It’s often said in football circles that the best offense is a great defense. Closer inspection of the best offenses in the NFL reveals a greater truth — the best offenses can read a great defense.
Case in point: Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs won NFL MVP in 2018 and became the first quarterback since Peyton Manning to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. However, he has admitted that he didn’t understand coverages or how to read a defense until halfway through the 2019 season. Then things really took off!
Since elevating his game from great to greater, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl four times, winning twice (and counting).
What does this story have to do with drop-in induction cooktops? Everything. Patrick Mahomes had the skills for success, but it wasn’t until he raised his situational IQ to “read the field” better that he rose to the top of his game.
Hatco can provide the coaching, statistics, data analysis and tools to support your sales efforts for drop-in induction cooktops. It’s up to you to choose which facets to highlight when out in the field. Not all plays will work in all situations. That’s why Hatco has created this blog, a sales playbook of sorts, profiling situations you will face and offering tips for unlocking sales.
The tech play
When operations are updating their equipment, building new kitchens or revamping their restaurant models to become hybrid stores, it’s advantageous for them to consider incorporating induction technology.
One of the legacies of the technique-driven, modernist cooking evolution from the early 2000s is that the precision, control and consistency of a laboratory are now expected in a kitchen. Professional chefs using drop-in cooktops don’t have to navigate the inherent variabilities of gas or electric cooktops. The technology behind induction cooktops leads to quicker cook times and more evenly heated food. This kind of accurate cooking saves on training employees and cuts down on waste. Controls are easy and innate, but the equipment is state-of-the-art. Drop-in induction cooktops are strong enough for back-of-the-house durability, yet sleek enough for front-of-the-house. This interchangeability is important for hybrid concepts looking for a solution in either area of the operation.
The green play
In recent years, more and more operations have developed a public-facing eco-consciousness. If you know a customer who has taken a climate pledge or aligns its corporate identity with the environment, you can highlight the energy efficiencies of drop-in induction cooktops.
The evidence is so overwhelming that the U.S. Department of Energy includes induction technology as one of its key strategies to create a better environment. Induction cooktops are up to three times more energy efficient than gas cooktops and 10% more energy efficient than smooth surface electric cooktops. Induction cooktops do not emit nitrous oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), or formaldehyde (HCHO), all of which can have negative health effects and exacerbate respiratory conditions.
Furthermore, as an industry-leading producer of drop-in induction cooktops, Hatco stands for quality. And quality leads to sustainability. Simply put, quality equipment that lasts longer means less waste in a scrapyard and less energy used to manufacture replacement equipment. Transportation’s carbon footprint decreases when fewer delivery drivers and technicians are on the road. All of this adds up to lower costs for the customer.
The elbow grease play
The small business owner typically has lots of pride in his or her business. This is especially true where the buyer has invested sweat equity in the business. For somebody who is in the trenches day to day, it is important to dispel the myths of induction cooking, while emphasizing its durability and ease of cleaning.
Hatco’s drop-in induction cooktop surfaces are made of ceramic glass that undergoes stringent durability testing. The surfaces must withstand the impact of a 1.2-pound steel ball dropped from 21-inch heights and a 4-pound pan that’s dropped 10 times from 8 inches above. Now that’s certifiably rugged! Ceramic glass is superior to tempered glass (lesser-quality induction units are made of this and can bow at high temps). People tend to care a lot about the ease of cleaning when they’re the ones doing it. Drop-in induction cooktops can be wiped clean without having to deal with any “hard to reach” spots.
The cost reduction play
Large-scale operations running high-volume cafeterias and buffets respond to conversations that emphasize the bottom line. Since everything is at such a large scale, it is important to illustrate how cost reductions scale up parallel to volume.
Electric or gas drop-in cooktops may have a lower price tag, but the savings in energy cost and labor far outweigh the initial discrepancy. Here’s how the inefficiencies can cost an operation: 85-95% of the energy created by an induction cooktop goes directly into heating the food, versus 45-50% from an electric range and only 35-40% with a gas cooktop. That means up to 60% of cooking energy is wasted. Not only does the operation pay for the wasted energy, but in some cases, they will also pay for the air conditioning necessary to cool the kitchen back down due to all that wasted heat energy. If drop-in cooktops can save on energy and labor, wouldn’t any operator consider that a win-win? Programmable recipe presets and quicker cook times reduce the need for human oversight for manually adjusting temperatures. Smaller teams working more efficiently keeps your headcount low.
When the game’s on the line
Andy Reid is the Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach and is certainly responsible for much of the team’s success over recent years. Reading the defense is integral to that success and built into each game plan. For the first quarter of each game, Coach Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense gather information about their opponents’ defense.
By analyzing the preferences and styles of defenses the other team shows in the face of these 15 or so plays, Mahomes is better informed for when it matters most — the fourth quarter.
Patrick Mahomes overcame a 10-point halftime deficit in Super Bowl LVII to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38 to 35. He came from behind in Super Bowl LIV, as well, to beat the San Francisco 49ers 31 to 20. Incidentally, he won Super Bowl MVP both times.
Check out Hatco’s starting lineup of drop-in induction cooktops. These drop-in commercial induction cooktops are top of the league in terms of power, precision, safety and quality. They mount flush with the countertop for a seamless look while providing maximum cooking and holding power.
The Chiefs face the 49ers again in Super Bowl LVIII. One outcome is certain, Mahomes will be reading the defense before making any important play.
Will you “read the field” and rise to the top of your game?
For more information on Hatco drop-in induction cooktops, check out our blog.
