“Don’t confuse being busy with being successful.”
This is one of my favorite quotes. It is easy in the construction industry to be busy. It’s not so easy to be successful.
Each year we like to reflect on the past and plan for the future. Planning is powerful, but easily set to the side. We are all quite busy just getting through the day.
In the first quarter of every year we like to share our ‘Joint Business Planning’ data with our customers. It is a chance for you and your sales representative to stop and look at your purchasing patterns from the past few years as a basis for discussing priorities for the current year.
I continue to believe that the single biggest opportunity for efficiency, accuracy, productivity and profitability improvements for both builders and their material supplier is JOINT PLANNING. For me, JOINT PLANNING means just what it says. It means looking at all the ways in which our success is mutually connected and discussing strategies and actions steps that will make both our businesses more successful.
• Finding better product solutions for your specific needs.
• Increasing accuracy of orders.
• Reducing the volume of paperwork and job site interruptions.
• Designing more efficient or innovative homes.
• Keeping up on the latest product developments.
• Learning more about the specialty services for online billing, delivery notification, wall panels, custom pine products, kitchen design services, window maintenance & repairs.
These are just a few of the subjects that can benefit us together.
I love our industry because it is a team sport. We can only be successful if you are successful, so we need to be highly focused on your priorities. In addition, we feel it is hard for a builder to be successful without an aligned and efficient supplier. We share a very important relationship and once a year, at least, it is worth sitting down to think carefully and strategically. Please look for this opportunity with your Hancock Lumber sales representative and thank you if you’ve already met! Becoming even more successful together is a subject worth working on!
Thank you,
Kevin Hancock