Chapter 1
Owning Your Patch
The territory audit — five data points for every account. A/B/C tiering with specific time targets (40/40/20). Postcode-sector segmentation. How to build a one-page territory plan that's a working tool, not a reporting document. The difference between covering a territory and owning one.
Chapter 2
Know Your Customer's World
Pre-call research — five questions, every time. How great reps know more about their customers' businesses than most customers expect. Specific preparation frameworks for every customer type: merchant branch manager, architect, M&E consultant, housebuilder buyer, main contractor PM. The visit that feels like a business discussion, not a vendor call.
Chapter 3
The Perfect Visit
The Visit Triangle: objective, value, and next step — all defined before you arrive. Why relationship maintenance visits are not a commercial strategy. A complete worked visit narrative showing how a high-performing rep moves through a merchant, contractor, and specification call. The follow-through discipline that separates consistent performers from the rest.
Chapter 4
Relationship Scoring
The 1–10 relationship scoring framework used by high-performing merchant and manufacturer teams. How to score honestly — and why dishonest scoring costs you months of misdirected time. How to read the scores across your territory to identify where you're exposed and where the growth opportunity lies. Specific tactics for moving scores up at each band.
Chapter 5
Specification Selling
How the specification process works — from design intent to site delivery. The Building Safety Act 2022, Gateway 2, and what it means commercially for specification reps. NBS, fire classifications (Euroclass A1/A2), EWS1, and the Golden Thread. CPDs done properly. How to protect a specification from design stage through to build — and what happens when you don't.
Chapter 6
Working the Supply Chain
Building products is a multi-channel industry and most reps only work one part of the chain. Pull-through selling and how to create downstream demand that pulls product through your channels. Channel conflict — what causes it, how to manage it, how to use it. The view from each side of the chain: manufacturer, merchant, specialist distributor. How understanding all three changes how you sell from any one of them.
Chapter 7
Finding Projects: Glenigan & Barbour ABI
What Glenigan and Barbour ABI actually do and how to use them by rep type. The planning-to-site window and what it means for when to engage. Building saved searches that do the work for you. How to arrive at a branch already knowing what's being built in the catchment, who the contractor is, and what's likely to be needed. 90 minutes on Monday morning versus waiting to hear from customers.
Chapter 8
Building a Pipeline
The five data points every pipeline entry needs: account, opportunity, realistic value, stage, and specific next action. Why a call list is not a pipeline. How to maintain pipeline discipline week to week without it becoming a management reporting exercise. Forecasting without kidding yourself — or your manager. The pipeline review habit that compounds territory performance over time.
Chapter 9
CRM: Your Commercial Memory
Why most reps use CRM as a reporting system rather than a commercial tool — and what that costs them. The five records you must keep for every significant account. The daily habit that makes CRM work for you, not your manager. How a territory of 50–100 accounts visited every two to four weeks becomes commercially manageable when your memory is externalised properly.
Chapter 10
Relationship Architecture
Why single-threaded selling is dangerous — and how most reps don't notice until it's too late. Account mapping: identifying every significant contact and the influence they carry. Multi-level selling across an account. How to build the internal champion who advocates for you when you're not in the room. The relationship that survives a personnel change is the one that survives a competitive attack.
Chapter 11
Product Knowledge & Technical Credibility
Why technical credibility changes the commercial conversation — and what changes when you become an advisor rather than a vendor. How to learn a new product category properly in 90 days. Handling technical questions you can't answer without losing credibility. The rep who is technically trusted operates at a completely different level in specification, contractor, and merchant conversations.
Chapter 12
LinkedIn & Digital Presence
Why LinkedIn matters in building products now — and how to build a profile that works commercially. Writing a headline and about section that signals expertise rather than employment history. Content that builds credibility in this sector without becoming a content creator. Using LinkedIn as a pre-call intelligence tool: what your customers are posting, what their companies are announcing, and what that tells you before you walk in.
Chapter 13
Social Media Beyond LinkedIn
Which other platforms matter for building products field reps — and which don't. How specification managers, architects, and interior designers use Instagram and Pinterest commercially. Building awareness in markets your competitors aren't present in. Practical, low-effort approaches that work for reps without becoming a second job.
Chapter 14
Handling Objections
The four objection types and how to read which one you're facing. The price conversation done properly — including how to hold margin under pressure without losing the account. 15 specific objection scenarios from UK building products field sales with specific, tested responses. Why most objections are not what they appear to be on the surface.
Chapter 15
Building Your Career
What actually gets reps promoted — and it's not what most people think. The commercial skills gap between rep and manager. Managing upwards: how to make your manager advocate for your progression. Your personal brand in a sector where everyone knows everyone. What senior leaders are actually looking for when they assess rep talent at promotion time.