The Craft of LBM Sales Podcast: Sell Value, Drive Builder Profit, and Win More Deals—Without Competing on Price

Do you ever feel like you're just selling lumber instead of helping build something meaningful? Or that your emotions sometimes get the best of you in stressful situations? In this episode, we explore two essential traits for long-term success in LBM sales: connecting to a larger purpose and mastering emotional control. You'll hear from Mike Ellerbrook, Executive Vice President at UFP Site Built,...

You’ve heard it a hundred times: “This is a relationship business.” But are you actually doing the work that builds real relationships—or just saying the words? In this episode, we unpack a powerful concept from hospitality icon Danny Meyer that flips the script on what it really takes to build trust with builders. If you’re not collecting the small, personal details—the dots floating around us al...

Are you actually selling—or just staying busy while your best opportunities slip away? Every LBM sales professional has the same amount of time, yet some consistently close more profitable deals while others feel stuck competing on price. This episode breaks down exactly where your time is going, why builders won’t pay for most of it, and how a small shift in focus can dramatically increase your v...

Interested in coming out of the gates hot this year? In this fast-paced listener Q&A episode, Bradley Hartmann tackles a real-world challenge from a VP trying to save a promising but underperforming rep. If you're in LBM sales leadership or a rep looking to hit the ground running in January, this episode shows you how to stop relying on cold calls—and instead use two high-trust, no-excuse tact...

Are you coaching your sales team—or just managing numbers? In this episode, you’ll learn the 3 core fundamentals every LBM sales manager must focus on to coach reps effectively, build a winning culture, and hit aggressive targets—without micromanaging or wasting hours in meetings. Inspired by a listener's NFL coaching analogy, this is your playbook for better performance. In this episode you will:...

Are you silently disqualifying your best prospects before you ever say a word? Too many LBM sales reps lose profitable deals before the first handshake by making one costly mistake: curb qualifying. In this episode, you'll hear three unforgettable real-world stories—complete with beater cars, bait shops, and surprise seven-figure deals—that reveal how snap judgments kill your sales pipeline and ho...

Ever received a “thank you” so thoughtless it made you question your entire working relationship? In sales, success is never solo—but too many high-performers forget that when it's time to show appreciation. This episode explores the true cost of transactional gratitude and how it erodes trust, loyalty, and long-term collaboration. In this episode you will: Hear the real story behind a $37 gift th...

Are you subconsciously sabotaging your Q1 sales by taking your foot off the gas right now? Many LBM sales pros ease off in December, telling themselves “The year’s basically over.” But when your builder clients are under maximum pressure to close out projects, it’s the best time to stand out and build real loyalty—and it’s often when reps disappear. In this brief episode you will: Discover the sin...

Are you letting the fear of looking dumb keep you out of the rooms where the actual sale happens? Most LBM sales reps unknowingly block themselves from accessing real buyer insights, long-term planning conversations, and true influence, simply because they’re afraid to ask deeper questions. Inspired by Kevin Hart’s story on the Joe Rogan Podcast about walking across a room to talk to Jeff Bezos (f...

Struggling to get busy builders to even listen to your value proposition, let alone schedule a face-to-face meeting with you? In this Q&A episode, LBM sales coach Bradley Hartmann responds to a listener who’s facing the same challenge many LBM sales pros deal with: How to break through when builders are “too busy” for a sales meeting. If you’ve ever felt stuck at the first step of prospecting,...

Are you crossing your fingers at the end of a deal, hoping for a yes? You're not alone, but that silence might not mean what you think it does. Too many LBM sales reps get passive at the most critical moment—right before the decision is made. In this episode, we dig into why most deals are lost after the proposal is sent and what you can do to flip the script, reclaim control, and close more profi...

Are your sales compensation plans rewarding the wrong behavior—and quietly draining your profits? In today’s LBM landscape, outdated compensation models are not just ineffective—they’re actively misaligned with the market realities. Whether you're a dealer, distributor, or manufacturer, this episode offers a hard look at the hidden weaknesses in traditional sales comp plans and how to restructure...

In this live coaching call between Bradley Hartmann and Ken from Florida—a new LBM sales pro transitioning from a career in aluminum sales—you’ll learn how to boost your sales using your voice, curiosity, a simple process, and the right AI tools. Whether you're new to LBM or just trying to sharpen your edge, this episode dives deep into the real-world challenges of starting over in sales—building...

Immediately after releasing episode 18—The 10 Commandments of LBM Sales Excellence—a listener fired off an email to host Bradley Hartmann: “How many people do you know for certain do this religiously? I can get the bottom half of my reps to do it but the top half say things like, “I don’t have time for this bulls***. Fire me if you want to, but I’m not doing it.” How do you respond to that when yo...

Is it possible your sales competitors in the market are saving time—and selling more—by leveraging the AI? It’s an idea worth being paranoid about. It might be costing you more than you think. With AI now embedded in everything from prospect research to sales prep and writing, your competitors are using tools like ChatGPT and Claude to speed up workflows, personalize pitches, and save hours per we...

Are you relying on outdated sales habits—and wondering why you keep missing your sales goal for the month? Too many LBM sales reps (and their managers) skip the fundamentals in favor of tactics that don’t move the needle. This episode reveals the 10 foundational habits that separate consistent closers from underperformers—and how you can turn them into a team-wide contract for success. In this epi...

Are you still leading sales conversations with pricing—and finding that you’re getting nowhere with builders? In today’s competitive LBM sales landscape, builders are less concerned with saving a few bucks and more focused on saving time, staying efficient, and being informed. If you’re still relying on pricing alone to close deals, you’re not just blending in—it’s quite possible you’re losing bus...

What do a 17-year-old baseball prodigy and a top-performing LBM salesperson have in common? More than you think—and it starts with mastering the right five tools. In this episode, Bradley Hartmann uses the concept of a "five-tool baseball player" to introduce a powerful framework that helps LBM sales professionals evaluate and upgrade their own sales performance. If you’ve ever wondered how to gro...

Are you letting your email inbox and incoming calls dictate your sales day—and killing your productivity in the process? While most LBM sales reps believe they have a pricing or prospecting problem, the real issue is often poor time management, managing priorities and pipeline from memory on a yellow legal pad or the same coil-bound notebook a 4th grader would use. In this episode, you’ll learn wh...

Do you check your email 286 times each day, hoping new deals and hot opportunities will magically appear? Or do you have an quantified and prioritized sales pipeline that guides your focus and attention each day of the week? If you're like many LBM sales pros—and me too—it’s easy to get caught up in daily fires and assume your pipeline is “under control.” But without clear priorities and quantifie...

Is your prospecting strategy making you unforgettable—or just invisible? In today’s episode, you’ll discover a refreshing approach to staying top of mind with both prospects and existing customers—without spamming inboxes or begging for attention. LBM sales reps often struggle to be remembered in a noisy, transactional world. This episode offers a thoughtful (and surprisingly fun) alternative. In...

Are you solving the same sales problems over and over—without ever scaling your impact? If you're constantly jumping from one builder fire drill to the next, you're not alone. Most LBM sales pros work hard but miss opportunities to multiply their value across prospects. This episode flips that script. In this episode you will: • Learn the 3-part "Study, Stack, Streak" framework that helps you pros...

Are you struggling to land meetings with prospects and close new deals—even when you know you can deliver real value? This episode reveals why confidence is your most powerful sales skill—and how a lack of it may be silently sabotaging your calls, meetings, and even referrals. If you're prospecting, pitching, or presenting without a rock-solid belief in yourself, it’s time to fix that fast. In thi...

Are you overlooking a massive referral opportunity sitting right on the job site? In today's episode of The Craft of LBM Sales, we dig into a blind spot that’s costing LBM pros deals every day: failing to build trust with key influencers—especially within the Hispanic demographic. When you understand how different cultures develop trust, you’ll unlock new relationships that help you close without...

Host Bradley Hartmann sees books not just as something to read, but as powerful tools and long-term assets for growth. Over time, they become reminders of the habits and strategies that once made you successful—but that you may have stopped using. In today’s episode, you’ll discover four essential sales books that every LBM sales pro should own. These books that can transform how you sell, lead, a...