Have it Your Way - with Special Instructions

Once a week, almost every week, I take my kids to Subway. They get pretty much the same thing every time: turkey and provolone foot longs. They choose Italian bread, choose their meat and cheese, and then move down the assembly line for toppings and condiments. This is where it gets interesting.

They all want mayo, but one wants light mayo. They all want black olives, but one wants pickles, two like oil and vinegar and one gets lettuce on only half the sandwich. The process of ordering these customized sandwiches that are being built right before our eyes is slow. We speak slowly, often repeating and clarifying instructions. And we do it the same way every week.

We've adapted insofar as we know in what way and in what order to make our requests that is most efficient for the sandwich makers to get it right. I would hate to call this order in.

The beauty of using Vmeals is that you put all your instructions in writing for easy reference (not to mention that you can also duplicate an order - a great feature for speed and efficiency). You never have to repeat, "I'd like black olives on the whole thing, but lettuce on only half - yes, salt and pepper on all of it." while looking into the confused face of a guy wearing plastic gloves.

So let's take a quick look at how to make the most of special instructions.


When you place an order with Vmeals

• You choose the date, time and location of your event. 
• You then choose a menu from a list of restaurants and caterers that can meet your requirements. 
• From that menu you will choose your items by entering a quantity in the box next to the item listing. 
• Once you've made all your selections you will continue to review your order.

At this point you may want to communicate any number of things. 

• You may need to choose a side or a salad dressing that comes with your meal. You would enter it in special instructions. 
• You may have a special request like "no mayo" - enter special instructions. 
• You may want to label each box with a meeting attendee's name. Where might you put that? That's right - special instructions. 

Now that you're getting the idea, let's look at an example. You've clicked on the "Add Special Instructions" button, and this is what you'll see next:

We've ordered some boxed lunches that come with a sandwich, a choice of chips or a salad, a cookie and a drink. Since we ordered three pesto chicken boxed lunches, you'll see three fields for guest name and three fields for special instructions. We've entered a guest name for each box, so they will arrive labeled with a name. No trying to figure out which belongs to who.

Jon and Susan have made their choice of side and drink options. Jon has also requested that they leave the tomato off his sandwich. Tom  has left his special instructions blank, so the restaurant will likely make his side and drink selections for him.

What about that box for "general special instructions" at the top of the page? Use this area for information about the order or delivery in general. Some examples:

• Please bring extra napkins.
• Serve all condiments on the side.
• Set up outside conference room B

Vmeals makes it easy for you to have it your way. Now if only we had a snappy theme song.