For Gaggenau, the luxury brand for professional-grade home appliances, impeccable service is just as important as beautiful, cutting-edge products.
That’s why the brand with a 300+ year history has put so much effort into its customer-centric approach, providing memorable experiences in addition to an innovative portfolio of built-in appliances. From luxuriously designed, residential-feeling showrooms to personalized demonstrations, Gaggenau takes its customers by the hand and invites them to really feel what it’s like to use their appliances. To learn how the company provides personal service for developers, builders, and end-users, TRD sat down with Heather Ryan, Head of Gaggenau Region North America, Skyler Stevenson, Gaggenau’s North American Senior Marketing and Product Manager, Andrew Karcich, East Coast Region Builder Sales Manager for BSH Home Appliances Corporation, and Charles Cote, Western Regional Builder Sales Manager for BSH Home Appliance Corporation.
Luxury as an Identity
Being the best, and selling to the best, is at the heart of the brand’s identity.
“Gaggenau is for those who have an elevated lifestyle,” says Ryan. “It’s for those who seek the best of the best, which we deliver in both design and performance.”
In a crowded market like the luxury residential space around South Florida, developers are on the lookout for ways to differentiate their offerings from the competition. Gaggenau appliances are perfect for the builder who needs a way to make the kitchen they’re working on stand out from the crowd.
“Increasingly, builders are becoming visionaries searching for opportunities to give a project a calling card, and our suite of brands inspires that aspirational sentiment,” explains Stevenson. “Gaggenau really is a brand for those in the know.”
Seeing and Touching is Believing
Looking at a cooktop in a glossy catalog is one thing, but Gaggenau’s appliances can only be understood when seen and touched in person. Realizing this, the Gaggenau team has put a lot of effort into its showrooms, where builders can experience their products in person.
“Our secret is to bring them to one of our BSH Experience & Design Center (EDC) showrooms,” says Karcich. “The minute they see the product in person and experience the artisan touch, they quickly perceive the difference in quality and attention to detail.”
Cote emphasizes the importance of the EDCs when showing builders how a Gaggenau appliance will look in context, with the added benefit of demonstrating the brand’s value as a marketing tool. As part of showcasing their products, the EDCs are also a setting for events, demonstrations, and tastings.
“Our design clients recognize the difference when we demonstrate our products’ ability to augment food preparation,” says Karcich. “We show them how our steam oven can bring sous vide to the home or how you can get a perfect sear on a scallop on our Teppan Yaki.”
An Ally to Developers Throughout the Process
The Gaggenau team goes the extra mile throughout the entire process, from specification to delivery and beyond. That includes sales support, such as a customized landing page they create in collaboration with a developer to spotlight the history and architecture of a property, along with videos and data sheets relevant to the exact products curated for the kitchens.
They also can create customized brochures as a sales tool the broker can use to walk through and pinpoint key aspects of a specific product.
“The whole package we offer to the brokerage community customer is quite unique in our industry and adds to the experience of working with Gaggenau,” Cote says.
These materials are created with architects and designers in mind, and highlight aspects of Gaggenau’s products that might not catch the eye of the average person. While a homebuyer might look at one thing, an industry expert will be more attuned to the fine touches Gaggenau offers. The brand strives to combine a timeless appeal with features that users in today’s digital world have come to expect.
“What’s beautiful about the way we approach design is our subtle digitization,” explains Stevenson. “All our appliances have haptic dials or the client can choose to deploy the ‘Home Connect’ platform to go the extra mile and adjust settings on the fly or know when a cycle is completed.”
While Gaggenau commands a top-tier price point, Ryan emphasizes that isn’t the goal. “We’re not building a product to attain a certain cost, but instead to reach a high bar of functionality and performance,” she says. “We don’t compromise in the production, design or engineering.”
Cultivating the “Chef” in Everyone
The team likes to say that Gaggenau is perfect for “those who like to look and those who like to cook,” Cote says. “We have customers who are total foodies and want tools and products that will give them the best results, but it’s also ideal for the client who just wants to have the best in their house, even if they don’t cook.”
But for cooks (or a resident’s home chef) who want to refine their performance, Gaggenau takes the art of personalization to the next level with a free one-on-one video session with a culinary specialist, who will walk them through the use and care of their appliances. The goal is to offer tailored advice specifically suited to the resident’s individual needs, whether it’s how to make duck confit for a special dinner party, properly place fine china in the dishwasher, or best preserve fresh fish in a customized refrigeration drawer.
Originally launched during the pandemic as a unique way to engage with homeowners, the virtual trainings were so well-received that they are now offered along with Gaggenau’s other training materials.
Other customized training options include hosting a Gaggenau specialist for a session in properties that have an amenity space, and those who live near an EDC can come in themselves or bring a larger group to explore various features and fine-tune their skills—and, of course, eat amazing food.
“We’ve created almost 100 recipes specific to our different ovens,” says Stevenson. “And, we recently added a portfolio of recipes from chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants who are in our Black Jacket Society, where we honor specific chefs whom we believe display the same ethos and values as Gaggenau.”
Gaggenau has a foundational philosophy called the Professional Kitchen Principle, dictating that cooking equipment, much like ingredients, must be of the highest quality and contribute to the finished dish, explains Ryan. “Because of the appliances’ varied functions and precise elements like finishing modes, home chefs can create dishes that achieve consistent results with ease just like a restaurant,” she says.
“When you spend money on high-quality ingredients, like an exceptional cut of meat, you want the result to be amazing,” Stevenson says. “And you look like a hero even though the appliances are doing the heavy lifting.”
Personalized Service, Exemplary Results
With Gaggenau’s unwavering commitment to excellence in design, cutting-edge technology and unparalleled personalization, their kitchen essentials transcend the status of mere “appliance.”
“Our brand doesn’t compromise on anything—from engineering to design to the result it brings to the table,” Cote says.
Would your next project benefit from this bespoke solution that seamlessly blends form and function to create an inspired cooking experience? Find out more about Gaggenau today.