Dave Rettinger: Thank you so much for the kind words—for all of us. What a way to lay the groundwork. That was phenomenal.

Two things come to mind from our perspective on the ground. First, customers are distracted. They have a lot of options, and they don’t want to waste time. The pace at which they want to move is fast. And our ability to serve them well means we need to present a clear path forward for the customer who’s walking in.

What’s amazing is that customers are showing up with a vision. That’s one of our favorite things to see. We like to begin with the end in mind. When a customer comes in with a picture of what they want it to look like, they’ve already painted the picture for us. Our job is to articulate how to get from where they are today to that vision. And I firmly believe that when we don’t keep momentum, we become our own worst enemy in that process.

Deb Hannig: Consumers are definitely coming in more educated, with a vision of what they want. But I think retailers need to keep in mind that we’re selling an experience. We’re selling an appliance, but we’re competing for the discretionary dollars that might otherwise go to the boating industry, a Harley-Davidson, or an RV.

Retailers have to be mindful of who their real competitors are in a marketplace. It’s all of those other things—not just the other retailer down the street. Because if we can’t win them over and help them feel the experience of owning a fireplace, we’ll lose them to another experience.

I still think the showroom is a very strong tool for that. Where else can we immerse them in that experience and help them create the vision of what it will be like in their home and in their future? This affects their family members—all these different parts of their lives—so bringing their vision to life in the showroom is still incredibly important, even though the landscape is changing.

Zack Fisher: Dave and Deb covered a lot of it, but what I’ll add is that the speed at which consumers are moving is incredible. As hearth retailers, if we want to stay relevant, we need to match that intensity—or we’ll lose that competing priority and the money goes elsewhere. If you look at other industries right now, they’re extremely effective at taking your money and taking it quickly. If we can’t do that as an industry, we’ll struggle.

The other thing Deb mentioned was selling experiences. I’m a millennial, so I’ll make a speech on this. The current consumer generation wants to buy experiences. They’re not really buying goods—they’re buying something that’s going to offer a longer-term experience in their home. And they want to post it on social media and share it with others. That’s where we are.

DR: When it comes to meeting customer expectations, I believe people want more value, and they don’t want more things to do. We’ve noticed a clear trend toward the white glove, the all-in approach. And I’ve heard it said by a wise mentor of mine: If you’re not giving choices, you’re giving ultimatums.

DR: When we provide the customer with a menu of service options and let them choose—when we say, “Pick your own journey”—they appreciate it. And it ultimately increases your average ticket sale.

I also believe the consumers today pride themselves on having their life dialed in—that set-it-and-forget-it mentality. If we can offer quarterly or biannual service maintenance on these units, they pride themselves on not having to think about it. They’ll pay for that service all day long.

DR: You’re totally right, Tim. But I will say it’s easier to sell than it is to deliver. We’ve made heavy investments in growing our staff to meet that demand, so I understand why people are hesitant to offer these plans. But as Jill and Jessica said in their opening keynotes, capacity is the bottleneck to growth.

DH: That’s what I do. I’m a car fanatic—Tim is not.

DH: When I think about the tires on my cars, I know the brands on each car. I know the size. I know the PSI. I know my preferred PSI. But if you stopped ten people on the street, only two or three of them would know any of that.

Now, imagine a universe where Les Schwab hasn’t shown up yet. You go to the tire store, and they want you to go home, hop on Amazon, buy a tool to measure the depth of your tread, measure your own tire height, come back, and tell them what PSI you should have.

That all sounds really complex, but we’d do it. And we’d do it because we all need tires.

In contrast, no one needs a fireplace. There are many other options to make a home aesthetically pleasing and create alternative heating. Customers come to you because they desire a fireplace. And we have to find the smoothest system to gather all of that information for them, make the job seamless, and build a sales process and a long-term relationship between the retailer and the consumer.

DH: I hold service contracts for many things in my own life. I have my landscaper dialed in. I have my HVAC dialed in. I have service contracts on my vehicles with my dealerships. I know we tend to be hesitant about service contracts in our industry, but I think we really need to change that paradigm.

I see service contracts not as a painful addition tacked onto the end of the selling process, but as the ultimate commitment to customer service. You’re saying, “Not only would I like to sell you this appliance, but I’d like to commit to your long-term journey of satisfaction—with the manufacturer, the product, and our retail location. We want to be the first people you come to next time, even if it’s just to see if we carry something.”

ZF: It’s a great question—certainly one we ask ourselves a lot. I’d bet every distribution company does. Today, I’ll focus on three clear value streams. There are more, but we’ll start with three.

First—and the most obvious—we’re a giant warehouse. We’ve got tons of liquid inventory. Dealers can order it as they need it, and there’s visibility to it—all the basics. But the bigger piece is that North America is a huge place, and freight is a real challenge. It’s a huge pressure on margins. Distribution mitigates that simply by the way our logistics work and where manufacturers have us positioned.

Second, I truly believe that when you’re purchasing through distribution, your support network grows exponentially. Right now—even today—there are 20-plus folks sitting in our office who can’t wait for dealers to call. That’s a mindset. There’s a leadership aspect to it. But we want dealers tapping into the decades of experience we have on staff. We pride ourselves on being experts, just like the dealers we serve.

And third—and arguably the most fun—distribution keeps you better informed. It keeps you current with what’s going on in the rest of the industry. Both of our companies prioritize inviting customers into our businesses and being transparent—sometimes sharing too much. But we also hold annual open houses: two-day events where we show a lot of hospitality, say thank you as much as we can, then get the product out of the box and train on it. We pack as much as we can into those two days and send dealers back better prepared for the weeks ahead.

Our approach on the distribution side is really rooted in this: Not everyone can make it to Expo. So our goal is to take what we experience here, bring it back to our local markets, and replicate it for our dealers.

DR: It’s been said before, but it’s worth reiterating here: Our jargon doesn’t serve us. When we try to demonstrate how much we know, we confuse people. When you think about sales and the momentum we’ve been talking about, there’s no question that our knowledge can be the biggest barrier to a decision. If we start dumping information, specifications, and everything we know on people, they leave more confused and less confident. It detracts from the relationship.

DR: The other thing I’d point out: The customer doesn’t know what’s ahead. Even if you give them the quote and explain what they’re going to get, what really eases their mind is demonstrating that you’ve been here before and you can get them there, even if they don’t understand every last nuance. That builds confidence and makes them more willing to move forward with you.

DH: Build on the momentum of the emotional desire they’re bringing to you. It’s an emotional purchase. Money is emotional any time we spend it. And different generations relate differently to expenditures, especially long-term ones. A fireplace is like a 25-year commitment. We need to be mindful of that.

Information dumping on consumers—or forgetting the ratio of two ears and one mouth—kills momentum. The key is to stay in their rhythm, keep their momentum going, and help it build. Every time we stop and correct them, every time we explain our magical vocabulary, it creates separation between them and their emotional desire. We start throwing logic and book knowledge at them, and we lose them.

The truth is, we’re translators. I’ve always seen myself as a mediator. In a retail showroom, I’m mediating between the product and the consumer. If I’m selling to a dealer, I’m a translator there too. Our job is to do all that work behind the scenes and make it appear seamless. There are plenty of ways to gather the information we need without making it feel complicated for the customer.

DH: I think trust is enhanced when we decide to be business partners. I don’t actively sell to my retailers—I don’t envision it like that. I’m from Seattle, so I’m the 12th man. I want to be everybody’s 12th man—for my manufacturers, my retailers, and consumers—so that we can mediate the best possible outcome for everyone.

That comes down to transparency. COVID taught us a great deal about needing more transparency and openness in our industry. A lot of the tools that came into play during that period have been really valuable for continuing relationships. But we have to respect it as a partnership.

ZF: I tend to agree; I think we’re at a bit of a low point. But I also don’t think it’s anyone’s fault. Over the past five years, we’ve all lived through an incredible amount of uncertainty. There have been tough questions with no easy answers.

That said, I do believe trust is a long-term investment. We’re building relationships—with manufacturers, with dealers—and when you look around this industry, most of the relationships are old, long-standing ones.

I’ll say that I feel privileged to answer this question. I’ve been part of two very good companies that have set an incredible example of how to build trust.

The answers are simple—but that doesn’t make them easy. First, do what you say you’re going to do. Everyone expects that. Do it consistently. And be mindful that the little things are what destroy trust. If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. We should all expect that from one another.

ZF: Second, be empathetic to your partners. Manufacturers, distributors, and dealers all have their own unique complexities that make the business hard. Things don’t always go smoothly. When a partner is going through a struggle, we need to be supportive—not critical.

And third, we need to celebrate together. Celebrate the wins. Recognize that when Dave wins, Deb’s winning, and a whole lot of other people are winning too.

Lastly, all of that takes really good leadership. I’ve been in a privileged position to see that first-hand. But it’s got to be pushed down through the company. It’s got to be something we all live out.