After working 10 years at JELD-WEN, Matt Equinoa opted to stay in Oregon when the windows and doors manufacturer moved his department 3,000 miles away, to North Carolina.
The decision paid off for the emerging LBM professional. His experience, plus a recommendation from the CEO of a large supplier, enabled him to secure a job, in February 2015, at Lansing Building Products as the branch manager of a greenfield location in Portland.
During his first few months on the job, Equinoa, 35, spent many evenings working past 8:00, making himself available to anyone with a ladder rack. “Though I didn’t have a lot of people management [experience], I brought a desire to be a servant leader and coach, always willing to work shoulder to shoulder with my employees. I also brought an intense drive to take on a major challenge and an overwhelming desire to win,” Equinoa says.
His leadership style, combined with his use of technology, such as CRM software, construction monitoring tools, quoting software, and social media, paid off. The branch has garnered a double-digit sales growth rate every year since opening and was recognized by Lansing as one of the fastest new-market branches to achieve profitability. And Equinoa’s branch has become a customer magnet, maintaining a 75% annual customer retention rate.
