Q:Take us through your day-to-day. What does your role entail?
For a small territory– we are reps for Minnesota, South & North Dakota, there is no typical day. Our office is a small one, the sales team is me, my partner Steve Perreault, and his son Mike. We have been honored to rep the Atlas line since 1970! When it comes to specifically Atlas, it is very hands-on, so there are a lot of in- person meetings.
There are typically many site visits that the Foodservice Directors asks us to go to, and the initial meeting would be to discuss the customer’s needs and what problems they are trying to solve, or what they are thinking about doing with a new serving line. Subsequent meetings would include preliminary layouts, then with shop drawings, color samples, and any utility work that might be involved, such as electrical.
Our business is extremely relationship-based, including the consultants that specify Atlas, and the dealers who support us, and the end users. So we’re in the field a lot with our customers, and that’s what we most enjoy.
Q:What are some unique ways that you help operators?
One thing I’m hearing more from my operators regardless of whether they’re veterans or new into their role is “Stacey, please come on in, I need fresh eyes to look at our serving lines.” I had a wonderful opportunity the other day with a customer.
We’ve been having a lot of fun talking about the new serving line and what she was looking for, and we were scrolling through many different photos I keep to show my customers other schools on my phone. As I was showing her and her staff different ideas from some of my other projects, and she said, “Oh my gosh you are everywhere! This is great. You just showed me a dozen other schools and their serving areas and it has given me new ways to look at things.”
Q:What does Atlas bring to the table when it comes to meeting the needs of operators?
Well certainly the breadth of the Atlas line. They manufacturer refrigerated carts, hot wells carts, flat utility tops, tray and silver carts, and everything else in between; each one of those product categories are unique in what a customer might need and want, and Atlas has it all covered. However, even more important for me is how they back their equipment, and I’m certain you’ve heard this from other people too.
I pride myself on the relationship that Ritten Associates, including my partner Steve and his son Mike, with all of the Atlas team. I have been fortunate to have had the ability to visit the factory many times and consider the people there my friends. If there is any kind of an issue, it’s a simple phone call or email; their reputation as a factory that stands behind what they manufacture is well known in this territory.
They consistently support us, our consultants, dealers and the end-users. No matter what the request, we have an answer back within 24 hours. If we need to address a problem of any kind, even if it includes having to replace a piece of equipment, whatever the customers is expecting, Atlas does it. It’s remarkable.
Q:Do you have any examples of Atlas delivering that “Metal Made Personal” level of service?
Yes! An operator called me just the other day from a large school district. She was having some trouble with the light toggle switches on her serving carts. Some of them had gotten damaged because her space was narrow and other equipment kept hitting the switch.
I shared this with Atlas and within 12 hours, I had a new design from their team. They went into the shop, cut a hole in the apron, recessed the toggle switch with a piece of stainless steel that they had welded, took a picture, and emailed it to me so that I could share with the client. It was incredibly helpful for me and for the operator.
And another story comes to mind actually. A few years back, we were having a lot of issues with GFIs in Minnesota getting tripped by various pieces of foodservice equipment. When one of our consultants mentioned the situation to Atlas, they built a UL breaker panel in their factory. And before those carts would ship up here, they would test it in the factory with all the various brands of breakers because we learned there are many different brands, and we would not know which would be installed in the different schools.
They bought and tested every single breaker that our consultant suggested, and worked with him and his team on ways to prevent this issue going forward. It’s just another wonderful illustration of true partnership.
Q:Is there anything you’d want to tell an operator who might need new equipment but hasn’t heard of Atlas?
That is a difficult question to answer because at Ritten Associates we don’t just sell a customer a piece of serving equipment. Because of our partnership with Atlas, we know they can provide a solution for the customer, but it needs to begin with a conversation about what they are looking for and why.
Only after that initial conversation about the customers’ needs and wants, can we truly begin to tell them about what all Atlas can provide.
