Outstanding achievements: tapped in the showroom design, marketing/ customer service, and human resources/employee betterment categories, respectively, Gayward Corp., Schneider Lumber, and Robert Bowden Inc. Garner honorable mentions

Prosales, Nov, 2003

Completed in time for a grand opening in May 2003, the Hayward Design Center in Santa Barbara, Calif., embraces sales, functional efficiency, and environmental sensitivity. Representing an investment of more than $1 million by Hayward Corp.,which is based in Monterey, Calif., the design center features more than 8,500 square feet of display area featuring 25 door, window, hardware, cabinet, and flooring suppliers. Highlights include a patent-pending modular window and door display system of 25 moveable panels on tracks displaying more than 280 lineal feet of window and door products in combination. The panels allow new product combinations to be cycled through without extensive retrofitting or reconstruction, and customers can place molding samples affixed with Velcro on the carpeted backdrop to visualize a completed installation.

True to Hayward's corporate mission of sustainability, the Santa Barbara design center incorporates a range of green building features, including the use of FSC-certified lumber, a heat-reflective and water-permeable parking area, and a "green screen" living facade that will eventually grow in with plants to shade and cool the building.

To Market

When Schneider Lumber, a single-location dealer based in Canton, Ohio, first began researching marketing initiatives in 2000, it discovered a decline in brand awareness building among local LBM dealers. Realizing that leaving brand-building in the hands of big boxes and large home builders would obscure the area's suppliers even more, the dealer set in motion its Integrated Marketing Program (IMP) with the goals of generating brand awareness, broadening market share, and promoting products and services.

"We want to be the premium choice for retail while allowing builder customers to use our brand to sell their producer," the company explains. "A builder should be able to say 'I use Schneider Lumber' to their prospective buyer and know that phrase has value and meaning."

The company turned to the Internet to help communicate its diverse product offerings, launching www.goodwood.com in mid-2000. It then drove visitors to the site mid built brand awareness through a revamped brand statement ("Highest Quality, Best Service, and Lasting Value"), direct mail, and radio ads on public and eventually commercial radio.

In 2003, Schneider used its 95th anniversary as a launching pad for new IMP initiatives. A revamped logo touts the milestone and a celebratory calendar highlights projects and products. The company refurbished its Web site with separate content-targeted areas for architects, contractors, and builders, and added a digital molding library and e-commerce. Other marketing additions include a bimonthly newsletter and a CD-ROM for new customers. Finally, the company implemented the Marketing Partner Program,which supplies customers with upto-date information in order to coordinate marketing messages to their new-customer prospects.

The success of Schneider's marketing efforts is in the numbers. Between July 1, 2002 and July 7, 2003, the Schneider Web site received 550,000 hits, and the company reported a 20.5 percent sales increase in the past 12 months. Additionally, in the past 30 months the company has utilized a range of media outlets while spending around $180,000, or .6 to 1 percent of sales. So far, Schneider Lumber is proving that you can successfully build your brand, increase sales, and see results without breaking the bank.

Stock Options

Believing that the highest levels of performance are available when employees think and act like owners, Marietta, Ga.-based Robert Bowden Inc. (RBI) decided to put its credo to the test in January 2002 by implementing an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). "By giving our employees a stake in the company, we are reinforcing our commitment to customers and employees," the company says. "Everyone at Robert Bowden Inc. is a stakeholder with an active interest in the success of our clients"

A tax-qualified program that allows 100 percent of the company's stock to be transferred to employees, RBI's ESOP was initiated to serve a four-part long-term goal to: perpetuate the dealer's corporate traditions, including the sharing of financial information; limit the founder's long-term risk associated with future growth and expansion; develop a 20-year succession plan; and preserve the name, identity, culture, and persona of RBI. The plan itself was developed over a one-year period beginning in February 2001, and it was finalized and implemented through several meetings with employees. Additionally, an ESOP committee was created and interactive training sessions were offered to help educate the" workforce.

According to RBI's CFO Greg Lucas, since January 2002, the ESOP has improved performance, increased employee morale, and developed a sense of synergy among the employee-owners.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Stay tuned. RBI's ESOP will be featured as a part of next month's cover story on selling the business.