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Hardwood Blog
Perspectives and insights on the hardwood lumber industry.
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Wednesday, 21 April 2021 16:49
Assessing your Company's Strengths and Shortcomings
As a business leader, understanding your company’s strengths and weaknesses makes a big difference in assessing where your business stands in the marketplace. It may sound simple, but often people’s perspective is clouded by preconceptions, biases, hopes, and other factors—often times making it difficult to get a true reading on where a business stands. At American Lumber, we believe in evaluating the many components that go into our company’s success. If something doesn’t go as…
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 17:47
Why North American Hardwoods are the Responsible Choice
There is no doubt that when you step back and take a look at the hardwood lumber industry as a whole it truly is a unique and rewarding industry to be in. Some people enjoy the challenges and complexity of the industry, others may enjoy the relationships that can be built, or even the global nature of the business. Whatever the reason, it is clear that the hardwood lumber industry a ton to offer. This…
Wednesday, 17 February 2021 19:12
Improving Customer Data Protection
It has always been important for businesses to protect the confidential information of their customers. However, as technology further weaves its way into the way business is conducted, diligence in this area is crucial. One can never truly predict what new hacking techniques will emerge, but it’s a safe bet that cybercriminals will actively look for ways to steal sensitive information regarding both you, your business, and your customers. That is why it is your…
Wednesday, 20 January 2021 15:49
Adding a Personal Touch in a High-Tech World
The sales process can oftentimes be complicated. As a result, businesses may end up focusing too much on automated operations to keep things moving. But this often falls short of that all-important personal touch. Here at American Lumber, we understand that everything from a phone call to a web ad contributes to a customer’s perception and overall experience and that every touchpoint with the customer should be positive and make them feel valued. Here are…
Wednesday, 23 December 2020 13:41
Gathering Customer Feedback
Strong relationships with customers are built over a long period of time. In order to build those relationships, it requires a deep understanding of how you can meet the needs of both new and existing customers. By understanding their needs, it gives you the opportunity to build that relationship and earn customer’s loyalty well into the future. At American Lumber, we value all of our customers. We place great importance on continuously striving to meet…
Wednesday, 11 November 2020 16:49
Creating a Culture of Diversity within your Organization
Many business leaders are coming to find that diversity in the workplace is great for business. The more diverse your workforce the better your organization will be in understanding the needs of both customers and employees. Diversity brings the possibility of new perspectives and personalities to your business and your workplace in general, allowing you to better adapt as challenges arise. Here at American Lumber, we strive to embrace a hiring policy that embraces all…
Monday, 26 October 2020 16:28
Why is Delegation So Hard for Business Leaders?
Many business leaders struggle with the issue of delegating tasks to team members at one point or another. Especially in the cases of leaders who started out as entrepreneurs, it can be difficult to work past the mindset that “I’m am the only one who knows how to get this done!” Often times, a consequence of this is business inefficiencies. Important but routine tasks can get overlooked, and key responsibilities can go unaddressed. Work goes…
Monday, 14 September 2020 17:05
Encouraging Innovative Thinking and Creativity Within your Team
In terms of creativity, many businesses overlook a significant asset they already have on hand, their employees! It stands to reason that more likely than not, the people who know the most about the company are the people that work there, and can offer creative solutions and ideas in an environment that places an emphasis on that. At American Lumber, we have long been an advocate for employee creativity within our organization. Here are a…
Wednesday, 26 August 2020 13:51
Knowing Customers’ Needs
Especially in times like these knowing your customers is important. Working on current knowledge of your customers is even more crucial. If you aren’t working on updated knowledge of your customers’ wants and needs your offerings may come up short. While the obvious benefit of boosting sales is important, it is even more essential that you understand the problems your customers are up against, and how your products and services can solve their problems. At…
Monday, 27 July 2020 16:38
Building Trust with Prospective Customers
While tending to the needs of your current customers who purchase your company’s products and services is important, so is the need to build relationships with prospective customers. Strong relationships are built on trust, so how can you establish a foundation of trust that allows businesses to feel comfortable enough to respond to your marketing efforts? Typically, one of the best points to start at is by establishing a customer-centric culture in your business. While…
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Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:11
Avoiding Miscommuncation in the Workplace
Clear and concise communication is a big challenge for all of us these days, especially with the increased amount of remote work due to the current situation around the globe. But when miscommunication occurs in the workplace, it can cause damage that could be measured in a variety of ways, sometimes even in your company’s bottom line. This can come about in a variety of ways, like instances of employees not understanding what is expected…
Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:54
Keeping Employees Engaged
Helping employees keep motivation is a year-long objective for pretty much any business. But sometimes in the face of unexpected challenges, this can sometimes prove to be an extra challenge. In these and similar circumstances, workers sometimes can become less productive or otherwise have a sense of decreased motivation at their jobs. At American Lumber, we believe it is important to help employees maintain their motivation no matter what challenges present themselves. With this in…
Wednesday, 06 May 2020 16:09
Updates on Tropical Hardwoods
May is upon us and COVID 19 is still with us. Some states have even discussed soft openings at this point. Only time will tell what happens, there are very different opinions on that subject. Our import yard has been working hard and we shipped out a good amount of lumber to our customers in April and we have seen demand for just-in-time shipments remain steady so far. When we import our tropical hardwoods into…
Wednesday, 15 April 2020 15:57
Developing Your Leadership Team
Leadership is valuable in every organization, but planning, effort, and development into growing the leaders of tomorrow can be of immense benefit to your business. Often, day to day concerns get in the way of this goal. But as we are seeing now with current challenges everyone is facing, and the increased number of people working remotely, times like these show how team leadership is essential as business leaders look to get their teams ready…