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Monday, September 20, 2021

 

Welcome and Company Updates

  1. General update

  2. Sales and profit year to date?

  3. Current trends and expectations for the full year?

  4. Significant changes in management team or strategies?

  5. Best and/or worst ideas and efforts this year?

 

Managing through COVID-19

  1. What has been your company’s experience with COVID--number of cases, hospitalizations, deaths, etc.?

  2. What measures did you put in place to keep your people safe, both before and after the vaccine?

  3. What special bonuses or temporary pay changes did you make during COVID?

  4. What has been the experience inside your company and community with respect to masks? 

  5. What is the vaccination rate inside your company?

  6. Are you tracking vaccinations as part of the employee file? What level of privacy are you placing on that information, i.e. who is it shared with?

  7. Is anyone bringing vaccination on site? Anyone offering it to third parties, such as contractors?

  8. What incentives or penalties have you put in place or considered to encourage vaccination?

  9. Is anyone implementing a different health care premium for unvaccinated employees?

  10. Has anyone mandated vaccination inside their company?

  11. If Biden’s plan moves forward, what challenges will that create? Will we lose employees to smaller companies (<100 employees) if they refuse to vaccinate?

  12. Expectations on COVID-19’s impact on your business in 2022?

 

Supply Chain

  1. Fill rates?

  2. Lead times?

  3. In-stock rates? Strategies to keep shelves stocked?

  4. Cost changes?

  5. Lumber and commodity wood product price swings--how have you managed through?

  6. What measures have you taken to communicate with your customers about the challenges you are experiencing? Do they care?

  7. How did you modify your pricing and quoting practices during the record rise in lumber prices? Have you maintained these changes to date?

  8. Any major changes to assortments? Categories added? dropped?

  9. Where did you and your customers make the most product substitution in 2021, based on unavailability or long lead times for the preferred or incumbent brand? Any new knowledge (positive or negative) gained from this process? 

 

 

Human Resources and Employees

  1. Is the rate of change in wages increasing in your area?

  2. What strategies are you using or considering to manage wage growth?

  3. Are employee retention rates changing?

  4. Effective strategies for retention? Anything new?

  5. Strategies for recruiting new employees? Anything new?

  6. How are you training employees?

  7. Strategies to manage absenteeism?

    1. Idea on small team incentives

  8. Marijuana is now legal in a lot more states than our last meeting - changes in policies?

  9. Any changes to benefit plans in 2020-21? Any new ideas in the marketplace? 

  10. Did your company see less health benefit utilization during COVID?

  11. Has anybody implemented changes to sales commission plans or store-level bonus plans? 

 

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Tuesday, September 21, 2021 

 

Technology

  1. What’s new with your technology strategies?

  2. Did COVID-19 change any prioritization of technology?

  3. POS systems? Changes? Satisfied?

  4. Pricing or margin management systems? Changes? Satisfied?

  5. Inventory management / shrink systems? Changes? Satisfied?

  6. eCommerce strategies and results? Has anyone made progress in thinking about how to use eCommerce specifically for the professional contractor?

  7. Customer loyalty strategies and results?

  8. HRIS/HCM systems? Changes? Satisfied?

  9. Use of in-aisle / store productivity applications? 

  10. Anyone hit with ransomware? Or cyberattack?

    1. Do you have a proactive approach to how you will respond?

    2. What level of insurance are you carrying on cyber?

 

 

2022 Growth Expectations

  1. NHPA MidYear Research

  2. Home Depot - 

  3. Lowe’s

  4. Cleveland Research

  5. HIRI

  6. How are you thinking through budgeting for unit sales vs. impact of deflation or inflation?

  7. How are you thinking about new investment in the business in 2022? Acquisitions? Value-added projects?

 

Competitive Landscape

  1. Industry consolidation (BFS, USLBM, Kodiak)

  2. Katerra bankruptcy - Bad idea? Bad execution?

  3. Consolidation on the vendor side - good or bad?

  4. Any changes in HD / LOW impact on Pro business?

  5. Amazon? More of a threat? Less?

 

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Wednesday, September 22, 2021

 

Prospective new members?

 

Lineyard 2022 

  • Hawaii 

  • Steven Ai and Carol Ai May

  • Dates proposed are same time next year

 

Lineyard 2023 

  • Venue? 

  • Host? 

  • Dates?

 

Idea - Lineyard Legends 

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