Experts?

Several years ago, one of our salesmen was called in to give testimony for a lawsuit (we were not involved).  One of the first things our attorney told us is that when asked if you are an expert, don’t say yes.  Huh?

Well, honestly that was a bit hard to swallow.  I don’t know that I’m and expert in anything but this particular salesmen is as good as they come.  The attorney explained to us that Expert is a legal term, and that you can get into all kinds of trouble if you label yourself as one.  So he instructed the salesman to say something like, “Well, I dont know what you mean by expert, but I know a lot about doors and windows”.  Attorneys, ugh. (No offense, my brother is a great one)

Anyway, it had never dawned on me that the salesmen here are not Experts.  Because in my non-legal book, they are.  Its not easy knowing all there is to know about this:

And at the same time,  know everything about this:

I wonder what else is a legal term that I could get into trouble for.  Sometimes doing business in America is like walking through a field of land mines, but I digress.

What I do not wonder about is this.  If I am going to do a project like the ones pictured above, I want experts.  I want Wilson Lumber.  Come by the store or see us on the web.

know who you are

There are really two sides to Wilson Lumber.  There’s the side that most people know, that is, that we sell building materials to pro’s who are building and remodeling homes (although as frustrating as it is, most people don’t know that we sell a whole lot more than just lumber).

But then there’s the significant side of our business where we sell to homeowners.  Now most of our interactions with homeowners (at least in dollar volume) is with what you might call larger ticket items.  Replacement doors, decks, cabinets, etc.  Hence, our tag line “way more than lumber”.

    

Anyway, recently we have discontinued all electrical, plumbing and paint products (well, almost all).  It’s not that we didn’t enjoy selling this stuff, or even that we didn’t make money at it.  The problem was that we were not excellent at it.  And we believe that if you cant be excellent at something, you just shouldn’t do it.  Also, we realized that people don’t need us for that kind of stuff.  And we are perfectly OK with that.  It gives us more resources, energy and space for the stuff we are excellent at.

As if that is not enough, I attended a conference recently where I saw this particular study by the Farnsworth Group that I’ve previously written about.

Basically, professionals depend on us for Lumber, Millwork and Building Materials.  (I must admit, I thought lumber and millwork were building materials.  I guess they meant stuff like siding, brick, gypsum, etc.)  So, as we are excellent at those things, that is where we focus our resources.

You might notice on the study that only 3% of pro’s made their last paint purchase at a place like Wilson’s.  And only 15% for electrical and 4% for paint.  I guess I’m now wondering why we kept that stuff around as long as we did.  O well, hindsight is 20/20.

If you need any lumber, millwork or building materials, give us a call (256-852-7411) or visit our website.  And if you need electrical, plumbing or paint, we can refer you to someone excellent:)

5 Reasons To Use Engineered Wood

1. It’s green.  Now I know green is in vogue so it probably seems like an advertisement for me to place this first.  But hear me out.  With technology what it is today in design software and saws that work with it, we’ve reduced the waste from even large homes to virtually a small pile of sawdust.  Waste not want not is the saying, and our truss plant is a true “waste not” facility.

2. It’s assembled in a controlled environment.  Now I’m not saying that there are not good quality framers out there.  But in a world where true craftsmen are becoming a thing of the past, it’s good to know that walls come out square and trusses are exactly as designed.

3. Speed.  At a NAHB show a few years ago, the WTCA assembled two identical 2600 sq. ft. houses using stick framing on one and wall panels/trusses on the other.  They found that in assembly, the trussed house saved 253 man hours (roughly $4560 worth) and 5300 board feet of wood (about $1529 worth).

4. Home-specific design.  It is vitally important how you design the framing of a home; the way the load transfers from one board to the other, how loads are carried from ceiling to ground, what types of material will work best in a given situation, etc.  We design components specifically for each home we build.  A house using components is fully engineered.

 

5. Reduced theft.  This may not be a “top 5” reason but it is worth pointing out.  Jobsite theft has been rampant at times and its bad for everybody (even the thief but that’s a different blog).  The truth is, its simply a lot harder to steal a wall panel or a truss.  And even if you did, what would you do with it?  It’s designed per house (see reason #4).

There are many other reasons but I believe all this adds up to it being a good idea to use components.  We’ll be happy to talk to you more about it of you call (256-852-7411) or check out our website for more information.