The direction and development of the building materials industry with Jeff Booth
While I was on vacation last week, Mashable.com carried a story in its business section which included BuildDirect's co-founder, Robert Banks. In the article, Mashable points to the continued debate for CEO's and Founders of using social media and video to engage direct conversations with customers. The debate centers on the question of return on the investment for the time spent in the medium. The article then went on to list 12 companies that were having great success. … [Read more...]
I just saw this on post on Twitter that points out how fast business is changing. Without speaking for @wireddaniel, I believe the reason it makes him feel better is exactly why I feel better about buying from a company who engages on Twitter. (or facebook, etc) That is: There is an inverse correlation between openness and trust. The more open a company is, the more I trust them. the more closed (or controlled the message is) the less I trust them. Embrace it!!! Make sure you are on … [Read more...]
You know those moments when you hear something so compelling, it just sticks with you. Well, about two months ago at a Growth conference, I had one of those moments, and I have been thinking about it since. The moment I am talking about is while listening to a speaker named Aubrey Daniels who is a foremost authority on change management and bringing out the best in people. Aubrey talked about how punishment or penalty was only effective in stopping a behaviour, and how positive reinforcement … [Read more...]
Yesterday I was asked a question that I am often asked and I thought it deserved a blog post. The question I was asked is "Where is your call center?" I always answer the same..... WE DO NOT HAVE A CALL CENTER!!! We have product experts, and that function is handled in our head office. The expertise in our sales department is a core competency. I would put our product experts up against anyone in the business in their deep knowledge of the respective products. They each have incredible … [Read more...]
Each day we receive feedback from customers rating their experience with BuildDirect on 3 different criteria. 1) Customer Service 2) Product quality 3) Delivery service. We treat this feedback as crucial to our business. Even though it hurts when the feedback is negative, it uncovers areas that we improve upon. We never hide from it. In fact we share the product quality reviews un-edited for everyone else to see. The vast majority of the responses are not only positive...but extremely … [Read more...]
I thought I would share a recent email I sent to my team here at BuildDirect. I wanted to tell you a story of an experience I had last night with one of the local developers in town because it really highlights the type of organization and people we have at BuildDirect. At the Ideas on Tap event, Peter Kefalas of Ethos Developments and Bellaliving.ca came up to me and asked me what my secret was to hiring such a great team. He shared some of his experiences with Jamie B, Marc, Rona, Kailey, and … [Read more...]
BuildDirect just finished an executive search where we were looking for a senior leader to help build out our supply chain. After determining exactly the type of person we were looking for, it was time to hire a recruiting firm that we felt could best 1) attract the best candidates, 2) communicate our message effectively. I interviewed 4 different firms to determine who I thought would be the best fit for our needs. I was satisfied with all of them with respect to their databases or types … [Read more...]
Why I believe we are having success using social media? We do not use social media as a sales channel and we do not use social media as an advertising channel. I believe that our success from social media is a result of amplifying who we are, what we are about and engaging with others. I am sure that social media helps develop our brand and helps our sales but these things are a by-product of being authentic in our messages and attracting the type of people who care about the same things that … [Read more...]
I love this Jack Welch quote from a recent Financial times article on the future of Capitalism. "On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy...your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products." This is a key point. Shareholder value happens when the other things are done right. A business wins as a result of creating truly engaged customers. Customers who are raving fans of the business … [Read more...]
While at the helm of BuildDirect, Jeff is also an active member of the international Young Presidents’ Organization, and is a frequent speaker to industry groups throughout North America. Jeff also makes time to lecture in business courses at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. [Read More…]
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