How Independent Dealers Win With Partnerships And Visibility: Gabe Arnold, Do it Best

Want a practical playbook for how independent dealers can outmaneuver bigger competitors? I sat down with Gabe Arnold at the Do it Best Market to dig into the moves that matter: consultative selling, smarter buying, and turning human visibility into a real advantage on the yard and online.

Gabe’s story spans from Millwork Account Executive to Northeast Regional Sales Leader, and his perspective is grounded in over twenty years of helping members win. We break down why partial truck buys often cost more than they save, how reload and full-truck strategies unlock scale, and where vendor partnerships can remove friction all the way to the jobsite. You’ll hear how strong communication turned pandemic shortages into closer member relationships and why soft pricing today demands proactive planning rather than reactive buys.

We also talk about the new leverage hiding in plain sight: LinkedIn. No fluff, no “go viral” fantasy, just consistent, helpful posts that show your yard, your people, and your capability. In B2B, one well-placed post can land a $20,000 door package or a $200,000 custom home order. Let your team be the face, and let your feed prove what you do every day. Looking ahead, Gabe outlines a bold five-year vision for LBM growth in the Northeast, including creative reload capacity and species mix that allow independents to compete directly with distributors in dense metro markets.

Topics we covered:
• Career path from millwork to regional sales leadership
• Leading a young Northeast team and building capability
• Consultative selling that removes friction for members
• Using partnerships and reload strategy to beat distributor pricing
• Humanizing brands through LinkedIn and consistent posting
• B2B wins without chasing virality
• Lessons from shortages, soft pricing, and constant communication
• Five-year outlook for LBM growth in the Northeast
• Creative moves to add reload capacity and take share

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👉 About Stefanie Couch & Grit Blueprint

I'm Stefanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint. I grew up in a third-generation building supply business. I've worked inside dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. I built Grit Blueprint to solve problems I saw in our industry.

Grit Blueprint is a visibility, media, and growth partner for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and leaders in the building industry.
We help you get seen, build trust, and become unmistakable.

Transcript

Why People Follow People

Stefanie Couch 0:00

People love to resonate with humans. Companies are great and logos are amazing and there are a lot of awesome companies out there. People are on their feed, they're scrolling, whether it's Instagram or LinkedIn or whatever. And not every single person is, but a lot of people are. And I think it's a way to see consistently be out there, visible, and I think consistency is the key with visibility.

Gabe Arnold 0:21

It personalizes who we are. It's not just some cold logo that's out there. You've got all these folks that are up front and center that are promoting the brand.

Stefanie Couch 0:30

For somebody that maybe is worried about saying the right thing or getting started, what would your advice be to them?

Gabe Arnold 0:35

Just give it a try. Just keep swinging. Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming or uh a little embarrassing to just keep throwing yourself out there. It takes that consistent effort to make an impact in that space, and you know, there's a whole lot that I'm still learning with it. It's all trial and error.

Gabe’s Career And Promotion

Stefanie Couch 0:51

Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast, the playbook for building unmistakable brands that grow, lead, and last in the built world. I'm Stephanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint, and I'm a lifelong building industry insider. I was raised here, built my career here, and now my team and I help others win here. The truth is, you can be the best option in your space and still lose to someone else who simply shows up better and more consistently. Each week on the Grit Blueprint, I'm going to show you how to stand out, earn trust, and turn your brand into a competitive advantage that lasts. If you're ready to be seen, known, chosen, and become unmistakable, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Thank you for joining me on the Grit Blueprint podcast. I'm your host, Stephanie Couch, and I'm here today with Gabe Arnold. We're here at the Do-It Best Market in Indianapolis. Welcome to the show.

Gabe Arnold 1:55

Thanks for having me.

Stefanie Couch 1:56

I'm excited to talk today. We've actually been working together on some stuff for the last year and a half.

Gabe Arnold 2:00

Yep.

Stefanie Couch 2:01

And lots of exciting things happening in the world of Do It Best LBM right now.

Gabe Arnold 2:05

Pretty wild.

Stefanie Couch 2:06

This year has been a big year for you. You actually got a big promotion this year to a Northeast LBM regional sales manager.

Gabe Arnold 2:14

Right.

Stefanie Couch 2:14

Tell me about that.

Gabe Arnold 2:15

It's a little bit uh coming full circle. So I started in the Northeast uh selling doors and windows and molding and all that uh right out of college and uh moved along and did different things along the way and to be able to come back and and serve that area of the country and the members that I had. It's just been really good to come back and be able to deal with and work with members that I've known for the last 20 years.

Stefanie Couch 2:39

Yeah. So you are actually a do it best lifer. You have been here for almost 22 years. You started right out of college at do it best.

Gabe Arnold 2:48

That's right.

Stefanie Couch 2:48

What was your first job?

Gabe Arnold 2:49

Yeah, it was just as a millwork account executive. Yeah. So, I mean, back then we were quoting windows out of, you know, a catalog that was four inches thick. Yeah. And um, I absolutely loved it. Spent eight and a half years there before I moved into the lumber department.

Leading A Young Northeast Team

Stefanie Couch 3:04

I love millwork. We could probably do the whole episode here on the love of millwork, uh, because I'm a nerd for for it for sure. You've done a lot of different things though throughout your career here. And it's pretty exciting to work somewhere for that long, but be able to do so much. And the members, like you said, are the best part. Tell me a little bit about how you get to work with members and what this role looks like in your day-to-day.

Gabe Arnold 3:27

Well, for me on a day-to-day now, it's it's leading a team that that's focused on it. Um, you know, it's really cool because I've got the millwork background. Um, the only thing that I haven't sold in the LBM division up until this year was was roofing and and drywall. And so I've sold a truck or two now at this point, which is which was kind of fun. I've I've been able to check that off. But it's leading a great group and and developing, uh, I would say we've probably got the greenest group of traders uh in the Northeast compared to other regions. But man, those guys are awesome. Uh they're they're just uh they're sponges and uh all have great sales backgrounds, but they're newer to lumber and building materials. And having had the experience, uh somehow I became the old guy uh in in a hurry.

Stefanie Couch 4:12

And uh funny how that happens to us, right? I mean, I remember being the young bug team that knew nothing, and now I'm the old lady. It sucks.

Gabe Arnold 4:19

Actually, when I started, it took them ten years before they hired somebody younger than me. Wow. And and now here we are with a a group of them that uh it it's pretty exciting to see what what they are going to do in the years ahead. I I really believe it. They're they're the next wave of of great leaders that we've got.

How Members Compete Above Their Weight

Stefanie Couch 4:35

Yeah, and it's fun to see the hunger that some of these people have and the curiosity. They're not afraid to figure it out, which is always fun. I know with my team um I've got some really awesome people on my team and and being able to watch them take things and do it themselves and do it better than I could do it. For sure. It's like the most joyous moment when you're like, wow, I hate doing this thing that you absolutely love and you're amazing at, go do it. It's yeah, the teamwork and the talent that goes into an exceptional, high performing team. I don't think that can be underestimated how important it is in a company. How do you think that your members, you know, you guys are doing a lot of things for people? If if you could say something that maybe people don't know about the specifically the do-it-best LBM team and what you offer and how you go to market and help people that are members and dealers, how do you do that with people? And what maybe are people missing that they don't know about?

Partnerships That Remove Friction

Gabe Arnold 5:31

Well, I would say there's there's a lot of solutions out there that that we can provide and just being consultative to what the industry has to offer. I don't want to make it sound negative, but I mean there's a lot of smaller dealers that with the support of do it best, they can they can play above their weight. Yeah, you know. So I I mean I've seen since stepping into this role, um, we've had some folks that have that have started buying for one reason or another from different distributors. And in the Northeast, there's distributors everywhere. There's sources for for smaller quantity buys everywhere. And they're worried about in some cases paying, you know, a percent or two more um by working with us. But the thing is is that they might be buying you know 40% of a truck of dimensional lumber with you know another 30 to 40 percent of a truck of plywood with a couple units of drywall on it, buying it from a distributor and they're doing that two, three, four times a month. Whereas if they partnered with us, whether it's through a reload uh purchase or something like that, they could buy a truck of OSB, a truck of plywood, a truck of dimensional lumber and save well more than that one or two percent. Right. But they they just have to get more interactive with us and and vice versa to kind of discover some of those opportunities.

Stefanie Couch 6:50

Consultative selling is one of the big things that you guys are are really honing in on and you're helping members win with that. It's the best thing because you're reducing friction for them, and then they can reduce friction for their contractors, they can reduce friction for the homeowners that are coming in, and you offer a range of products. One of the things that I think is the biggest advantage that you offer is uh partnerships. We have here in the market some LBM gold sponsors that are really your Halmart partners, but you have a lot of partnerships. Talk to me a little bit about that.

Gabe Arnold 7:21

I mean, those those uh vendors that are that are supporting us at that level um are integral partners in in our process. Culpepper wood preservers is one that I go way back with um when I handed handled uh the treated lumber category. And those guys, I mean, I love them. Every time we ask them of something, the answer is always yes. I mean, they do a heck of a job for us, and and all of those gold sponsors are are are in that vein. And uh, you know, everybody can use partners like that uh up and down the line.

LinkedIn As A Growth Channel

Stefanie Couch 7:52

Partnerships are really the best thing in business. And I like I've really enjoyed having a partnership with somebody like Do It Best, especially the LBM division. We've been working so closely together. And one of the things that we've been partnered up on is uh actually, you have been working a lot hosting on LinkedIn and social media. Yeah. So I want to talk a little bit about how you think the changes and how people go to market and what's important in the business today. One of the things is being visible on different places like LinkedIn. Why do you think that's important and why have you started investing time in it?

Gabe Arnold 8:22

For me, it's it's about expanding my network. And uh I've learned a lot from you over the last uh uh while and it it can be a lot of fun. I mean, it this is a relationship business, and it's just another way to create more relationships. And and for dealers, I I look at it, it's a way for them to expand their reach to their customers and to potential customers. Um, you know, I've I've been able to follow a lot of really good lumber yard and home centers, uh, specifically in the Northeast, as I'm you know, prospecting for new uh members and and man, there's some awesome operators out there. And when you're looking around and if they're putting uh a lot of really good content out there, I mean it saves us a little bit of legwork because if they're if they're putting video out there of their lumber yard and you're and you're getting to see the the size and scope of of their property, I mean, it makes my job a whole lot easier in qualifying it, but it shows their broader audience out there, you know, how legit they are in their marketplace and the and the type of power that they bring.

Stefanie Couch 9:25

Yeah, and it also is a great way for the people that are in the business to start to build brands. You know, people love to resonate with humans. We we companies are great and logos are amazing, and there are a lot of awesome companies out there. But what we really love as humans is other people. And I think that we have a limited amount of time to go to a place in person to see them at an event like this. I mean, sure, this happens twice a year, it's an incredible four or five days. But what happens every day of the year is that people are on their feed, they're scrolling, whether it's Instagram or LinkedIn or whatever, and not every single person is, but a lot of people are. And I think it's a way to see consistently be out there visible, and I think consistency is the key with visibility.

Gabe Arnold 10:09

I couldn't agree more. And and you know, for some of the businesses out there, like do it best. I mean, it personalizes who we are. I mean, it it's not just some cold logo that that's out there. You've got all these folks that are up front and center that are promoting the brand and each other and and supporting each other, and it it it brings that down to a more human level that I think is is very personal from that standpoint. It's it's neat to see because not everybody's like that.

Visibility Humanizes The Brand

Stefanie Couch 10:35

I love it. And here we are filming this. Yeah. So there will be some LinkedIn posts, I'm sure, from this. This episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast was sponsored by Do It Best Group. Do It Best Group is the largest co-op in the world, and they help independent hardware and lumber yards all over North America win. Do It Best offers services, products, and people that can help you win long term. They are the champion of independence. For somebody that maybe is worried about saying the right thing or getting started, what would your advice be to them?

Sponsor Note: Do It Best Group

Gabe Arnold 11:12

Just give it a try. Just keep swinging. It uh it's something where uh at first it, you know, it's a little I don't know, sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming or uh a little embarrassing to just keep throwing yourself out there. Um but it it's it takes that consistent effort uh to make an impact in that space. And you know, there's a whole lot that I'm still learning with it. It's it's all trial and error, but it it before you know it, there's a lot of connections made and a and a and a lot of impact uh along the way.

Keep Swinging On Social

Stefanie Couch 11:42

Well, and in B2B, you're not gonna probably get 10 million you know likes or followers. You don't need that. Right. Uh if you sell one $20,000 door package or one $200,000 custom home package because of a post because they saw you, it's worthwhile. So and that can happen. That's happened to me and a lot of our customers because people are on there. So it's not about going viral, especially not in our niche, you know. But who knows? You could go viral. I mean, I think some of the customers, uh, Sullivan's hardware, I think, has a post that had like 18 million views or something. Those guys are awesome. Yeah, he's he's a riot though. Yeah, he's uh he he's a basically a comedian that sells hardware and building supplies. So I love it. The last few years has been kind of a wild ride with products. Uh obviously during the pandemic, everything was crazy, but it lasted way longer than that. There's been shortages, there's been now tariffs, there's been a lot of challenges. How do you see that being actually an advantage for people who are working with Do It Best? How do you help people get through those challenges?

B2B Results Over Virality

Gabe Arnold 12:45

Back when we had you know the shortages through the pandemic, um I was handling the treaty lumber programs at that time. And boy, that was I spent the first six weeks telling people no. And uh, but had some of the best conversations with our members that that I had had at that point because it was we were constantly having to be in touch to keep them informed. And and I think that's the real driver, whether it's a shortage or whether we're at a spot right now where pricing is really soft and you know, we feel like you know, the the inventories out there are really plentiful from a distributor level, from from a member level, um, that uh we just have to keep in communication. Um in in either direction, we have to get creative to keep things moving. And uh that was the hardest part through through the whole pandemic was you know, we did a lot of stuff that we had we had never done before. And we're really in that. I mean, do it best in true value. Uh it all of that has forced us to do a lot more than we had ever done before and get more creative than we've been in a long time. So um yeah, I think just keeping that constant contact and communication with our with our membership to to advise them along the way, that's the key to to any market that we're in, whether it is a a shortage or a situation right now where you can you can get a truck of studs anytime you want.

Market Shocks And Communication

Stefanie Couch 14:07

Yeah, you never know. It's usually feast or famine. That's what my dad always used to say in the lumber business. But it is good to have those partners that are keeping tabs very closely on what's happening and you don't have to necessarily read all of the updates because you guys are doing it for them. Well, I want to end this with one final question. So if we actually sat down in five years and we're talking and we're having a conversation, we'll hopefully look exactly the same as we do right now, that's for sure. And I want to know what do you hope that independent dealers are out there doing? What do you see the future of our industry in five years being? And how do people win in five years?

Five‑Year Outlook For LBM Growth

Gabe Arnold 14:46

I guess from a from the do-it-best standpoint, I would I would throw it out there and I'll even go down to the Northeast to be a little selfish on that. But um, I can see we're gonna be stronger than we are right now. I mean, there's there's no doubt about that. Um the influx of true value members that are lumber and building materials centric in the Northeast is has blown me away. I mean, everybody makes it sound like this was a hardware play, but for me in the Northeast, there are some heavy hitters up there that um weren't affiliated with with other buying groups for their for their LBM. And so um, I mean, just I mean it it's been a couple wow moments when when you pull up Google Maps or or their or the social media and you see just the sheer size and scale of these yards. Um for us from a do-it-best standpoint, that was an area where we geographically were maybe a little thinner from from a member count and from a the the the size of some of these yards. We didn't have a whole lot of those. I think those guys will only allow us to be stronger and it'll allow us to be a little more creative in how we approach them. I I can see us adding a reload out there that that has uh you know Western species, Doug Fur Hempfer, you know, different things like that that we can that we can lob into, you know, New York City metro uh markets to to service them because I think we can compete against the distributors in that regard. Um there's there's a lot of that type of stuff where I think with a little with a little risk, a little creativity, um, we can take share out there against some of our competition in ways that we haven't in the last five or 10 years.

Stefanie Couch 16:22

I love that. Well, I hope that we're here doing this talk in five years, and you guys are I know you're gonna be crushing it and you're helping members crush it too. And I hope that the heart of independent business is even more thriving than it is today.

Gabe Arnold 16:35

It will be. I think so too.

Stefanie Couch 16:36

I agree. Well, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. And I hope you have a wonderful market. I know it's gonna be a very busy few days.

Gabe Arnold 16:43

That it's gonna be.

Stefanie Couch 16:44

So eat your Wheaties tomorrow morning.

Gabe Arnold 16:45

All right, we'll do.

Stefanie Couch 16:46

All right. Thank you for listening to the Grit Blueprint Podcast. If this episode helped you think a little differently about how to show up, share it with someone in your building world who needs it. If you're ready to turn visibility into growth, then head to gritblueprint.com to learn more and book a call to talk to us about your growth strategy. Until next time, stay unmistakable.