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When it comes to tools for selling more wood, what’s your favorite? The traditional point-of-sale take-home brochure or fact sheet at the counter? Perhaps a digital code activated by a cell phone that leads to an online educational destination? Or maybe even the super-old-school reliance on someone who has been with the company for a really, really long time? All of these are solid options… but we’d like to add one more.
When it comes to matters regarding wood from New England over to the Great Lakes, there is only one true expert: the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA). Headquartered in Maine, the association is the definitive resource on how to sell geographically relevant wood (think eastern white pine, SPFs, red pine, etc.). With a wealth of information and educational tools available in all formats—online, digital, and print—NELMA should be a lumber dealer’s one-stop shop for all things wood.
And now, with a brand-new website focused on funneling information directly to key audiences, it is easier than ever for lumber dealers to grab the information they need from the NELMA site, right when they need it.
Let’s go exploring!
Click on the Retailers Tab
If you are reading this article online, click over to your browser and type in www.nelma.org. If you are reading it in print, use your phone or grab your laptop!
Once on the NELMA main page, click on the Retailers tab. We created and curated this information just for you, so let’s take a quick tour through all the wood-selling tools available to you.
Retail Directory. Have you signed up? It’s free! That’s right, it is completely free to register your business, the wood products you sell, and your full contact information on the NELMA Retail Directory. It’s an effortless way to ensure that consumers and builders (and even architects) within the NELMA footprint can find you when they’re looking for where to buy lumber.
NELMA created this resource specifically for you, the retailer… so go register and let us drive consumers into the retail channel and directly to your front door!
The Grade Rule Book. NELMA is one of six lumber rules writing agencies in the U.S. and Canada accredited by the American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) to write grade rules that are certified as conforming to the American Softwood Lumber Standard PS20.
We are pleased to provide our 2021 edition of Standard Grading Rules for Northeastern Lumber online for easy reference and general understanding of the northeastern lumber and timber grades. Feel free to purchase a hard-bound book from NELMA or refer to each section from the grading rules for viewing or downloading.
The sections are: Species, Grades, Grademarks, Tally & Sizes, Glued Products; Moisture Content and Inspection Provisions; Eastern White Pine Board Grades; Other Board Grades; National Grading Rules (NGR) for Framing and Decking; Beams & Stringers, Posts and Timbers; Design Value Information; Design Value Tables; Measurements of Characteristics; Glossary & Abbreviations; Eastern Pattern Charts; General Definitions and Instructions for Grading Eastern White Pine; and Interpretations – National Grading Rules (NGR) for Softwood Dimension Lumber.
Everything you need to know about how to sell the right piece of lumber for the right project? It’s in the Grade Rule Book.
How-to Videos. If you are a visual learner, this series of videos is right up your alley. Over the years NELMA has built up a strong library of videos demonstrating how to use our members’ product a variety of interior and exterior applications.
Housed both on the new website and on our YouTube channel (nelmaTV), topics and projects include installing wood wainscotting; building a barrel ceiling; attaching exterior siding, and so much more. You can take a sneak peek at a few house projects we have been part of, as well as see what Magnolia Network TV stars the Maine Cabin Masters have to say about working with eastern white pine (hint: they love it!).
Use and refer to these video offerings to educate your team or yourself, or to illustrate an installation technique to one of your customers.
Publication Store. Looking for the perfect piece of literature to help sell more wood? Chances are, you will find it here. From product knowledge information on eastern white pine—to include grade-specific photo sheets to help you identify the perfect stick for any project—to an attractive eastern white pine pattern poster that makes choosing the correct pattern a breeze, there is something in the Publication Store for everyone.
Interested in a few good case studies? Check out Profiles in Pine, our newest brochure focusing on multiple design challenges and how they were solved with eastern white pine. Delightful stories, wonderful projects, and inspirational photos: this might be the most gorgeous brochure you’ve ever seen!
Let the history buff in you run free with a DVD detailing the Story of Wood in the Northeast. Learn the facts about SPFs stamped lumber (and why it is much preferred to SPF lumber). Our Buyers’ Guide and Membership Directory can connect you with the people who sell the products you need.
Be sure to pick up the ever-popular Eastern White Pine Grade Photo Swatch. This tool is a perennial favorite, and we cannot keep it in stock at trade shows. Think of a painter’s swatch book but swap out photographs of lumber grades for paint colors. This is the perfect solution for the customer who wants “knotty, but not too knotty” with their wood.
There is even a delightfully scented pine air freshener for your car, or the car of someone you love!
No matter your need, if you are a lumber retailer, there’s something under nelma.org’s Retailers tab just for you. Take some time to poke around and check things out; and please reach out to us if there is something you would like to see us add to help you do your job easier!
Happy (lumber) selling!
