August 2026 Mastermind Recap

Vendor relationships usually get thin for the same reason customer follow-up does. The store gets busy, nobody reaches out, and the only call happens when something is already on fire.

Invite reps into the work before you need a rescue. Tell them about upcoming contractor events, bids, product gaps, and customer needs. Ask them to train the team, join a sales call, bring samples, or help with a targeted demo.

One paint department shifted shelf space toward vendors that answered questions, supported events, and helped the team sell. That is fair. A partnership should create value on both sides.

“Sometimes you have to drag the rep up the hill, but they get better when you involve them.”

Waiting for a contractor to walk in during a slow month is not much of a winter sales plan.

The group discussed looking roughly two months ahead and calling customers before the purchase cycle starts. Our Ace B2B rep mentioned this program being available for Ace dealers. September may be the time to ask what they will need in November. A landscaper who could not buy new equipment in the spring after a poor snow season may have money to spend on new equipment after a busy summer.

Protect a small block of B2B time every week for non B2B team members to learn and contribute. Even one focused hour is enough to review upcoming needs, contact customers, and line up vendor support. Weekly consistency beats a big push once every few months.

One Innovator received a Sourcewell lead for a large STIHL order from a local university that normally bought from a competitor. The sale was still in progress, but it gave the store a foot in the door with a large institutional customer.

Keep your vendor relationships and contract eligibility current. One solid lead can introduce your store to new buyers, departments, and future business.

Community events create more than one busy Saturday. They give you weeks of useful local content before, during, and after the event.

One store served about 150 hot dog meals during a pet fundraiser and raised nearly $800 for a local organization. Another brought in a rescue group, encouraged fostering, and invited customers to bring their dogs. The sales were not the whole story. The stores created traffic, goodwill, photos, and a reason for customers to talk about them.

A small paid boost can also go a long way. One Fourth of July event received 452 responses, including 242 from a last-minute boost at just $0.53 per response. A Mother’s Day event brought in 75 paid responses at $0.67 each. For comparison, $5 per response is considered a solid result for event ads.

Cover the event like a local reporter. Promote the partners, share the setup, capture the crowd, and post the results. A simple photo booth can give customers something they want to share themselves.

Several Innovators discussed sharing the cost of a marketer or content creator across nearby stores. The idea can work, especially when five or six locations can support a role that one store cannot afford alone.

The catch is that cheaper content is not useful if it looks like the same generic lawnmower post every store already has. Each location still needs someone who can send photos, stories, employee updates, and community news.

Share the tools and the cost. Keep the stories local.

Extra facings and slow products look harmless until cash gets tight. Then you realize the shelf is full of money you cannot use.

One Innovator is scaling back seasonal orders, selling down grills, and reviewing supersets that carry the same items with double or triple facings. The store also has products that have not moved since a reset three years ago.

Walk the store before winter. Reduce duplicate facings, close out dead inventory, and make room for products that fit your local customers. Six on the shelf is not better if one or two will do.

Trying to fix payroll, inventory, task management, technology, and expansion all at once is a good way to make slow progress on everything.

One multi-store Innovator picked payroll as the year’s main focus and reduced payroll by three percentage points while sales grew. Once that work was in place, the team moved on to rolling out a task management system and is about 75% complete.

“We had too many people riding on the boat and not enough people rowing.”

Pick the number that matters most, give it an owner, and stay with it long enough to see a result. Then move to the next problem.