depressed muffin

the best thing about living in asia used to be how happy people were to help with special requests. the “have it your way” tag line started with a burger place in the US, it was a reaction to the major competitor, who doesn’t take special orders. number one serves it one way, fast and with a smile, but special orders would break down the efficiency of their production line. have it your way was a method of differentiating to the customer, saying we care about you more.

a number two player does need to find a way to show they bring value in a way that the big players do not. they cater to the customer, they listen to what is needed for them to succeed and they give that. when they don’t, they are not a number two player, they are a former player. this is just the way things are, they are the way things need to be. when you compete, you need to find an edge to push your fingers into and then pull up hard so you can reach the next edge.

hanging on the side of a cliff by your fingers and not moving… this just doesn’t sound like a fun afternoon to me. getting to the top and letting my arms rest, letting the fear of failing and adrenaline of success escape as i breathe and look out over the horizon. that sounds much better to me.

i have a favorite breakfast place. i have friends here; people stop by knowing i will be around. its fun and comfortable. the staff is always ready to help. the downside to hanging around the same places all the time is that you start to get sick of the menu, it seems like it’s just the same thing over and over. even favorites that you normally love begin to be a chore to enjoy. so i have traded my blueberry pancakes for a blueberry muffin.

the downside is that i want my muffin “toasted on the grill”. this is the way i loved the blueberry muffins of my youth. i would sit with nana in a booth at “the creamery” and she would sip coffee while i had a muffin. they would cut the muffin from the top, one slice down the middle, and grill the flat sides to a toasty crunch. the insides would melt in my mouth along with the butter they left to soak into the warmed muffin.

i have told this story, explained the needs, and with a smile was told “okay no problem”. the muffin that was handed to me today was micro-waved. i smiled, and asked them if they could take it back and grill it. the kitchen should know how to do this, they did it yesterday. i waited and the muffin came back again… micro-waved but with butter added…. i sat wondering what i was supposed to do now. i have been clear what is needed, i have followed up and corrected the situation when it was wrong, the directions are not hard, the people are smiling at me when they say “here you go, just the way you wanted it”, but it’s not the way i wanted it, it’s the way they would have done it if i had never asked them to do it another way.

i picked the muffin up and went to the kitchen. i talked to the chef and asked him if he could grill the muffin for me. he said sure… but i can sense that being asked to do something differently is not what he wanted in his day. the smiles that normally show when asked any request was there, but the fact that it was forced was clear. it could be that i am getting better at picking up the micro-tells on this, but i also think its that the community is tired of being asked. (i was nice... really)

this is a down economy, times are tough. places are competing and the competition is going to become more and more direct. looking over and seeing a smile saying yes, i will do it your way, and then finding it’s done the same way no matter what is not the way to work through this market. it is the way to lose the customer and the business.

my muffin came back grilled, it was crispy on the outside and the insides did melt in my mouth. but next time i am going back to my pancake. the pancake is the real comfort food for me, and it’s just easier to have done right the first time. the pancake seems happy to have made it to my plate, while the poor muffin comes feeling like it is unappreciated and abused. they both get the job done, but the ease of process with the pancake is more satisfying.

thinking back to the US and its burger places, i don’t go to the “have it your way” place, i go to the number one player. because with them i am not forced to always tell them what i want, they just do it right the first time. being willing to take a special order is important, but knowing how to get it right and actually wanting to get it right are even more important.

after three years here, the smiles are not enough; sending the muffin without it being depressed from the grilling is what i really need.