Specialty Fabrics Review August 2020 - 22

We try to be solution sellers.
When we go into a sales
situation, we look at the
problem the customer is
trying to solve. If you solve
their problem, then you
will most definitely have
a satisfied customer.
BARRY ADAMS

around for a long, long time, and my
thinking was that I want to sound like
I've been in business for a long time. We
became Peachtree Awnings in 2008."
A few years later, the owners of another
former franchisee company reached out
to Adams about the possibility of selling
their Nashville/middle Tennesseebased business to him. Adams had been
interested in moving into another
market, and the vibrant and fast-growing
Nashville area, a 3½-hour drive from
Atlanta, was the perfect opportunity.
"So now, we are two locations
serving two nice, thriving, southeastern
metropolitan areas," Adams says.
"We've been able to build our
business with that as a platform."
Adams's selling strategy is to focus on
selling a solution, rather than a product.
"We try to be solution sellers," he says.

Snapshot
INVITING ENTRANCE
For Peachtree Awnings,
becoming the preferred
supplier of awnings and
canopies for Hyundai Motor
Manufacturing (HMM) in
Montgomery, Ala., was
a sign of recognition for the quality and service the Norcross, Ga.-based awning
manufacturer provides. In 2019, Peachtree designed, manufactured and installed
a "porte cochère" on the factory campus that utilized a sleek, tight, engineered look
while being lightweight and incorporating "Hyundai Blue" in the finished product.
The cantilevered design checked all the boxes for the HMM design group. The
structure utilizes Serge Ferrari Soltis Proof 502 satin fabric, with stainless steel
posts adding a finishing touch. "The plant receives thousands of visitors every year,
from foreign dignitaries to some of the world's best and brightest engineers," says
Barry Adams, owner of Peachtree Awnings. "The entrance canopy literally 'reaches
out' and invites people into the building when they arrive on the main campus."

"When we go into a sales situation, we look
at the problem the customer is trying to solve.
If you solve their problem, then you will
most definitely have a satisfied customer."
As both locations have grown,
Adams's customer base has shifted
from consumers to general contractors,
property managers and business owners,
and his role has shifted from operator,
to owner-operator, to owner.
"If you want to function more like an
owner, you have to work on your business
rather than in your business," he says.
"Today, I find myself working more on my
business than in my business, although I'm
still a producer within my company. I don't
install anymore, but I still sell projects. The
entrepreneurial spirit lives within me. I'm
a Renaissance man and I like to have my
hands in lots of different things."
A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
Through all of his work experiences, Adams
says he's developed a talent for recruiting
and selecting good employees-or associates,
as they are called in his businesses. Peachtree
Awnings employs up to 17 associates
seasonally, and Tennessee Awnings up to
10 seasonally. Having competent general
management at the helm is especially
important for a multisite business.
"That means I can leave Atlanta and
work in Nashville for two or three days
at a time and know that we are still selling
and building and installing awnings in
Atlanta. And likewise, when I'm sitting
here in Atlanta, I can't be wondering if
the guys in Tennessee are doing the right
thing every day."
The key to being successful in a small
business is finding people who can be as
passionate about your business as you are, he
says. He admits that's easier said than done.
"You can say that, but then you have to
go out and execute that," he says. "You have
to have a big net to bring in prospective
associates. You have to have a process
that vets those people through a series of

22 REVIEW AUGUST 2020

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Specialty Fabrics Review August 2020

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