Big buyers wanted to touch it first.
In a catalogue, floors, mats and parking products all look the same. Two showrooms gave customers a place to see, touch and compare before deciding.
≈ $100K in · ≈ $1M profit- Company
- Unimat de México
- When
- 2017–2018
- Where
- Distribution center, Naucalpan
- My role
- Made the CEO’s idea happen
- Investment
- About USD $100K all-in
- Result
- Close to $1M in profit in a couple of years
An idea that needed someone to build it
Between 2017 and 2018, Unimat’s CEO had an idea: build showrooms inside our distribution center in Naucalpan. It was my job to make it real.
We sold floors, mats and road safety products, and in a catalogue all of that looks the same. Some customers need to see it, touch it and compare it before they decide.
Build, not just dress
I presented the CEO with several options. All of them meant building and adapting the spaces, not just filling them with product. He approved a sober, elegant mix of about USD $100K, all included.
Keeping the cost down
To cut costs we used the crew that already installed floors for our customers: they did the masonry and finishes. Some furniture we bought and some we had custom-made in metalwork, so it would last. I negotiated with suppliers and metalworkers, and also with my boss when his requests no longer fit the quote.
It took six months, because that same crew kept traveling to other states to install for large customers, and that service couldn’t stop.
Two rooms, each for who really walks in
The traffic showroom was for business owners in Mexico City and the State of Mexico who needed speed bumps, cones and road studs for their parking lots. Speed reducers, on the other hand, sold better online and in public tenders.
The floors and rugs showroom was for interior designers, who made up nine out of ten visits; some large customers came in that way too. So we gave priority to area rugs and mats, and put it next to the warehouse, with almost the whole catalogue at hand.
Sales invited nearby prospects with specific needs, and we rearranged the rugs according to demand.
About $100K in, close to $1M in profit
To know whether it worked, I put the numbers together with Sales and presented them to the CEO: deals closed in the showroom left close to USD $1M in profit in a couple of years, against an investment of about $100K.
What it left me
A space is designed for who really walks in, not for who you imagine. And when a customer is torn between two suppliers, being able to touch the product makes the difference.
Real photos of the showrooms.
Want to see another case?
All five strategic cases are on the home page, or stop by Dani’s office to talk.