ls sales acting?

as salespeople is to simultaneously assess the best way to make our customers comfortable, move them to action, and act-yes, perform-more like that. This is the difference between the social you and the sales you.

Is it easy? No. Most of us have a preferred way of communicating. While we have many facets to our personality, some are hidden deep inside. But as sales professionals, we need to delve into ourselves and exercise our full range (of personality).

How Bad Do You Want lt?

Hy Do wE Go to our favorite bar? We usually order the same drink, so what is the differentiator?

There are many factors, but they all add up to atmosphere. How the place makes us feel? How do we feel on our way to these places? When we're there? When we leave? Do we think about price when we are in these establishments? In retail, this feeling is called "The Shopping Experience."

Every time we interact with our customers, we have invited them into our "shop." We have invited them to enjoy (or not) our "shopping experience." As sales professionals, we have control over the atmosphere we create.

Are we giving our customers the kind of shopping experience they want? It is a shame to act the same way with every customer, when changing our "personality gears"acting a little bit differently than we naturally would, giving a bit of a performance-makes all the difference in sales.

The Social You vs. The Sales You

In our social life, we may be a laid-back person:

"I really don't care what movie/restaurant/bar we go to. I just want to hang out. There is usually someone who does care, so I just go with the flow. Why argue over trivial things?"

This is a great social attitlde. This is an easy person to be with.

This attitude gets taken advantage of in sales. Customers will work this salesperson to death with little or no payoff. This kind of person is easy to say no /o. In our sales life, we need to take more control. We must have a plan, follow that plan, and encourage our customers to follow our plan.

The flip-side of this personality-Mr. or Mrs. Controlwill struggle for different reasons.

Are we friendly, laid-back, serious, intense, detail oriented, open? Isn't everyone? No they're not. Our challenge

I have a customer. Let's call him Dave Dermansky. Dave is the president of a large trading company. Dave is a "button-down" kind of guy. He is serious, analytical and intellectual. Dave can have fun; his sense of humor is dry as toast, but would not be mistaken for the life of the party guy.

Dave told me a story:

The summer between his junior and senior year in college Dave was working a minimum-wage job when he got a call from the older brother of a friend of his. This guy ran a two-man show at county fairs that opened up for touring bands. They set up outside the main show and did a minishow to get people fired up to buy tickets. Dave did not have to sing. His friend, the mastermind, real talent, ran the board and the show-lights, music, timing, sang the tunes. But Dave had to be on stage. He had to fire people up, be an emcee, lip-sync the songs, and dance around like he knew what he was doing. It was an uncomfortable stretch for Dave. Dave was scared to death-but he was more scared of minimum wage and the money was three times as sood!

Dave needed something. That's when he invented his alter-ego: Dwayne Lovechild. The Lovechild had no problem getting up in front of a crowd and firing them up. Dave's desire for success overcame his natural tendencies-that's what makes Dave a sales pro.

Whether we need to get in touch with our inner Dwayne Lovechild or a quieter version of ourselves-ves. act-to give our customers a better shopping experience, it is essential that we do so.

James Olsen

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Green Depot Goes National

Green Depot, New York, N.Y., has acquired three-unit Ecohaus, Seattle, Wa., creating the nation's first coastto-coast supplier of green building materials.

Green Depot operates l0 showrooms, including nine in the Northeast and one in Chicago, as well as 33 warehouse distribution centers. Ecohaus has locations in Seattle, Portland, Or., and San Francisco, Ca.

Desert Dealer Ditches Co-op

Best Home Center, Yucaipa, Ca., has terminated its contract with True Value and re-launched as Best Lumber, focusing on local suppliers.

"The name reinforces our commitment to quality lumber and building materials as well as hardware," said owner Margie DuVal, whose father started the business in 1960. "Working with local suppliers will greatly reduce transportation costs, allow us to stock a West Coast regional mix of product, and ensure that we remain competitive in the local hardware and building materials market."

She said that the transition should have minimal effect on customers. "We will have the same depth and breadth of nationally branded merchandise as we do now." The store's emphasis on environmentally safe products will also continue.

Hampton Mulls New Shipping Options from Port Hampton Affiliates, Portland, Or., is in discussions to ship lumber, rather than logs, from the Port of Astoria to customers overseas.

"It's still kind of preliminary at this point," said c.e.o. Steve Zika. "We're trying to convince the port that it's more in everybody's best interests."

Currently, lumber is loaded into containers that are transfened onto a ship. Hampton is pushing for a more direct method, loading the lumber directly onto a ship. "In theory it should be cheaper, but people haven't done this for a long time," said Zika. "We're trying to determine what type of equipment is available, what ships could even come in."

He said that the lumber would be shipped to Korea, China, Vietnam and India from Hampton's mills in Tillamook, Willamina, and Warrenton. Or.. and from its stud mill in Darrington, Wa.

Dunn Lumber is celebrating a grand reopening this month of its newly remodeled store in Everett, Wa.

Parr Lumber Co., Hillsboro, or., opened its 9th cabinet outlet, in Beaverton. Or.

Gust Family Enterprises' Ace Hardwarri, Longm6nt, co., expects a late April completion for its $300,000 expansion that will add 4,300 so. ft.

Altadena Hardware Co., Altadena, Ca., hosted a grand reopening Feb. 11-13 to celebrate its new ownership and remodeling.

New owners Jim and Paula Orlandini, with sons Jimmy and Rob, also operate Newland Hardware, E. Los Angeles, Ca. They acquired the new location last summer from retiring owner Don Thomas, whose greatgrandfather founded the business in the '1930s.

Ace Toledo Hardware, Toledo, Or., is liquidating after 40+ years.

Orchard Supply Hardware will add a store in a shuttered Mervyns building in San Jose, Ca.

Airhill-Penn Valley True Value, Penn Valley, Ca., has closed "due to a family emergency."

Although the early January closure was expected to be temporary, the business remained shuttered late into February.

Lowe's is ready to begin construction of a new store in Fairfield, Ca., and plans a 153,000-sq. ft. unit in Newbury Park, Ca.

Habitat for Humanity is opening a 25,000-sq. tt. ReStor-e discount LBM outlet this spring in Beaverton, Or., and this month is moving its ReStore in Casper, Wy., to a larger building.

Biq Jo True Value, Santa Fe, N.M.;-Junction True Value, Seattle, wa.; Pollock Pines True Value, Pollock Pines, Ca., and Vermont Outlet True Value, tos Angeles, Ca., were among 13 regional winners in True Value's "Best Hardware Store in Town" contest.

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Vinyl Window Makers Unite

Cascade Windows, Spokane, Wa., has merged with fellow vinyl window and patio door manufacturer Empire Pacific Windows, Tualatin, Or.

Cascade will now operate the former Empire Pacific plant in Tualatin, joining its own facilities in Spokane, Troutdale, Or., and Salt Lake City, Ut.

Weyco Sells NW Timberlands

Weyerhaeuser Co., Federal Way, Wa., has sold roughly 82,000 acres of timberlands in southwestern Washington to the Hancock Timber Resource Group, Boston, Ma., for approximately $200 million.

The sale, according to Weyco president and c.e.o. Dan Fulton, "represents the continued efforts to strategically rebalance our timberlands. We have a competitive advantage in growing and processing Douglas fir, and the sale focuses our western operations on managing that species. While the land sold is high-quality, productive timberlands, it no longer fits our long-term strategic plan."

Weyerhaeuser continues to own and manage more than six million acres of timberland, including more than one million acres in Washineton.

Sierra Pacific lndustries is on track to restart its Standard mill near Sonora, Ca., in May.

The facility, mothballed since the summer of 2009, is being renovated to cut small-diameter logs.

Roseburq Forest Products

Co.'s particleEoard plant in Missoula, Mt., suffered a minor fire Feb. 10.

Investigators haced the blaze to the exhaust system of machinery used to dry sawdust.

Capital Lumber, Phoenix, Az., started a company-wide conversion to DMSI's Agitity system.

Rayonier has sold 3,088 acres of land alonq Washinoton's Clearwater River to tni Naturd Conservancy for nearly $7 million.

Western Woods Inc., chico, Ca., is now diskibuting Fiberon Oecfing in California and Nevada.

Vandermeer Forest Products, Lynwood, Wa., is now dishibution LiteSteel beams throuohout the Pacific Northwest.

LP Building Products presen! ed its annual Masters Award to Huttig Building Products, Tigard, 0r., for growing sales of LP SmartSide and LP SolidStart EWPs.

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Simpson Strong-Tie, Pteasanton, Ca., has signed on as a founding sponsor ot Builderlink, Springfield, 0r.

The affiliation means that Simoson Strong-Tie will help populate the new site's technical library and online estimating module with its full array of product specifications, application guidelines, images and illustrations.

AERT's MoistureShield comoosite decking was ICC-ES certified to have 9570 total recycled content.

Anniversaries: Frost Hardwood Lumber Co., San Diego, Ca., 100th ... Foxworth Galbraith Lumber Co., Dallas, Tx., 11Oth Roseburg Forest Products, Dillard, 0r., 75th Reliable Wholesale Lumber, Huntington Beach, Ca., 40th Highland Lumber Sales, Anaheim, da., 20th.

Northern California Dealers Merge

Two Northern California dealers with concrete plants have merged, to combine office staffs and operate more efficiently.

NorCal Building Materials, with concrete operations in Santa Rosa, Middletown and Sebastopol, will join forces with Shamrock Materials, which has building material yards in Petaluma, Cotati and San Rafael; concrete plants in Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Cloverdale, Sonoma, Napa, San Rafael, and Novato, and a gravel yard in Cloverdale.

The combined companies, operating as Shamrock, will maintain offices in Petaluma and Santa Rosa.

Building Supply Pumps Up Roofing

Hartnagel Building Supply, Port Angeles, Wa., recently hosted a roofing open house to encourage homeowners to consider roof replacement.

Five local roofing contractors helped staff the Feb.23 event, to answer questions about residential and commercial roofing projects, provide samples of different types of composite and metal roofing, and discuss energy rebates for reroofing projects.

The event also included a tour of Hartnasel's in-store custom metal shop.

Stimson Cuts Price on Bonner Mill

Stimson Lumber, Portland, Or., has slashed the price of its old 170-acre facility in Bonner, Mt., from $16 million to $l I million.

"We're a motivated seller, let's put it that way," said Jeff Webber, vice president of manufacturing at Stimson.