not the most innovative building supply business...
Four ways to make better use of your sales time
No one has enough time. Yet, everyone has all the time that there is.Every salesperson hits a point when he or she seemingly can’t...
Eight rules to avoiding incentive plan pitfalls
There are a number of ways to run incentive plans for your staff. Here are eight simple rules that I have found will simplify...