How building materials dealers can use the slow season to win spring business

Use the slow months to learn what each contractor has lined up for the next building season, then turn those answers into dated sales opportunities. Start with the accounts whose purchase history shows they matter most in spring. Ask about specific projects, not just the next order. Record each project with its buyer, expected start, owner and next step, and quote the packages that are ready to price. When the busy season starts, your reps should be following up on known work rather than having the first conversation.

This applies where winter or another seasonal slowdown changes how contractors buy. It is not universal. In an LBM Journal reader survey, dealers described very different winters. Some contractor-focused yards saw purchases fall with the weather. A California yard said mild winters had less impact. A supplier to national builders said fiscal year ends affected it more than the season. Adjust the timing below to your market and customer mix.

Why the slow season is a selling opportunity

The same survey includes a useful observation from one respondent. During the building season, contractors have little time to talk about future plans or new products. A slower period gives the rep that time. Another respondent described winter as a chance for the sales team to get in front of customers with product presentations and proposals heading into the new year.

These are individual dealer comments from 2014, not measured results. They describe a practical opening, though. A contractor with a lighter schedule may be willing to walk through next year's work. That conversation can be harder to have once the season is busy.

Decide which accounts get a planning conversation first

A rep cannot meet every account in the same few weeks. Use connected sales data to set the order.

Start with last season's purchase history. Look at which accounts bought the most during your busy months, when their first orders arrived and which categories they bought first. An account that started buying framing in March needs a conversation earlier than one whose first order came in June. A contractor who bought from several departments last year has more to discuss than one who bought a single category.

Then look for accounts where the history raises a question. Purchases may have fallen compared with the year before. A builder may have pulled permits without buying much from you. SalesJack's Radar lets reps ask questions such as "Which of my customers have active permits but no recent orders?" across connected ERP, quote, permit and CRM data. The answer tells the rep which accounts to investigate. Only the conversation tells them whether there is an order to win.

Rick Davis makes a related point in a November 2022 LBM Journal column. He argues that many accounts at the bottom of a dealer's list bought very little the previous year, and that reps should decide which are dead ends and which are worth reviving. For a structured approach to accounts that have stopped buying, see how to recover lost revenue from inactive CRM accounts.

Ask about the spring backlog, not only the next order

A planning conversation should produce a list of real projects. "Anything coming up?" usually produces a vague answer. Ask about each piece of work the contractor expects to build:

• Where is the job, and what type of project is it?
• When do they expect to start, and what decides that date?
• Has the job been awarded, or are they still bidding it?
• Who will buy each material package, and when will they choose a supplier?
• Has another supplier already priced any of it?
• Which materials will they need that they did not buy from you last year?

The last question links the backlog to account growth. If the account history shows framing and trusses but no windows, doors or insulation, ask who supplies those on the coming jobs. That gives your specialists a reason to be involved before the decision is made.

Record a "no" as carefully as a "yes." In LBM Journal's Tough Call scenario, an outside rep talks with builder and remodeler customers about planned projects. Some have work lined up into the new year. Most do not. Knowing which accounts have nothing scheduled is useful. It tells the rep where to spend time on new prospects instead.

Turn each answer into a dated opportunity

A conversation that lives only in a rep's memory will not survive the first busy week of spring. For each project the contractor describes, record:

• The job address and project type
• The packages your business could supply
• The person who will make each buying decision
• The date the contractor expects to choose a supplier or need a quote
• The rep or specialist who owns the next step

Set the follow-up for the date the contractor gave you, not an arbitrary interval. If a builder expects final plans in late January, the next call belongs just after that, with the right estimator ready.

Keep confirmed work separate from hopes. "We have a signed contract and expect to break ground in April" is different from "We might do two or three houses if the bank comes through." Both are worth recording, but the sales manager should not plan the spring around the second.

Decide which packages to quote early

Some projects will be ready to price during the slow months. Quoting them early can put your yard in front of the decision before competitors are asked. Others are not ready, and an early number based on incomplete plans can create confusion later.

Quote early when the scope is stable, the contractor will make a decision before the season starts and someone has agreed to review the price. Otherwise, agree on what you need and when the contractor expects to have it. Follow your company's quote validity terms. Where the job starts months after the quote, check current pricing with purchasing before following up. Our guide to following up on lumberyard quotes covers how to keep a quote accurate as the job changes.

Look for interior and enclosed work during the slowdown

Seasonal slowdowns do not stop every kind of buying. In the same survey, one dealer reported that commercial builders had moved their projects inside, so sales of drywall, ceiling tile and interior metal studs stayed strong. Another said contractors try to get houses enclosed so crews can work inside through the winter, and noted that a cabinet job can be a significant winter sale.

Use that as a prompt, not a rule. If your business carries interior categories such as drywall, insulation, interior doors, millwork or cabinets, check which active accounts have enclosed jobs that could need them. Category history shows whether the contractor has bought these from you before. SalesJack's analytics maps product classes and special-order items into key categories, with views that help your team find cross-selling opportunities.

Reach builders who are not yet customers while there is time

The slow season is also a good time to approach builders who buy elsewhere. Permit activity shows who is building. A SalesJack article published by the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association recommends grouping permits by company to see which builders have a steady pipeline, rather than chasing single jobs. The same article notes that permit records often appear three to four weeks after approval, and can take two or three months in slower jurisdictions. Treat a permit as a reason to start a conversation, not proof that the package is still open.

Filter the list before it reaches a rep. Remove work outside your service area, project types you do not supply well and contractors who already buy from you. SalesJack filters permit leads by project type and region, matches them to existing customers and routes them to the assigned rep. New leads go to the sales manager for assignment.

Davis offers a useful test for these conversations. A buyer who will take a price but will not meet is a "suspect," not yet a prospect. Use the winter to earn a meeting about the builder's coming projects. Bill Lee gives similar advice in a June 2024 LBM Journal column. He suggests waiting to quote a prospect until they will at least consider a change, because a premature quote invites a price negotiation.

Review the plan each week as the season turns

A sales manager does not need a complicated report to check the plan. Each week, review:

• Which priority accounts have had a planning conversation
• Which projects now have a buyer, expected decision date and owner
• Which quotes have been prepared and when each decision is due
• Which new builders agreed to a meeting

Count the projects and quotes that moved forward, not the number of records reps opened. When decision dates begin to arrive, the list becomes the team's first spring pipeline.

For multi-category building materials dealers, SalesJack brings supported ERP quotes and purchase history, permit leads and contractor conversations into one view, with assigned tasks and reminders for follow-up. It does not decide which projects are real or replace the conversation with the contractor. It helps the rep go into that conversation knowing the account, and keep what they learn attached to it.

Sources

• Rick Schumacher, Real Issues. Real Answers: The Winter Slowdown, LBM Journal, October 1, 2014. Anonymous dealer responses to a reader survey; individual practices and opinions, not measured outcomes.
• Rick Schumacher, Tough Call: Battling Jack Frost, LBM Journal, November 17, 2014. A hypothetical outside-sales scenario with reader options.
• Rick Davis, Work hard. It's the smart thing to do., LBM Journal, November 17, 2022. Expert opinion on prospecting and reviving accounts.
• Bill Lee, How to win the prospect's favorable attention, LBM Journal, June 10, 2024. Expert opinion on approaching contractors who buy elsewhere.
• Ryan Dempsey, How Permit Data and AI Help Lumberyards Win More Business, Northeastern Retail Lumber Association, July 2026. Article by SalesJack describing permit-based prospecting practice.

Header photograph from the SalesJack website. Illustrative lumber yard setting, not a customer or project described in this article.