From concept to menu curation to layout and design, these choices and purchases are critical to your customer’s restaurant-building journey. Whether they are shopping for the front or back of the house, the equipment they purchase will be a long-term investment. These choices impact the food quality, help determine their staff workflow, and ultimately, their bottom line. Let’s take a look at some tips to make the buying process easier and less stressful.

More than Dollar Signs

While customers are always worried about the cost, purchasing the cheapest kitchen equipment can have long-term financial consequences. Opting for the lowest-priced option can mean more breakdowns, which leads to unaccounted-for repair costs, staff frustration, and slower output. The combination of these things can affect their ability to provide customer satisfaction and can also put a strain on your B2B relationship.

A great place to start is by sitting down with your customers, talking through their goals for the business, and seeing what suits their operation. The kitchen floor plan will ultimately determine the space for prepping and preparing menu items. Choosing expensive, oversized commercial kitchen equipment can not only be costly but can mess up the flow for their kitchen staff. This Oven Quiz can help determine the best cooking solution to recommend to your customers.

Purchasing Checklist

While it’s normal for your customers to be focused on their return on investment, there are many critical factors they should consider besides the upfront costs:

• Chef Knows Best
  In many cases, they may not be the ones doing the menu planning and cooking; it’s best to get input from their head chef. They can give insight into what features are essential to cooking their desired menu. Purchasing equipment with fancy specs that will not be utilized can be a waste of their limited budget. Want to feel like you’re an expert on Ovention Ovens? Schedule a culinary consultation with our first-class chefs. They can walk you through the specifics of our 100% ventless ovens.
• Energy Efficiency
  Show them the long-term benefits and cost savings of choosing Energy Star-rated products. This Energy Savings Chart can help illustrate how much energy their operation will utilize during a typical business day.
• Speed Cooking
  Time is money. Being able to explain the spec differences between models like BTUs, RPM, and hourly output will assure your customer knows you’re the expert. Take the time to assess the speed of the equipment to ensure the unit you’re recommending matches their expectations. Use tools like our Pizza Calculator to determine if the equipment can keep up with their busy operation.
• Press 3 to Speak to a Representative
  What’s more frustrating than equipment breaking down? Not being able to reach a human to assist with those unexpected equipment failures. Ovention’s got you and your customers back with our own dedicated customer service. Our technical service team is available to assist customers 7 am-midnight, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Helping your customers choose kitchen equipment carefully will ensure that they have been the best long-term investment and will result in repeat customers and referrals. All Ovention Ovens are designed and manufactured in the USA. Backed by the industry-wide-respected Hatco Corporation, all our ovens are dependable and built to withstand. Not sure if an Ovention Oven is right for your customers? Reach out today to schedule a demo with one of our kitchen experts!