Management & HR

Plan Your Week, Execute Your Plan
How to use time management to become a high-performance salesperson.

Beware the Lowball
Are we behaving like a suicidal industry? 

Value vs. Price
Help your remodeler customers provide homeowners with “the same for less," and become their supplier of choice. 

Reaction Time
Insights on how to deal with obstacles in today's challenging economy.

True Job Security
If you keep your customers happy, guess what? You keep your customers.

Communication Keys
Listening is a critical skill—for business and life. Take this test to see how your listening skills stack up.

Selling in a Tough Market
Price, value, and flexibility are key.

Fresh Options for Strange Times
Driving down expenses is a reality for many dealers.

How to Prep for the Busy Season
Take advantage of slower times to make sure that everything in your store—including your employees— is ready to make the sale.

Company Action Form
When it comes to knowledge, you either use it or lose it. Here are 5 tips to maximize your training investment.

Managers with Skill and Will Can Show a Profit in 2009

One Year Ends, Another Begins...
It’s time to review your last year’s performance, then plan for a successful 2009.

How Are You at Walking on Water?
There is business to be had, but it’s much harder to find. Here’s where to look.

How to Create Win-Win Incentives

Installing Trouble-Free Doors
Develop a Manual of Practice to train your installation crews

The Lean, Green, Building Machine
While going green does require learning, it also means acting on what you already know.

Now is an Ideal Time to Prospect for New business
Four proven strategies to put to work today.

Looking For The Light
Custom Homebuilders Offer a Bright Spot In a Dim Market.

Why Moisture Content Matters
Invest in a moisture meter now, before it’s too late

Deck Math
Part I of a 3-part series on making more money on decking.

The Origin of Teamwork
Building a standout team starts the day you hire.

Start at the Top
Selling to remodelers requires commitment from the owner and top management.

Teach Your Contractors How to Sell
If their phone keeps ringing during the slowdown, your business benefits, too.

Survival of the Fittest
When you find a great vendor, hang onto that relationship.

Offense or Defense?
What's your game plan for 2008?

Total Operations Thinking
Operations isn't a department; it's a way of doing business

Hold On To Great Employees
Tips to help you keep the best and brightest in your company.

Who Moved My Keys?
Security at your company is about more than locking up your equipment. It’s about having procedures in place so that your keys are always under control.&n

It’s About Time
Business is booming and your top salespeople are out prospecting more than ever. What are your underperformers doing?

Will Think for Food
Make your meetings count with good planning, careful execution—and plenty of good food.

Categorize Your Customers
Not all customers are created equal. Are you matching your level of service to their value to you?

Prepared to Compete
If a savvy competitor were to invade your domain, would you be ready?

Personal Best
The way to beat the boxes is one customer at a time.

8 Tips for Boosting Referrals
So the housing industry has slumped. It’s time to exalt and amplify your sales techniques.

Your Vendor Service Partner
Good communication is the first step in improving your vendors’ service to you.

11 Top Morale-Building Tips
The investment you make in your people comes back to you in improved attitude and better performance.

Mission Possible
Dust off that mission statement so that you and your team know where you’re going.

Safety Saves Money
If you don’t have a training program, start one. You’ll decrease workman’s compensation claims, save money on downtime and increase the productivity of your work force.

Don’t Kid Yourself About Your Business
Beware of copouts that stifle profits.

Maxed Out
When long-time employees hit the top of their pay range, how do you motivate them to stretch?

Selling Smarter: Millwork
Waterproof Windows and Doors

Measure First, Advance Later
If you’re not setting performance-based conditions of employment, you’ll soon be unable to compete.

Get Them in the Room
If you’re planning a meeting, make it easy, pleasant—and mandatory!— for your staff to attend.

Silence is Golden
To be a better communicator, first be a good listener.

Closing the Deck Sale
Educate your customer in order to make the sale on the spot. 

The Seven Goals of Operations
Follow these simple but crucial tips to take command of your daily business. 

The Next Level
Make your sales results match your sales ability with these simple tricks. 

No Wooden Ceiling
Tell your employees advancement in this industry is all up to them.

Designated Reader
Does your company track—and share—articles that can help your team achieve success?

Four Forgotten Factors of Success
Is your team ready to succeed?

Fight Price Pressure– from the Sales Staff
Price is usually a bigger issue to salespeople than it is to builders.

Giving Thanks
Catch someone doing something right—and watch the benefits grow. 

Shark Bait
A corporate raider targets BMHC.

The Right Angle
Knowing how to properly use a construction calculator will provide your customers with a valuable service.

Get Smart
Training on day-to-day operations should start at the top. 

The Job Site as Battlefield
Understand how and why your customers need their loads delivered in sequence.

Do Your People Cost Too Much?
Operating expenses should be tied to gross profit—and a downturn is the time to examine that relationship.

Proactive Leadership Training
Managers need to learn the ropes from the pros.

Smackdown
As megabuilders tried to shake nickels and dimes out of the channel, independent production builders focused on real efficiencies.

Buy Low, Sell High
Turbulent times offer an opportunity to dig deep—and capture market share and new customers.

Wake Up and Smell the Lowes
Big boxes remind us that customer service is what sets our lumber dealerships apart.

Growth for Growth’s Sake
Insights into the megabuilder meltdown from an unexpected source.

Your Nose is You...the Wall is Your Business
Step back from the day-to-day to examine your work habits. 

Honor The Craft
How to earn respect and guarantee higher profits. 

The Sky is Falling! Or Not.
What you—and your employees—believe may be what you receive.

Did You Plan to Make a Profit in 2008?
If you haven't adjusted for the market, it's not too late.

The Willingness to Change
2007 was a year for lessons learned, challenges faced, and new goals created.

Bob Buck & Dave Klun On Selling to Remodelers
A new column that helps you make the most of these important customers.

Interviewing Aids For Operations
Ask the right questions to find the right people for the job.

No More Business As Usual
Remoders expect-and need-to be treated differently. 

Turning Around a Problem Employee
To be effective, managers must take time to manage.

Partner for Success
It’s time to think about how your communications process may cost you money. 

Profit Improvement: The Three-by-Three Difference
Target for a 3 percent gain in 3 key areas.

Next In Line: Do Family Businesses Need Long Term Care Insurance? Think Again.
Let's Look at the Numbers.

Time to Train Your Workforce?
To pump productivity, fill the training gap between what is and should be.

The Paycheck Conundrum: Salary vs. Commission
The most effective compensation plans must align sales activities with a company's mission, providing security while fostering an entrepreneurial attitude that grows the business.

All-Stars of HR
As guidepost to great HR, LBM Journal salutes two companies that put their people first.

Melting Pot
As Hispanic workers play an increasingly critical role in the industry, dealers are getting a crash course in managing across cultural boundaries.

Hire Education
10 Steps to Successful College Recruiting

Paid In Full
Think nothing happens until a sale is made? Actually, nothing really.

Paying Discretionary Bonuses
Armed with decades of experience helping dealers do better business, Bill Lee’s monthly column is among the best-read sections of LBM Journal.

Construction Defects
Bottom line: In today’s litigious society, nothing can prevent a dealer being named in a construction defect lawsuit. But taking a proactive stance to reduce defects can reduce the risk.

3 Steps to Stronger Profits
If you’re not paying attention to all the factors that affect gross margin, you may be leaving money on the table—and sacrificing your company’s profit.

Hiring for Keeps
How LBM dealers find, train, and keep key employees to fuel their success.