In
his first communication with us about www.se-timbersales.com,
“John Smith,” the veteran timberbuyer interviewed nearby, used the quote in the
title and wished us good luck. The
procurement manager in another region of the same company reported that he was
one of the best in the business, but we didn’t fully comprehend Smith’s
expertise until we began to hear from some of his competitors.
So
that they need not visit the site repeatedly to keep up with tracts offered for
sale, we send an e-mail to all timberbuyers each Friday noon containing the
name, state, and county of new tracts listed during the previous week. Not long after we started the practice, a
timberbuyer e-mailed us for more information on two tracts, and in late
December a real estate broker e-mailed a request for a fax of the details of
two others.
Since
the data they asked for and more were posted on www.se-timbersales.com to begin with, their
requests revealed that they didn’t know how to use the Internet to retrieve information. All they had to do was scroll down to
“Additional Information” near the bottom of the summary sheet on each tract and
click on each “.jpg image” indicated by the pointing finger.
We
won’t get such requests from Smith, of course, for he’s already a master at
using the Internet. That’s how he spotted
us in the first place, one of the many ways he beats his competitors, and why
the manager calls him the best. Jim
Vardaman is 78, and Smith may be about 60, and thought by many to be too old to
be up-to-date electronically. Both
surely hope that all their competitors continue to believe this.
Timberbuyers
not registered on www.se-timbersales.com
who want to avoid losing out to the likes of Smith should imitate his
successful tactics.
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