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

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 value—and your commissions—without working longer hours.

In this episode you will:

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 tactics that work now.

In this episode you will:

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 how to stop doing it for good.

In this episode you will:

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:

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: 

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 (founder of Amazon), this episode is your reminder that courage and curiosity are your most powerful tools in sales.

In this...

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, this episode offers a direct and actionable way forward.

In this episode you will:

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 profitably.

In this episode you will:

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 them to drive real, sustainable growth.

In this episode you will:

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 trust, setting up a reliable pipeline, and navigating the overwhelm of AI tools that promise too much and deliver too little. If you're spending too much time on tech an...

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 your rep who sells $12.5MM at 35% tells you that?”

In this episode, Bradley will answer the two parts of that question...

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 week. If you're still typing every email manually and Googling clients the old way, you're leaving money—and time—on the table.

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 episode you will: 

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 business.

In this episode you will:

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 grow your gross margin, win new customers, or make better use of your time—this episode is your new playbook.

In this episode you will:

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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 why multitasking doesn’t work, why “find what works for you” is terrible advice, and what to do instead to finally control your schedule—and your sale...

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 quantified forecasts, you're not selling—you’re guessing. 

This episode unpacks the mindset and systems needed to build a pipeline that drives consistent, confident sales performance.

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 today’s episode you will:

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 prospect smarter, not harder

• Discover how to turn one solution into multiple touch points across platforms

• Get a repeatable tactic to stay top of mind wit...

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 this episode, you will:

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 discounting.

In this episode, you will:

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, and win more profitable deals.

LBM sales pros today are overwhelmed with information, but still lack a clear sales process. In this episode, host Bradley Hartmann sits d...

Are price increases causing your loyal builders to shop around—and your prospects to ignore you?

If you’re in LBM sales, you know that passing along manufacturer price hikes with a shrug—or worse, a form letter—can make you look lazy and replaceable. But what if you could turn this challenge into a moment to win more business, re-engage cold prospects, and strengthen loyalty with your best clients?

In this episode, you’ll discover:

Are your first impressions with prospects falling flat before the conversation even starts?

Whether you're introducing yourself at a builder meeting, on a jobsite, or over the phone, most LBM sales reps are unknowingly sabotaging deals with soft introductions that violate the #1 rule in sales: It’s not about you. 

In this episode, you’ll learn a proven three-step framework to capture attention, reduce rejection, and spark real interest—starting from your very first sentence.

In this episode you will:

Do builders alternate between grinding you down on price and ghosting you?

If you're tired of wasting time on bad-fit prospects or losing deals because buyers don’t respect your time or expertise, this episode will help orient you in the right direction. 

In this episode, we explore how to reset power dynamics in prospecting using a military-inspired strategy that works in LBM sales—as well as it does in Chapel Hill with Bill Belichick.

Listen to this episode and you will: 

Kids are natural salespeople, navigating around, over, and through objections with ease. They have a complete lack of self-consciousness when it comes to getting what they want. 

However, as we age and life kicks us around a bit, we start flinching when we anticipate objections, let alone hearing them. 

If you're an LBM sales pro who’s ever been caught flat-footed by common objections like “We’re happy with our current provider” or “Not interested,” this episode breaks down why simply knowing objections isn’t enough—you need authentic, practiced responses that keep the conversation alive and the deal...

Are you chasing new business only to realize months later that it's unprofitable, frustrating, and a huge drain on your time?

Too many LBM sales pros fall into the trap of thinking all new work is good work. But if that customer isn’t both incremental and accretive, it’s just more stress with less profit. 

In this episode, you’ll learn how to vet prospects like a pro using the PRIME framework, so you can stop wasting time and only fill your pipeline with clients who grow your top and bottom line.

In this...

Ever get the feeling—or have been told outright—that everyone likes you, only to still lose the sale? This episode shares the brutal sales lesson that changed everything for me.

In the world of LBM sales, being likable and working hard is essential, but insufficient. If your offer doesn’t help your customer make, find, or save money, you’re just a distraction. 

In this episode, you’ll hear the story of a devastating sales loss and how it revealed a framework I use every day to drive my own profitable selling efforts.

By the en...

Do you feel like you are wasting your time with tire kickers and price-focused, low-margin prospects who drain your energy and your profits? This episode reveals the two simple words that could instantly transform the way you qualify leads and close deals.

If you’re in the LBM sales world, you may feel the pressure to chase every opportunity, but not every deal is worth the chase. In this episode, we explore how thinking in terms of “Incremental” and “Accretive” can help you filter out the time-wasters and focus only on work that grows both revenue and profit. Duration: 00:12:04

Are you tired of cold calls going nowhere—and feeling like you’re a nuisance?

If you’re in LBM sales and struggling to land quality meetings, this episode reveals the missing link: how to use the first 30 seconds of a sales call to earn trust, build credibility, and open the door to profitable conversations. We’ll break down the exact 3-step RRI framework that can instantly separate you from all the other sales schmucks slinging stuff—and lead to higher-margin deals.

In this episode you will:

Think the only way to win new LBM sales is to offer the lowest price?

This introductory episode kicks off The Craft of LBM Sales Podcast—a short preview of what's coming for LBM sales pros who are ready to stop discounting and start delivering real value that drives builder profit. If you've been struggling to close deals, build loyalty, or get off the price treadmill, this show is built for you.

In this episode, you will:

• Learn the mission behind this podcast and who it’s for

• Hear how selling value (n...