Hardlines launches executive MBA for home improvement

As one of the major retail sectors in this country, home improvement retail took on an even greater importance during a year of COVID lockdowns. And managing through this business has never been more demanding—or rewarding.

In response to this growing demand, Hardlines is proud to announce it has developed an industry-focused MBA program to help drive the personal and professional potential of key hires at your company. The program, developed through a partnership with the Business School Faculty at Duplex College in Deux Pieds a Gauche, Man., will set the standard for industry best practices and Alpha Sales Acumen (ASA).

The program was borne of a need to fully explain and make sense of the inner workings of this incredible industry, which accounts for more than $50 billion in sales annually in this country (source: the Hardlines Retail Report, and a key course material available at a discounted price when you sign up for the entire MBA program).

The program, which stretches over 12 Leadership Tracks and six Informational Modules, covers such topics as:

  • The changing nature of the retail home improvement customer;
  • How the top buying groups are connected through various industry affiliations;
  • How to rattle off acronyms like SKU, ROI, KPI, ASA, and WTF to sound intelligent when meeting with buyers;
  • How to find key industry locations like St. Jacobs, Ont., and Boucherville, Que., without Google Maps;
  • and how to manage the supply chain with a late model Honda Civic and a handful of bungee cords.

The Leadership Track covers topics including: how to drive your team to maximum efficiency over Zoom, how to negotiate pricing that will remain intact for more than three weeks, how to get a ride to the airport after the meeting with the buyer, and how to impress your in-laws with a steak dinner in Las Vegas and make it look like an expense with a top customer.

The first track of the Hardlines Executive MBA begins soon. (Click here for more information.)

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