Chris Reenock, Managing Director and the Industry Lead for HVAC and Geoff Bradley, Vice President at Carter Morse & Goodrich, recently attended the Emerging Leaders Conference, hosted by HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International). CMG is proud to be an active member in this special industry association.
Held over three days in Boston, MA, this dynamic event is designed for wholesale distributors and focuses on the latest trends and strategies in the HVACR industry. The conference aimed to equip the next generation of HVACR executives with the tools necessary for success, teaching values that bolster internal operations, company value and – should a business decide to explore that path – M&A preparation.
HARDI Emerging Leaders Conference Highlights:
There were a number of key themes from the conference, including:
Operational Best Practices:
The conference highlighted best practices in operations, such as:
- Streamlined Communication – maintaining open lines of communication with both vendors and customers to ensure transparency and timely information sharing.
- Data-driven Decision Making – implementing proper data analytics to monitor sales trends, customer preferences, and supplier performance.
- Comprehensive Customer Feedback – establishing mechanisms for gathering and analyzing customer feedback to continuously improve services and offer customized solutions where appropriate.
By implementing these best practices, executive teams, whether at large public companies or independent, family-owned businesses, can expect to drive better operational performance and excel in this competitive industry.
Unleashing Profit Potential with Strategic Inventory Management:
One of the many exceptional workshops focused on strategic inventory management which explored maximizing ROI through data-centric inventory decision making. Despite limited capital, distributors must continuously invest in core products that not only meet contractor needs but also drive incremental growth. Ultimately, by focusing on inventory ROI (return on investment) owners can improve profitability, accelerate growth, improve sustainability and create meaningful incremental value.
Maximizing Profitability with Customer Segmentation:
Another key topic was enhancing customer profitability. This workshop highlighted several methods for prioritizing customers based on net profit, not just revenue or gross profit. Strategic customer segmentation ensures that strong customers are properly rewarded while weaker customers are proactively and appropriately managed. The exercise underscored that long-term, diverse, and profitable customer relationships are critical for creating lasting and transferable business value.
Key Takeaways
For the next generation of emerging HCAVR leaders, the HARDI summer conference underscored the importance of proactive business management and preparation for a future transition. These themes certainly resonate with us as M&A experts advising families and founders, we have validated that proactive management and proper preparation distinguishes success from failure in business.
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If you are interested in understanding what a successful M&A process entails, our team at CMG is here to help. Please reach out with any questions or feedback.