In episode 173 of the Behind Your Back Podcast, sales leader and cinephile Matt Potter joins the show to break down the key scenes from the classic sales film, Tommy Boy . Starring Chris Farley and David Spade, this 1995 comedy details how Tommy Callahan, the charismatic and underachieving son of an auto parts tycoon teams up with a snide accountant to try and save the family business after Tommy's father dies unexpectedly. Apart from being hilarious, Tommy Boy offers several memorable selling s...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 25 min
"People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures." - F. Matthias Alexander In this episode, host Bradley Hartmann breaks down the simple, yet effective habit management framework he has used for the last 18 months: The Clear Habit Journal (developed by James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits ) and The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandino. These 3 tools— Atomic Habits , The Clear Habit Journal , and The Greatest Salesman In The World —ca...
Jan 06, 2021•23 min
In episode 171, you'll learn about leadership from Dr. Ginny Whitelaw. Ginny holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Chicago and was a senior leader at NASA responsible for building the International Space Station—a project that provides her with some unique insights into the challenges within the construction community. Ginny is the Founder and CEO of the Institute for Zen Leadership, has earned a 5th-degree black belt in Aikido, and joins the podcast to discuss how all her achieveme...
Dec 30, 2020•25 min
In episode 170, you'll hear Hartmann's guest appearance on one of his favorite podcasts: Smarter Building Materials Marketing with Zach Williams and Beth Pop-Nikolov. If you are not already a subscriber to Smarter Building Materials Marketing, click the link below to resolve that immediately: www.venveo.com/podcast Zach Williams, founder of Venveo which specializes in building materials marketing, was a guest on The Behind Your Back Podcast episode 127 talking about "unessential business" with T...
Dec 23, 2020•32 min
Part II of the leadership panel conversation with distinguished members of The Lumberman’s Association of TX and LA (LAT). The bluechip leadership panel included: Brian McCoy, CEO and Board Chair of McCoy’s Building Supply. McCoy's was founded in 1927 and operates 88 retail locations, 2 millwork shops, and 5 distribution centers in 5 states. Brian is a past LAT president. Jack Foxworth, President and CEO of Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co (Fox-Gal). Fox-Gal was founded in 1901 and operates 32 locat...
Dec 17, 2020•39 min
In November, Bradley Hartmann was honored to moderate a panel of distinguished member leaders within The Lumberman’s Association of TX and LA (LAT). The purpose was to share insights and advice to the emerging leaders at member companies. The bluechip leadership panel included: Brian McCoy, CEO and Board Chair of McCoy’s Building Supply. McCoy's was founded in 1927 and operates 88 retail locations, 2 millwork shops, and 5 distribution centers in 5 states. Brian is a past LAT president. Jack Foxw...
Dec 16, 2020•33 min
In episode 167, Brent Hull finishes his conversation with Jenny T. and Bradley Hartmann. Brent is the founder and owner of Hull Millwork, which crafts historically correct millwork. Brent also consults on classical architectural design, historic preservation, and restoration. Architects and designers all over the world depend on Brent’s expertise. Brent starred in the History Channel show, Lone Star Restoration, and he posts engaging and insightful weekly videos on The Build Show. You can find t...
Dec 10, 2020•31 min
In episode 166, Brent Hull joins the show. Brent is the founder and owner of Hull Millwork. After graduating from Baylor with degrees in History and English, Brent moved to Boston in 1991 to begin a 2-year study of historic preservation at the North Bennet Street School—one of the oldest trade schools in the United States. It was here that Brent learned the art of traditional building. Upon graduation, Brent moved to Fort Worth and launched his own business crafting historically correct millwork...
Dec 09, 2020•32 min
In episode 165, Bradley Hartmann finishes his conversation with Brian Varisco, VP of Operations at Pebble Tec. In this episode, Brian shares insights on why "the warranty is like the speed limit", how not to handle escalating conflicts as a leader, and what it's like getting personally sued while on the job. (For anyone looking for context as to how bad customers can be, this is for you.) * * * If you enjoyed this podcast, we'd sincerely appreciate it if you recommend this show to your friends a...
Dec 03, 2020•27 min
In episode 164, Brian Varisco, VP of Operations at Pebble Tec, joins the show to discuss customer service and how it can differentiate your brand—for better or worse. In this episode Brian shares insights on: the intersection between sales and customer service the foundations of a good customer service team how to improve your empathy methods Jenny T. can use to control her emotions when college-age customers nearly drive her over the edge * * * If you enjoyed this podcast, we'd sincerely apprec...
Dec 02, 2020•31 min
In episode 163, insights from the classic book by baseball legend Ted Williams, The Science of Hitting , are applied to the activity of prospecting. Thank you to a new sponsor, Boise Cascade Engineered Wood Products: Faster, Stronger, Easier. * * * If you enjoyed this podcast, we'd sincerely appreciate it if you left a review on Apple Podcasts. The feedback helps improve the show and helps with our visibility as well. The more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it to make ...
Nov 24, 2020•21 min
In episode 162, Bradley Hartmann completes his conversation with Brooks Dame, Vice President and 3rd generation leader at Woodgrain Millwork and founder of Proof Eyewear. In Part II of this conversation, Brooks shares the value of business oversight with the mantra, "the owner's eye fattens the calf” as experimentation and innovation continue to drive the Woodgrain culture. Brooks also shares the contrarian mindset as leadership is constantly scanning the marketplace for undervalued assets https...
Nov 19, 2020•30 min
In episode 161, Brooks Dame, VP of the Door Division at Woodgrain Millwork and founder of Proof Eyewear, joins the show. Based in Boise Idaho, Brooks is a 3rd generation leader of the vertically integrated (From tree to trim!) Woodgrain, one of the largest millwork operations in the world. With locations across the U.S. and Chile, Woodgrain owns their forestry acreage, cuts their timber in their sawmills, operates their own network of manufacturing facilities, and delivers wood mouldings, doors,...
Nov 18, 2020•26 min
In episode 160, Jacob Monty of Monty & Ramirez LLP joins the Behind Your Back Podcast to discuss practical solutions for recruiting, training, retaining, and building trust with the Hispanic workforce. If you employ Hispanics, sell to Hispanics, or sell to customers that employ Hispanics, this episode will offer you unique insight. Jacob Monty has served two U.S. presidents and in this episode, he shares what he learned from working with both. Jake also shares recommendations for a pair of i...
Nov 11, 2020•46 min
In episode 159, host Bradley Hartmann finishes his conversation with Tom and T.J. McNulty of Hingham Lumber Company south of Boston. If you have not listened to episode 158—Part I featuring Tom and T.J. McNulty—we recommend you do. It is not necessary, but you'll find it helpful. The father and son duo discuss what Hartmann refers to as "The Rise of The Briefcase Builder v.2.0." A briefcase builder has traditionally been a derogatory term for a construction outsider with dumb money who is wading...
Nov 05, 2020•36 min
In episode 158, Tom and T.J. McNulty of Hingham Lumber Company in Cohasset, MA join the show. Tom and T.J. are the second and third generation father and son team leading Hingham as it strives daily to be The Better Builder's Yard. In this episode, Part I of Bradley Hartmann's conversation with the pair, they discuss the early insights that led to Hingham's focus on customer intimacy—the willingness to invest vast amounts of time to build relationships and truly understand their customers, build...
Nov 04, 2020•25 min
In the September issue of the LBM Journal, sales consultant Bill Lee posed the question, "Is your team trained to deal with price objections?" Short answer: no. Upon reading Bill’s article, a sales manager from Wisconsin named Bobby reached out to me via Instagram. He asked, “What’s your thought on how someone should stand their ground to this 1-2 punch from a customer: I can get a better price somewhere else. Is this the best you can do?” In this episode, Bradley Hartmann outlines a thoughtful ...
Oct 28, 2020•12 min
In episode 156, Bradley Hartmann is joined by Bonnie Mauldin of The Mauldin Group, an Atlanta-based web design and internet marketing firm that specializes in the construction industry. Bonnie is the show's first empath (Don’t know what an empath is? Well, consider this an unexpected bonus then!) and she shares insights to improve your marketing to make your selling activities easier. Hartmann and Mauldin discuss: Perception and how perceived value in the mind of the customer is the essential el...
Oct 21, 2020•49 min
In episode 155, Bradley is joined by Charlie Coggins, Greenville-Spartanburg Market President at Professional Builders Supply. With the college football season lurching its way through October, we asked Charlie to share some leadership lessons he learned from being a long-snapper on the East Carolina University (Arrrrg, Pirates!) team. He talks about the importance of goal-setting and early specialization if required to achieve that goal—exactly what Charlie had to do to become a successful coll...
Oct 14, 2020•40 min
In episode 154 of The Behind Your Back Podcast, Mike Wisnefski, co-founder and CEO of MaterialsXchange, joins the show. Mike discusses the (un)natural progression he made from Badger U (University of Wisconsin Madison) to professional international water skiing, to trading lumber options for Bloch Lumber in Chicago. While an unusual path to the LBM industry, it did enable Mike to earn the insights he applies now leading MaterialsXchange (MX)—the NASDAQ of the lumber and building materials indust...
Oct 07, 2020•46 min
In episode 153, Jenna Duett brings her enthusiasm and insights to the Behind Your Back Podcast. Jenna is the Director of Media and Regional Marketing for one of the largest franchisors in the construction space. Jenna details how she thinks about traditional marketing channels (TV, print, radio) versus digital (email, social media platforms, video, podcasts) and how she frames the opportunities facing her franchisees who are challenged with limited time and budgets—while Jenna is challenged with...
Sep 30, 2020•53 min
In episode 152, host Bradley Hartmann outlines how teams can invest 90 minutes every 90 days to build stronger, more insightful teams that leverage the commodity of information to bring more contextual information to customers and prospects.
Sep 28, 2020•11 min
In episode 151, Tim Lyons (VP of Sales at Brockway-Smith Co. aka BROSCO) joins the podcast to discuss sales and leadership at the 130-year-old firm. Founded in 1890, BROSCO is the largest distributor of millwork products in the Northeast. Tim and Bradley discuss how to honor the past sales methodologies that have proven resilient at the firm while continuing to innovate. Tim also shares a poignant example of overcoming the sunk cost fallacy and some of his inspiration from General and President ...
Sep 23, 2020•55 min
In episode 150, Dr. Ben Bigelow joins the show. Ben is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Construction Science program at the University of Oklahoma. After graduating from Texas A&M, Ben built homes for Centex before being pulled into academia, studying and teaching at several of the strongest Construction Management programs in the country—Arizona State (Masters), Colorado State (PhD), and Texas A&M (back to his alma mater to teach). Ben taught in College Station for 6 years...
Sep 16, 2020•47 min
In episode 149, Bradley Hartmann shares the timeless components of remarkability as defined by Michel de Montaigne: utiles-doux in Latin meaning, useful-delightful.
Sep 14, 2020•9 min
In episode 148, Bradley Hartmann and Jenny T. welcome Tricia Kagerer (Executive Vice President of Risk Control at Jordan Foster Construction) to the show to discuss her new book, The B Words: 13 Words Every Woman Must Navigate for Success. Far from an episode solely for women, this discussion will help everyone collaborate more thoughtfully, especially during this pandemic as many of us juggle the demands of teaching roles, in addition to family and professional roles. For more information on Th...
Sep 09, 2020•47 min
As COVID-19 has made face-to-face selling harder than ever, communicating well via email is as important as ever. In episode 147, Bradley Hartmann and Jenny T. dissect a series of real-life email sales pitches—the good, the bad, and the ugly—to review what to do, what not to do, how to stand out, and how to get your readers leaning in. Visit behindyourbacksales.com/podcast to download the PDF training guide that accompanies this episode with the actual email sales pitch examples included....
Sep 02, 2020•38 min
"Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two—and only two—basic functions: marketing and innovation." - Dr. Peter Drucker In episode 146, Bradley Hartmann connects with one of his former MBA professors, Corinne Miller. Corinne is an expert on innovation, with innovation-based roles in various fields: the defense sector, at Motorola during its last dynamic peak, and at a high-tech bowling ball firm. Corrine couples her background in computer science with her Maste...
Aug 26, 2020•56 min
In episode 145, Russ Kathrein joins the show to talk about his recent departure from Alexander Lumber, a few of his lessons learned, and leadership principles that can guide us all.
Aug 19, 2020•58 min
Part II of Bradley Hartmann's conversation with Bruce Merrifield, President of Merrifield Consulting Group and partner at WayPoint Analytics. They continue the discussion on profit models, customer profitability rankings, the importance of identifying Gazelles (the 4% of companies that are growing 2-4X faster than the competition due to continuous innovation), and the parable of Charlie The Milkman. Visit www.behindyourbacksales.com/podcast to download the transcript/case study from Part I with ...
Aug 12, 2020•32 min
