Atlas Appropriate

Objective:

Develop a new go-to-market strategy for Atlas Carpet Mills.

Background:

Atlas was a privately held, modest-sized carpet manufacturer located in Los Angeles. Its main competition were larger companies, many of which were public and most were primarily located in areas of the Southeastern USA that had lower production costs.

When Atlas was established in 1970, it manufactured product targeting the residential market. The primary sales channel was the dealer community. In the late 70’s – early 80’s, Atlas also began producing product for the commercial market, again relying on the dealer sales channel. Toward the late 80’s – early 90’s, the consolidation of the industry picked up speed. At the same time, solid color carpet styling was dominating the residential market, with the main differentiation being cost. The commercial market, in contrast, was blossoming into a business where unique design and product performance were highly valued characteristics. Atlas decided its best future was to focus exclusively on the commercial market.

The question, then, was what the go-to-market strategy should be.

Approach:

The process began with identifying what the ideal Atlas customer would look like.

• We envisioned the space requirements of this customer. Two key criteria emerged:

  • The space required superior aesthetics.

  • The space must maintain its quality image over the expected life of the carpet, therefore requiring superior product performance.

• Our next task was to define the value proposition Atlas could offer this customer. We used two quotes from Principles of Total Quality to guide us.

  • “A company does not simply sell shoes, soap or banking services. It sells value to a particular segment of the market.”

  • “Value is what the customer, not the company, says it is.”

Thus the ideal Atlas customer, would be one that associated superior aesthetics and superior product performance with increased value to their business model. This perspective, in turn, supported the monetary value Atlas placed on the products and services it provided these customers.

For example, if a company believed that a superior looking environment would attract new customers, while promoting long-term relationships with existing customers (internal and external), this would translate into higher revenue for their business. As such, this customer would likely be interested in products, that helped achieve these results.

The next step was to identify highly specific categories within various commercial sub-segments where this approach would resonate.
Some examples are:

• Workspace

  • Executive offices

  • Meeting areas

  • Professional practices, law firms, accounting practices, etc.

  • Financial institutions, customer-facing areas, wealth management areas

• Store Planning

  • Department stores

  • Higher-end specialty stores

• Education

  • Colleges and universities

    • Student unions

    • Conference centers

• Public Spaces

  • Sport stadiums – luxury box areas

  • Libraries

  • Corridors in Class-A office buildings

• Hospitality

  • Hotels

    • Rooms in 5 star properties

    • Suites in 3 – 5 star properties

    • Guest-facing areas – corridors, meeting rooms and lobbies

  • Restaurants

• Multifamily / Senior Living

  • Resident-facing areas — corridors, lobbies, clubhouses and other amenity spaces

We then formulated what became known internally as Atlas Appropriate Approach to each key business area. All efforts focusing on the Atlas Appropriate Customer. Specifically, we:

• Implemented changes in product development to meet the aesthetic levels we were seeking

  • Built a significantly larger in-house team of uniquely talented product designers

  • Invested in advanced tufting equipment to create sophisticated designs

  • Invested in multiple technologies to produce a diversity of aesthetics and textural alternatives

• Changed the approach of the sales force

  • Trained the sales force to identify the drivers of product selection for customer segments outlined in the Atlas Appropriate model. This approach changed Atlas from being a reactive sales organization, waiting for opportunities presented by dealers, to an organization that created demand by marketing Atlas products directly to the drivers in question. This meant in particular, outreach to — and understanding the preferences of — the architectural and design communities, the main influencers of product selection for the Atlas Appropriate Customer categories.

    • We also gave associates the tools and discretion to manage a very complex sales process, involving numerous decision-makers.

• Marketing

  • Developed a web site that reflected the enhanced aesthetic Atlas was offering

    • Featured high-level photography to distinguish Atlas visuals from typical graphic representations

  • Re-branded the company twice

  • Redesigned the sample folder presentation to be more user-friendly

  • Created segment-specific product presentations

  • Participated in trade shows aimed at the identified sub-segments

• Instituted and enhanced custom program

  • In response to the demand for unique brand images, Atlas developed an enhanced capability to provide bespoke products for such end-user customers. Furthermore, we introduced:

    • A dedicated presentation that showcased our customized offering

    • Sample folders presenting various custom capabilities

Results:

These efforts led Atlas to become a consistently profitable company, that garnered wide recognition from industry publications and associations. The company was successfully sold in 2014, to The Dixie Group.