So youtre telling me therets a chancerrr

"He only buys from..."

"He always buys from the other guy."

"They're always too cheap."

"I never sell this guy."

"They'll hang up if I say that."

"He'll never pay that price."

We don't live in reality as salespeople,we create it. We cannot let our own negative attitudes or those of others affect how we sell. We are always positive, even in the face of what can seem to be insurmountable odds.

fN rHe MovtE Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey plays ll-loyd. a kind-hearted yet obtuse limo driver who falls instantly, madly in love with a passenger he drops off at the airport. Lloyd drives across country to reunite with Mary.

She is confused by his attention and behavior, and wants to let him down easily, but-really-there's no way.

Lloyd: I like you, Mary. 1 like you a lot.I want to ask you a question, straight out, flat out, and I want you to give me an honest answer. What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me, ending up together?

Mary: Well, Lloyd, that's difficult to say, L.. we really don't...

Lloyd: Hit me with itl Just give it to me straight. I came a long way just to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?

Mary: Not good.

Lloyd: You mean like not good like one out of a hundred?

Mary: I'd say more like one in a million.

Lloyd: (Pause) So you're telling me there's a chance. (Pause) Yeah! (Pause, giving Mary a conspiratorial look) I read ya.

When we talk with customers there will be objections. We must maintain Lloyd's innocence and sense of the possible; too many of us are so tied to our perceived reality that we get in our own way.

When I traded lumber, we would sometimes get offers that seemed ridiculous. Buyers would often say, "I can't take that to my mill. They won't take that number." Our response was, "Don't say no for the sawmill." More often than not,the deal was made.

Similar negative conversations can play out in our heads as salespeople:

"This guy hates me."

When I traded at Forest City, we had Silver and Gold Circle traders. I remember like yesterday the first year I made Silver. Ray Haroldson, my boss, called me into his office. I was expecting a pat on the back and warm congratulations. Instead, Ray said, "You know, James, if you had put a couple more bucks a thousand (+$2/MBF) on everything you sold this year you would have gone Gold instead of Silver."

I left Ray's office feeling he was the most unappreciative SOB I had ever met in my life. I was mad at him for weeks. My thought was, "You have no idea how hard I work just to get the prices I am getting!"

I started thinking about what he had told me. I started to add a couple bucks over our list price to everything I promoted. And surprise of surprises, I started to get higher prices! (Unappreciative? Ray was just a great motivator!) My reality was tied to Cascade Empire's list price (reality), when I should have made my own list price (reality).

Is selling tough? Yes. Thank goodness! If it weren't tough, we wouldn't get paid great money to do it. It would also be deathly boring. Can selling make us crazy? If the great salespeople I know are any indication, yes. Embrace the insanity!

We've already got enough reality. lt's even on TV now-ush! What we need is more imagination, innocence and perseverance. Like our friend Lloyd. So the next time someone (especially us!) begins to fill our heads with (supposed and negative) reality, let's shout the battle cry of great salespeople: So you're telling me there's a chance!

James Olsen Reality Sales Training (so3) s44-3s72 james@

Great Southern Acquires Columbus Treating Plant

Great Southern Wood Preserving, Abbeville, Al., has acquired two former Columbus Lumber properties in Brookhaven, Ms., and plans to spend $5 million to re-open both by Feb. 1.

"This is going to hit the fast track pretty quick," said owner Jimmy Ranes. "We're not going to let any grass grow under our feet."

GSWP bought Columbus' wood treatment plant, its 1lth, and the nearby Phillips mill, which will produce deck accessories, from Rex Lumber, Graceville, Fl. Rex took over Columbus on Nov. 6-almost two months after Bank of America foreclosed on the business.

Rex retains the Columbus sawmill, which it hopes to re-open with the help of tax incentives and other financial assistance.

"We're in the very initial stage of trying to figure out what to do," said Chuck Watkins, director of Rex Lumber. "The sale was very fast, and we didn't have enough time to do the diligence we needed, so we're doing that afterward."

Watkins said that stripping the Columbus mill and shipping equipment back to the company's other facilities in Florida "is not in our plans."

ProBuild Grows in Nashville

ProBuild Holdings, Denver, Co., has added a new truss and wall panel plant in Nashville, Tn.

In addition, ProBuild is doubling the size of its Smyrna, Tn., facility to include a full-line lumberyard, millwork manufacturing plant, and gypsum distribution operation.

"We are encouraged by our progress in the greater Nashville market and by the efforts of our people to meet the multiple and evolving needs of our customers," said c.e.o. Paul Hylbert.

Depot Exec Pleads Guilty

A former manager at Home Depot corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., has pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from the chain.

Guillermo Martinez is accused of giving confidential pricing information to a vendor during a product review in May 2008, and was also negotiating an employment agreement with the same vendor. As senior manager of product engineering, he was responsible for helping vendors sell products to Depot and had access to Depot's confidential information, trade secrets, pricing and profitability spread sheets, and documents relating to product line reviews.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 3.

Machinery Crushes Worker

A millworker at Hixon Lumber Sales, Gilmer, Tx., was crushed Dec. 2 in a wood saw plane press machine. Ricardo Pena.33. was declared dead at the scene.

"When we arrived, what we found was that a worker had gotten close to one of the machines, and it appeared that his clothing had gotten entangled and it pulled him into the machine," said police detective Roxanne Warren.

Certifiers Uland ICC Unite

Underwriters Laboratories and ICC Evaluation Service have teamed up to streamline evaluations that ensure building products are compliant with appropriate codes and product safety standards.

The new dual evaluation and certification program will simplify the testing and evaluation conduct testing to UL safety standards, show code compliance via an ICC-ES evaluation report, and get simultaneous postings of compliant products in UL's online certifications directory and code correlation database.

"This partnership brings two industry leaders together to create a onestop-shop for building materials testing and evaluation needs in the built environment," said Chris Hasbrook, an UL v.p. and general manager.

He added that the "dual evaluation and certification program will provide manufacturers faster turnaround times and speed to market, while giving their customers two more reasons to trust the quality, safety and efficiency of their products."

UL has also enhanced the usability of its product certification information. Its code correlation database connects product certifications directly with specific applicable model installation code sections to help code authorities and other industry professionals find ICC-ES code-compliant products.

"This is just one of the many benefits of working with a trusted partner in safety like UL," said Mark Johnson, president of ICC-ES. "We continue to look for new opportunities to expand this partnership to better serve our customers and members."

Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co., Dallas, Tx., this month is shuttering its lumberyard and manufacturing plant in San Antonio, Tx., following Dec. 3 closures in Sulphur Springs, Tx.; Payson and Lakeside, Az., and Pueblo, Co.

Fox-Galwas given 120 days to relocate its Waco, Tx., yard after its landlord sold the site to a car dealership.

ProBuild shuttered its Sheboygan, Wi., yard Dec. 31 and will serve the market from its facilities in Lomira and Jackson. Wi.

Eldredge Lumber & HardW?IO, York, Me., received preliminary planning board approval to convert a nearby warehouse into a window and door showroom.

General Lumber, Milwaukee, Wi., shut down Dec. 31 after 57 years.

Williams Lumber, Rhinebeck, N.Y., is considering adding a lumberyard/home center on a long-vacated site in Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

Sutherlands Lumber, Futton, Mo., sustained an early morning yard fire Dec. 14.

Firefighters contained the blaze out side a warehouse. Arson is suspected.

Jim & Dave's Building Supply, West Bend, Wi., closed Nov. 30.

General Supply Co., Bethtehem Township, Pa., closed its Hecktown lumber business in Lower Nazareth Township, Pa., Dec. 31, to focus entirely on commercial doors and hardware.

Seven years prior, General Supply operated four yards, and LBM account ed for roughly 70o/o of the company's revenue.

Ace Hardware closed 6o-yearold stores in Oak Forest and Chicago Heights, ll., at the end of the year.

Owner Keith Ebel continues operating smaller units in Homewood and Elmhurst,ll.

A 7,500-sq. ft. Ace Hardware is opening this spring in Takoma Park, Md.

Owners Gina Schaefer and Marc Friedman operate six other hardware stores in the Baltimore/0.C. market.

By f ay Tompt