Before graduating college, in 2005, Lonnie Kvasnicka accepted a job with Shelter Distribution, a Beacon Roofing Supply company, which put him on a path that would yield millions of dollars in sales.
When he started, the branch offered only window and vinyl siding products. Early on with Shelter, Kvasnicka, 38, was tasked with developing a two-step distribution strategy to help grow sales. Because of his partnership efforts, he added roofing, other siding, windows, insulation, and drywall to the branch’s list of product offerings.
During the first several years, the two-step side of the business outgrew the existing one-step window and siding business by about 300%. By 2013, the two-step approach accounted for 80% of overall branch sales. And today, after 14 years with the company, Kvasnicka has helped increase sales from about $1 million to more than $6 million.
Thanks to his two-pronged approach, Kvasnicka’s branch earned the company’s Most Improved Branch and Branch of the Year awards. He also was honored, in 2015, as the Nebraska Lumber Dealers Supplier Representative of the Year. Because of Kvasnicka’s success, all sales efforts within the branch adopted the two-step strategy and, fittingly, Shelter Distribution was renamed Dealers Choice.
