2008-11-20 22:41:04 -

The Certified Green Dealer" Program, which certifies that building material dealer sales personnel have received green training"today announced results of a survey of the dealers in the Program, which was conducted by Propel Marketing Group, a North Carolina-based marketing agency.
The results show broad satisfaction with the Program and its contents. A remarkable 93% of participating dealers would

recommend the Program to other lumberyards. An even greater number, 94%, say that the Program"s content is relevant to their sales efforts.
Additional survey results:
- More than 88% of dealers answered "Yes" when asked if they have been able to improve their customer service or capture more sales as a result of the Program"s green training.
- 93% believe that the Program"s content provides them with knowledge they have been able to use in their sales efforts and customer interactions.
- When asked: "What level of interest is there among your customers in green building and green products"" 68% said that interest was "significant" or "somewhat significant."
Recently the Certified Green Dealer Program announced that it had surpassed one million (1,000,000) page views so far in 2008. Since the Program was officially launched at the February 2008 International Builders Show, the "one-million-page-views" milestone has been achieved in just over 10 months.
Even in a down housing market, the Certified Green Dealer" Program has grown at a remarkable rate, including the recent commitment from Builders FirstSource to the Program. Today, more than 4,000 lumberyard/building-material-dealer personnel are enrolled in the Program. More than 1,600 have completed all the Program"s training. Do It Best Corporation, and the ENAP buying co-op have both signed co-marketing agreements with Program and actively promote the Program to their members. And eight regional lumber dealer associations now exclusively endorse and market the Program to their members.
With no competition in the lumber and building material dealer sector, the "sales pipeline" for the Program now exceeds 700 dealer locations, and requests and sign-ups from new lumber dealers come in every day.
"After so much work preparing and producing the contents for the Program, it"s enormously satisfying to get this kind of response from our participating dealers," said Certified Green Dealer"s Rick Schumacher. "We have seen strong growth in the Program, even when nearly all other industry news has been less than positive, so we know we are onto something that really helps our participating dealers."
About the Certified Green Dealer Program
A fully independent entity, The Certified Green Dealer Program is a distance-learning and testing system that certifies that lumber dealer personnel are trained in the basics of green building science and green product knowledge. A lumberyard or building material dealer location can become a Certified Green Dealer if 75% of its sales personnel view a series of Web-based training videos (and pass eight individual quizzes) about building basics, green building, and green building products.
The Program is not affiliated with any particular national standards-setting organization, such as NAHB, USGBC"s LEED program, FSC, or SFI, though those programs are explained in the Certified Green Dealer online content.
The Certified Green Dealer Program is entirely Web-based and can be accessed by visiting cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT"id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww ... At the Program"s Web site, interested parties can view a brief, free video that explains the Program, with no commitment. A sample educational module from the Program is also available for viewing with no obligation.
To participate in the Certified Green Dealer" Program, lumber and building material dealers pay a per-yard tuition fee, which never exceeds $899 per yard in the first year and $599 in subsequent years.
Contact: To learn more about the Certified Green Dealer Program, visit us on the web at cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww ..; call 877-LBM-GREEN, or email us at mailto:Operations@LBMJournal.com.



Certified Green Dealer

John D. Wagner, 919-796-9984

mailto:John.Wagner@CertifiedGreenDealer.com