“The data is there, but we struggle to get it.” If you’re leading an LBM business, that line may feel familiar.
You’re probably already capturing the information you need to protect margin. The challenge is getting a clear view of it when it matters: before a sales meeting, before a quote is lost, before a customer declines, or before pricing habits start to erode margin.
In a flat market, that visibility matters. Your reps are busy trying to win work, protect accounts and keep customers happy. Your managers are trying to coach performance, but too much of their time is spent finding the numbers rather than using them.
This article is based on a recent GenetiQ webinar delivered in partnership with Bradley Hartmann, CEO at Hartmann & Co. If you prefer to read the key takeaways rather than watch the full session, we’ve pulled out five practical levers that can help you bring the right information to the surface, guide better sales conversations and act before margin is lost:
Your sales managers should not have to become analysts before they can coach their teams.
But in many dealerships, managers spend valuable time pulling reports, checking spreadsheets and piecing together numbers before they can have a useful conversation with a rep. That makes it harder to spot where margin is slipping, which quotes need attention and which opportunities deserve focus.
Bradley Hartmann describes the reality for many sales managers:
“There are a lot of things taking up their time, limiting them from spending time on the two activities sales managers need to focus on most: individualized coaching and driving accountability.”
When managers can quickly see sales performance, margin, quote activity, pipeline, new business and declining accounts, they can ask better questions and coach the behaviours that protect margin.
(If this sounds familiar, the early part of our webinar is especially useful!)
When the market is flat, every sales conversation carries more weight.
Your managers are trying to help reps protect margin, focus their time, keep good customers close and find the next profitable opportunity. Without a clear structure, those conversations can drift into updates rather than actions.
RPA gives managers a simple agenda to follow in regular one-to-one sales conversations:
Results: What has already happened? Look at sales, margin, new business and performance against target.
Pipeline: What is likely to happen next? Review open quotes, live opportunities, probability, timing and value.
Activities: What will the rep do next? Agree the actions needed to create, advance or close profitable opportunities.
That middle item, pipeline, is often where the conversation needs the most attention. Results are usually easier to see. Pipeline relies on reps having a clear view of which quotes are real, which opportunities are moving and where their time will make the biggest difference.
Bradley Hartmann describes pipeline as “looking out the windshield,” because it shows what is still ahead. Sales and margin results can tell you what happened last month, but pipeline helps you see what could happen next.
Used well, RPA helps sales meetings move from a review of past performance to a practical conversation about what needs to happen next.
Your best opportunities may already be in your customer base.
A good account can still have gaps. They may buy lumber from you, but source sheet goods, windows, doors or millwork elsewhere. They may trust your team, but only for part of what you could supply.
Better visibility helps your reps spot those gaps. If you can compare customer spend, product categories and margin against similar accounts, you can see where there may be room to grow.
As Gary Brookshaw explains in his webinar example, you have a target to aim for“If we can get this customer closer to what other people are achieving, then there is a margin opportunity there.”
For many dealers, protecting margin doesn’t always mean chasing brand new accounts. It can start with serving existing customers more completely.
If you know there are accounts with more potential than your team is currently capturing, the share of wallet section of the webinar will be useful.
You know how easily margin can disappear in the day-to-day.
A manual override here. A small discount there. A price list that hasn’t quite kept pace with the market. One decision may not seem like much, but across a branch, a sales team or a product category, those decisions can quietly add up.
That doesn’t mean your reps are doing anything wrong. Often, they’re trying to win the order, look after the customer and make the best call in the moment. But if those decisions aren’t visible, it becomes hard to know where margin is being protected and where it’s being given away too easily.
GenetiQ helps make those pricing patterns visible inside the system your team already uses. Managers can see where pricing is being overridden, which customers are being discounted and where margin is under pressure, so they can step in sooner and give sales teams clearer guidance.
Your reps are busy, but maybe that’s not the problem.
They’re chasing quotes, dealing with customer issues, protecting accounts, following up opportunities and trying to find new business. In a flat market, the pressure is deciding what deserves their attention first.
Better insight helps your team cut through that noise. It can show which accounts are slipping, which quotes are worth chasing, which product categories are underperforming and where there may be an opportunity to protect or grow margin.
Bradley Hartmann sums up the value of combining better insight with the judgement of your sales team:“I do not think AI alone is going to solve it. I do not think the rep alone is going to solve it. But I do believe the sales rep plus AI, meeting with their sales manager about what they are planning to do, is going to be an improvement over the thought processes happening today.”
Give your reps a clearer starting point. Give your managers better talking points. Help the whole team spend more time on the actions most likely to protect margin.
Flat markets reveal where conversations are too general, where pipeline is unclear, where pricing decisions are inconsistent and where customer opportunities are being missed.
You don’t need more noise. You need clearer visibility, better conversations and faster action.