The Construction Leadership Podcast: Executive Strategies to Build Elite Teams & Consistently Deliver On-Time, Under Budget

In episode 54 we take you inside a national home builder to better understand how to attract attention, create interest, and build trust with the individuals responsible for buying decisions. Matthew Schmidt is the Strategic Sourcing Director at PulteGroup and he opens up about the best (and worst) ways sales professionals make it easy for him to buy. Behind the fancy title, that's what Matthew do...

At 35 years of age with more than 20 years at Zeeland Lumber and Supply in Michigan, AJ Konynenbelt is an LBM unicorn. AJ is a Millennial who has earned his way onto the Executive team as a VP of Sales and as you'll hear, he is just as comfortable coaching Baby Boomers on interpersonal sales skills as he is discussing technology trends with twenty-something customers. In this episode, AJ shares ho...

Last month at the NLBMDA conference in Chicago I met up with the association's out-going chairman and CEO of Franklin Building Materials, Rick Lierz. Rick shared his experience learning at the Disney Institute and how it shaped the process of editing Franklin's mission statement. We talked about developing a strong culture and how to stay a step ahead of customers' needs with technology — acknowle...

No one likes to be rejected — to hear the word "no". Salespeople included. Yet the ability to anticipate and navigate around rejection is the hallmark of high-performing salespeople, especially when prospecting. When sales reps are busy — and hey, when are you not busy? — prospecting often gets pushed or deliberately ignored. Why? Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, a big part of why we don't...

To celebrate episode 50, we interviewed a special guest — host Bradley Hartmann's father, Scott Hartmann, to discuss the most important lessons he learned after 4 decades in the lumber and building materials business. Scott spent his career leading and coaching sales teams. He offers insights into some of the best practices — as well as some of the tactics that should be avoided. The Hartmanns hig...

In episode 49, we leverage the movie, "The Usual Suspects," to bring a single sales cliché into focus because of its destructive ability to thwart prospecting efforts in their tracks. And yet, this very same cliché is also underutilized in personal development and potential mentoring situations. What is this confounding two-faced phrase? Listen to find out — you'll enjoy it and your team will impr...

On episode 48 we get a candid close-up of the generational handoff at McCoy's Building Supply with Brian McCoy and Meagan McCoy Jones. Founded in 1927, McCoy's is in the process of transferring leadership of the company from the third generation to the fourth—and from father to daughter. McCoy's operates 87 retail locations with full-service lumberyards in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, a...

In Ep. 47, the NFL collides with the founder of modern management, Dr. Peter Drucker. Using the framework within Drucker's seminal article on "The Theory of the Business," we examine the NFL and several of its franchises as a tool to help us better understand what we should—and should NOT—do leading our own teams. From Hue Jackson to Sean McVay; from the NY Giants to the Oak Vegas Raiders, we disc...

Our guest on today's podcast is Dennis Stine, CEO of Stine Lumber Company. In this episode, Dennis describes the values he and his 6 brothers and sisters were taught by their parents, and how those values have become an important part of the Stine Lumber Company culture. Prior to becoming the CEO of Stine Lumber, Dennis served the state of Louisiana as a member of the Louisiana House of Representa...

In episode 45, we share the first installment (of 6) based on our research into the construction industry—and the LBM industry specifically—titled, "Through the Generational Looking Glass: Varying Perspectives of Reality among Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers in Construction." Bradley Hartmann partnered with Purdue University and the University of Denver to conduct research over the last two yea...

In episode 44 Kara Sand, Manager of Professional Development at PCL Construction, shares insights into how the best organizations and leaders create an environment for employees of all generations to communicate clearly and collaborate effectively. Thanks for listening!

Bradley Hartmann and Jenny T. share the latest 3-year social media trends and other highlights from their new book releasing October 1, The Skeptical Lumberman Guide to Social Media. For the 3rd consecutive year, the Behind Your Back Sales Co. team visited every one of the top 100 LBM dealers to catalog their online content and investigated their usage on the top 12 social media platforms. More im...

Customer testimonials are so valuable to your business, especially if they are videos. Over the years, we've helped several Behind Your Back Sales Co. clients create their own video testimonials as well as video training content. The expert we've relied on is our guest on today's episode: Brian Wiebe. As a testament to Brian's passion toward his craft, he trekked the Alaskan Bush as a land surveyo...

You're busy. I'm busy. Everyone is busy. However, that response doesn't stop the best sales professionals from getting their foot in the door, building new relationships, and closing more deals. In episode 41, we discuss the two most common scenarios where prospects toss this "I'm too busy" roadblock in your path and how you can navigate around them efficiently to grow your business. Thanks for li...

Our guest today is Ryan Stensland, General Manger at Pioneer Materials West in Colorado. In addition to leading seven locations from Denver to Grand Junction to Casper, Wyoming, Ryan led the effort to launch the online ordering capabilities for the GMS family of brands. Despite challenges technical and emotional, Ryan successfully implemented online ordering which now accounts for nearly 20% of hi...

In episode 39, we examine the change The Basketball Tournament (TBT)employed to its scoring system and how a similar change can incentivize and promote more prospecting activities, which many sales professionals are NOT doing now due to the hot market. Yes, it's a great market, but we know every bull ride ends with a bear fight. We work in a cyclical industry and after 110 months of economic growt...

Today's guest will help us understand the other side of the desk—the perspective of a commercial general contractor. Tim Meana is a Senior Project Manager with Walsh Construction Archer Western—the $6B behemoth—that builds all over the globe. Leveraging his pair of Masters degrees in Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tim has been at Walsh for over 18 years, the last ten of which have been in Tor...

In episode 37, we let Terrell Owens, the recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee, be our guide to likability. You can learn from everyone in life—some provide guidance as to what to do—others what not "T.O." do. The most likable sales reps do 3 things consistently: they prepare, are authentic, and are helpful. Focus on those 3 things for long enough and you'll be inducted in the Sales Hall of Fame someda...

In episode 36 we meet with Jeff Burton and Gary Smith of Burton Lumber in the great state of Utah. Jeff and Gary lead the sales effort at Burton Lumber and in this discussion, we begin with margins, but quickly redirect the conversation towards competition and the craft of developing a strong sales culture. Following the insights Jeff and Gary provide, I share a coaching and communication framewor...

All too often sales professionals place themselves—not the prospect—as the hero in their story and ultimately find themselves in a Mad Max-style battle in Thunderdome: two men enter, one man leaves. But your prospect doesn't need another hero. They need a guide. You can be that guide they are looking for, insightful and helpful as the hero continues his journey. In episode 35, we will introduce so...

Charlie "Tremendous" Jones said, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." With that in mind, meet my guest on Episode 34 of the Behind Your Back Podcast, Jeff Tweten. Jeff is the Managing Member of WorkSafeWorkSmart.com. Jeff and I are a pair of book nerds and with all the "automatic replies" coming this summer season, we c...

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has all but eliminated the "GM as Head Coach" model with last year's demotion of Glenn "Doc" Rivers (L.A. Clippers) and the recent firing of Stan Van Gundy (Detroit Pistons). The tacit admission is this: the GM and Head Coach are two different leadership roles that require two different skills sets rarely found in one individual. From the NBA to LBM: what...

In episode 32, Tom Benedict, VP of Purchasing at Wayne Homes, shares insights, perspectives, and experiences from 30 years in home building. Tom provides a detailed look into why price is not the only thing that matters to a purchasing manager and what sales people should do more (and less) of. Tom shares methods a salesperson can use to build a relationship without being a nuisance and specific e...

In this episode, a Saturday Night Live character will be our guide to help us communicate more effectively and articulate our value proposition more succinctly. Hartmann will also share an eye-opening training exercise he uses with sales professionals to improve their awareness of the gap that often exists between what they say and what other people hear. Thanks for listening!

When Tim Rethlake, VP of Sales Enablement at Hearth and Home Technologies, emailed me a list of 7 common threads he found consistently among our Behind Your Back Podcast guests through 29 episodes, I invited him to join the podcast once again (Tim was our guest on Episode 3) to discuss them. Tim invested the time to collect and distill what effective leaders do and how they do it, enjoy listening...