To: Stanley Sucks home...

July 29,1997 To: Canadian Distributors and Management
From: Steve Eyre

when will all the problems with posting Credits to the distributor trade account be resolved?

Credits not appearing on the Balance Forward Statement; this problem was resolved Friday 25 July 1997 and Incorporates credits from broken and new tool returns.

How will Mac Advantage delinquency hold policy be administered in the future?
We have discovered that Canada was not enforcing the 10% Mac Advantage hold requirement per Mac policy It is Mac Tools policy that distributor's Mac Advantage privileges are suspended if their total assigned Mac collections exceed 10% past due. lt will be necessaty that we begin to enforce this policy with our Canadian customers also.

Realizing that this policy has not been applied consistently in Canada we will exercise flexibility for the next 60-days. Following is an explanation of the Mac Advantage ^TM"HOLD" procedure.

Jim Hansen is the credit representative for the Canadian distributors. He should be the main contact person for both the Canadian dlstdbutors and district business managers, however; any individual in the department is capable to assist the distributor in answering his questions or concerns.

"Past Due" is defined as an account which is six (6) weeks past due. A distributor is subject to MAC ADVANTAGE hold if the balances of those contracts which he is the responsible distributor (he is the original writing distributor) which are past due is greater than or equal to ten percent (10%) of the total amount of the contracts.

The procedure we follow cunently is as follows:
1. At the end of each fiscal month, a report is generated which shows all distributors at or above 10% past due. During this first week of the new fiscal month, Jim will voice mail both the distributor and district manager to inform them of the distributor's potential hold; if his past due percentage does not fall below 10% as of the end of the week (The distributor's Customer information Record also shows the past due percentage, and is mailed to the distributor twice during the month, and The district business manager is mailed a report each week which shows those distributor's customers who are having problems paying).
2. If at the end of the week, the distributor's past due percentage is Still at or exceeds 10%, he will be placed on "hold'; meaning that he will not be able to receive any further authorizetiSon numbers for contmcts until his percentage falls below 10%.
3. MAC ADVANTAGE (specifically Jim Hansen) will work with the distributor and release the distributor from hold as long as his past due percentage continues to show a significant downward trend and the distributor is doing everything legally possible to collect, or if necessary, to repossess product from those customers who are not paying. The goal should be to have all distributors below the 10% past due percentage by the end of September, 1997.

When will we stop advertising product in the flyer that has iimited quantities or is not in stock; this ruins the credability that the distributor has with his customer.
We have begun a two step process to ensure this does not occur beginning in August All promotions are being forecasted based upon previous sales history and we are now increasing forecast numbers to accommodate Canadian participation and increase in US distributor count. We are voice mailing DBMs to alert them to what percentage the promotion has sold throughout a month. We are also honoring promotional pricing for all orders during a month in the event an item is oversold. It is our goal to have ample stock to support the promotion without overbuying. As with you, when an item is not available, you miss a sale just as Mac Tools misses the opportunity to sell to you when the item is not in stock. We will continue to hone this process of forecasting and sales analysis
when will the TPO (special order) program be working smoothly, and how can the distributor verify outstanding TPO's?
Shipment was made on Friday, 25 July, for the special order items That were placed with Mac Tools US by Mississauga prior to the closing. Additional orders will be shipped as they are received in the US.
Special Orders (TPO) placed, either by fax or phone after the Mississauga closing have all been placed with the vendor Product/orders are being received invoiced and shipped to the appropriate Canadian distributor
All back orders for US TPO/Special Orders items that were stocked in Mississagua and on back order at the closing of the Canadian facility are being canceled and reordered. This should be completed by Tuesday, 29 July 1997. If you have any questions or wont to check on a particular order, please contact Customer Satisfaction Distributors will be notified of items that can not be reordered
When will the CIS Department be staffed properly?
3 new reps start on Monday 7/28, we will requisition 5 additional reps to begin by 8/15, and four new tech Service slots (two already budgeted for that will start by 8/1 two new that will start by 8/15
When will the Distributor Operations Manual be mailed to Canadian distributors?
Edited for Canadian Operations during the month of August, September and shipped to Canadian distributors by September 30.
How will communications be handled In the future?
A new Distributor Operations Manual will be sent to all Canadian distributors by September 30, 1997, this will completely outline any policy and procedure changes as a result of The transition.
Distributor Networks will be included with distributor's orders in the third week of the month, the Network is the avenue for majority of product information, pricing and promotional information.
Also, an increase in my commitment to communicate more frequently via the voice mall system, with periodic updates from Jim McDonald.
When will needed paperwork be available, I.e. forms (MAC Advantage contracts)?
Forms sent to Columbus from the Mississauga facility were plused in upon receipt and can be ordered.
Unfortunately, Mississauga was out of the sales books. The US version of the SB-1 is available and can be used in the interim. The part number to order is SB-1AREV5/90, sku 191-6810. The new Canadian form should be available in the next 10-days; part number SB1-CAN
Our form vendor has copies of all the Canadian forms and is In the process of reprinting and restocking our inventory. All out of stock forms should be available by August 15
When will Repair Dept policy and exchange list for flat rate repairs be available?
The Repair Dept. policy for local repair centers is being developed and will be formally issued in the very near future. In the interim please refer to the procedures mailed to each distributor prior to The closing.
Repairs may be handled by the local repair center or shipped to the Columbus Repair Department. The process for Columbus repairs is detailed below.
1. Distributor requests MRA from Cust Satis.
2. Cust Sat Issues MRA to Distributor as type 50
3. Distr to send the item(s) to Smith Falls (SF) as per return policy previously issued.
4. SF will send to Cols. 2 or more times each week
5. CoIs. receiving/returns will send units to Repair and Cancel MRA.
6. Repair Dept will repair, exchange, credit or send to vendor whichever is applicable.
7. Repair (or credit) will be sent beck to the Distributor
A flat rate schedule, for most popular model air tools, is being developed and will be communicated to the field no later than 15 August THIS SCHEDULE APPLIES ONLY TO COLUMBUS REPAIRS, DOES NOT INCLUDE REPAIRS FROM LOCAL REPAIR STATIONS.

How will we correct current price book?
In an effort to make the price less complicated and easier to use we deleted all of the discontinued product and unavailable product, although this has made ordering product easier it has left confusion in regards to missing products.

To price product currently in distributors inventory but not in the current price list, please use the replacement item price. In the event that this solution does not work due to no replacement item being listed please call Customer Satisfaction or refer to the Qid price list

We will review this format again before issuing the next price list

How will balance forward statements going forward be made regular?
This situation is resolved. They were some Balance Forward Statements that were not faxed on the 19th but all were refaxed mid-week.

This is the immediate response as requested by the distributors attending the meeting in Toronto, in addition to the above listed concerns we have a very complete list that Covers a very broad base of concerns and problems. We will communicate as we resolve the issues one by one over the next few weeks. If any additional concerns arise please forward them to your DBM and a copy to me. Issues unresolved should be forwarded to Bonnie Snodgrass and/or Tim McDonald.

Questions? comments? WEBMASTER