61. Keep your yard clean. Good housekeeping “is a state of mind and a sign of a well-run operation,” says Peter Ganahl, president, Ganahl Lumber, Anaheim, Calif.
62. A bigger step than swapping in new bulbs, with the potential to save you some serious cash in the long term: Convert your trucks to biogas fuel and consider phasing in electric forklifts.
63. Simple science can trim your energy bills. Paint the outside of your buildings a light color to repel the sun’s heat or a dark color to retain it, depending on where your yard is located.
64. Less paper means less waste. Electronic files are easier to create, share, and destroy.
65. Wrapping your sales counters in carpet helps to reduce sound levels and hides dirt more readily than wood paneling or some synthetic veneers.
66. The sign out front isn’t the only place your logo belongs. Your entry doors are prime real estate. Customers will see the image both on their way in and on their way out.
67. Consider selling—or offering free of charge—water bottles and coffee cups that feature a label with your logo. Customers can take them to the jobsite for a little grass-roots advertising. Contract with a local manufacturer to put the logo on the product or to create and print a label to place over the existing one.
68. Interactive whiteboards make reviewing blueprints and elevations as well as bids, sales goals, and other charts and graphs a team event. Most “smart boards” sync with your desktop and record notes taken on their surface.
69. Take a page from Cincinnati dealer Nisbet Brower’s book with an “inspiration wall,” which it uses to help customers hone their vision for a project’s design. The wall features five box-mounted photos each of doors, mantels, artwork, lamps, chairs, paint colors, and kitchens. Customers can pick one image from each category, which the design consultants use to start talking style.
70. A fresh coat of earth-toned, neutral paint will soften the lighting in your store and inspire customers (particularly the walk-in retail kind).
