• How to distinguish a manufacturer as more than an equipment seller?
   
• Offer compelling, useful information to its customers about their customers

• Observed and intercepted people at various stages of their approach to restaurants in airports and malls in two countries

• Findings included that people move through three, distinct decision-making levels

• Learned what these restaurants must do to provide the right kind of info at just the right points in that process

Commercial kitchen innovation

Maytag had acquired some new cooking technology for quick-serve and casual-dining restaurants. The Commercial Kitchen division needed to obtain an end-customer perspective of the process of '"getting a bite to eat." What were the customer expectations for speed? We started with the growing segment of walk-by locations in malls and airports. We found that people proceed through three, distinct levels of decision-making as they physically move by and into these restaurants. At first sight of the restaurant, they ask themselves, "Am I hungry?" As they move closer, they ask, "Is this right kind of restaurant?" Only when they are actually inside do most of them finally ask, "Which items do I want to order?" These findings have a significant impact on basic store layout, signage, employee placement and training, and workflow. Maytag was thus able to offer real value to its restaurant franchise customers in the form of a whole solution that was more than just a faster oven.