Editor’s Note: Scott Ericson of Wheelhouse 2020 contributed insights to our recent Sales Rep 2.0 feature. This column expands on what we published then.
Although many of the tools, processes, and personality traits that make a salesperson successful have remained the same over the past 20 years, I do think the job has changed significantly and will continue to evolve.
I am certain that there are sales reps around the country who are maintaining strong sales while relying on the tools and techniques that they used at the beginning of their careers many years ago. However, I believe these individuals are exceptions, because the LBM salesperson/customer relationship has changed.
When evaluating a salesperson who has spent years in a market, I ask myself whether this individual—if given similar resources—would be able to recreate his or her success in a completely new location. If the answer is yes, I would hire that person. But it can be difficult to determine whether it is the individual or the circumstances that led to LBM sales success.
So … What should salespeople avoid today that we did 25 years ago? What should LBM sales reps do that we didn’t do in the past? What marketing practices will become more important in 5-10 years? Let’s address those vital questions.
These Old Practices Are Dying
When I entered the industry as an outside salesperson in 1993, it was a relationship-based industry that relied heavily on hats, pencils, golf, fishing, and scotch to build relationships and grow sales. If we screwed up an order, we brought doughnuts and/or pizza to the jobsite to make up for it. The customers’ expectations for sales performance were relatively low.
We were “friendship sellers” with most salespeople socializing, golfing, fishing, and barbequing on the weekends with the same people they did business with during the week. We told inappropriate jokes and acted in a manner that would be considered unprofessional at best or unacceptable at worst in today’s social climate.
If I were giving advice to salespeople today, I would recommend that they build strong connections but always maintain a professional relationship. A salesperson should rely more on valuable results for customers than on gifts, trips, or friendship.
The customer’s business is much more complex and the expectations in every part of an LBM salesperson’s business relationships are profoundly higher than they were 25 years ago. Some of the expectations are, for example, communication, estimation, distribution, professionalism, project management, and an almost zero-tolerance for mistakes.
Stress These Practices More than Ever
LBM sales is still about relationships, trust, service, prospecting, handling objections, follow up, and communication. That has not changed. What has changed is the complexity of the builder’s business; the introduction of larger, national builders; the scale/volume of the business; and technological advancements.
The nNational builders I refer to here have larger marketing budgets, more sophisticated processes, and better technology than most dealers. They build more than 60% of the nation’s new homes.
In the past, the salesperson controlled the process from prospecting (lead generation) to delivery. It was the LBM’s delivery policy and inventory, the salesperson’s personal service, and the salesperson’s communication tools that were important to decision makers.
Now builders have extremely high expectations and will not readily adapt their proven systems to accommodate the LBM or the salesperson’s process or techniques. Salespeople are required to quote the list in the builder’s format, package it in the way the builder designates, adapt the LBM point-of-sale system to produce invoices that support the contractors’ purchasing system, and deliver when and how the contractor requests.
Quality, service, and experience were once considered competitive advantages. Now they are considered the expectation minimum necessary for consideration.
I recommend that salespeople retain the core attributes of the sales process (prospecting, estimating, building rapport, handling objections, and follow up). However, they also need to be smart enough and flexible enough to maintain profitability and efficiency while adapting their systems to the customer’s business. We did not have to worry about that 25 years ago since most LBM yard managers, salespeople, and dispatchers had a my-way-or-the-highway mentality.
Ensure that you and your company’s technical and digital skills are more advanced than your customer. Recognize that your builders and competitors are investing in technology to improve efficiency. Be hypersensitive to the builders’ communication, invoicing, accounting, purchasing, and distribution processes, and be prepared to adapt your personal systems to support theirs.
Bring new tools and processes to the sales meetings that will increase efficiency and profitability in your customer’s business. Today it is less about products and more about process.
I used to ask for meetings to introduce a new window line or an improved EWP product. Now customers have better resources and more knowledge about the products than the salespeople. Products and delivery are assumed, but a salesperson who brings a solution to a problem or increased efficiency to a process is valuable.
Create a matrix of connections. Don’t rely on one person to maintain the relationship with customers. In the past, the Rolodex of customer contacts was a sales rep’s power. It was typically the only visibility an organization had into their customer base. Now it is more important for the entire organization to have visibility and create a matrix of connections and relationships with customers at multiple positions and divisions within the organization (leadership, sales, accounting, distribution).
The speed at which a customer can be lost is exponential compared to 25 years ago. A matrix of connections and visibility tools will help an organization manage its business and protect its accounts more efficiently.
Which New Practices Must OSRs Learn?
The lumberyard of the future is no longer in the store. It is rare that your top 20 customers are coming into the location for coffee or popcorn. Dealers are going to have to be much more strategic and creative at communicating the benefits and solutions that they can provide builders.
The salesperson’s job descriptions will evolve. There will be a lot fewer dealer salespeople and a lot more dealer project managers. National and large regional builders will continue to consume market share. The sales, negotiation, and pricing for these customers is often not done at the salesperson level. It is typically done at the executive level and then given to a salesperson to manage and execute. In this scenario, the value of the salesperson is not necessarily in lead generation or price negotiation but in the project management, distribution management, and daily communication. A guy in a truck with a notepad and a cell phone may not be as valuable as a professional project manager who can manage large complex subdivisions and projects for several accounts on a daily basis.
Marketing through showrooms and online will be more important than end caps and gondolas. Search engine, social media, and electronic marketing will be necessary lead generation and communication tools.
It will become increasingly important to market to your customers and your customer’s customers by providing events, virtual reality, and marketing support for their sales offices, showrooms, and model homes.
Dealers will have to not only embrace technology but also commit to leading their customers and potential customers. Online purchasing, online estimating, virtual showrooms, and demonstrations will be key. It will also be important to promote innovation and solutions over products.
We will need to embrace the Amazon model. Builders are like any other consumers: they want speed, convenience, and efficiency. Builders already consider hardware and stocked items on the shelves as transactional products and many dealers currently offer online stores. In the future, dealers who allow ordering transactional items, commodity packages, and special orders from a smart phone will create a paradigm shift in how business is conducted today.
By anticipating consumers’ expectations, we can remain relevant. Using technology and examples from other industries will help us get there.
Previously in this series:
* Salesmanship Has Evolved. Have You? Advice from Bill Rossiter
* This Story Could Cause You to Change Your Sales Style A tale from Paul Evans
