7 Questions

     Okay, I know it’s a cliche term. In fact, Googling “win-win” yields over 10 million results. Sheesh.

      The Farlex online dictionary defines win-win as “Approach to conflict or negotiation that seeks a consensus solution or one that satisfies the greatest number of disputants. A person who subscribes to a win-win philosophy will attempt to cooperate with an opponent to find a mutually satisfying outcome.”    And Wikipedia has this about win-win games and strategy – “A win-win game is a game which is designed in a way that all participants can profit from it in one way or the other. In conflict resolution a win-win strategy is a conflict resolution process that aims to accommodate all disputants.”

     In this article I’d like to talk about a recent real life experience of win-win … both those who got it right, and those who perhaps should read the back of my business card a little more closely.

     A buddy, Jason, and I decided to take in the Old Toronto Beer Tour this past Saturday. I highly recommend this tour if you like both beer and history.  In fact, on the topic of history, Oliver Dawson, who operates the tour, provided what to me was a very special look at a special bit of history – the Irish Famine and resulting mass migration – when he included a stop at the Ireland Park memorial. You might be interested in my companion article about the Park, available here.

     Given the time of year, we were not surprised that the group was small, just four of us and Oliver. Which suited me just fine. I like to talk to business people about how they approach their work, and a small group afforded more opportunity to do that. Although I would like to see his technique in action in a larger setting.

     Many small business people, especially of the entrepreneurial sort, understand win-win almost naturally. They know that not only their business but sometimes their ability to put food on the table, depends on their ability to give the customer what they want. Oliver “gets it.” He may not consciously apply the 7 Questions – few people are so deliberate in it’s use – but he realizes that the key to a successful tour is to adapt his “patter”, and the locations he includes, to the makeup of the people on the bus at any given time. It is, of necessity, a “by the seat of the pants” process, since until he meets each group, their exact demographic and interests are a bit of a mystery. Sure, he could have surveyed us to get a “feel” for what to expect, but as he himself said, “sometimes there’s no substitute for face-to-face.”

     Our first stop was at Steam Whistle Brewing, a company which also, in my opinion, ”gets it.” Management there spends a lot of time on presentation and value add. For instance, the brewery tour guide was a young performer who is also hosting an independent film festival called “Films in Bloom” on April 28, 2009. The company has a YouTube channel to introduce customers to its staff, maintains a WordPress blog, and even has a podcast, ringtone, and even a bloody comic book. Now, its not perfect – the ringtone download didn’t work when I tried it for instance (which could have been the computer I’m using) and, in my opinion, the blog should be using a more robust discussion management tool such as IntenseDebate. After all, we beer lovers love to talk beer.

Oliver started the tour at noon, providing a lunch that helped prepare our tummies for the afternoon’s activity. More importantly, however, it gave him the opportunity to scope out his clientele. Where were we from, why were we there, what did we expect out of the next ten hours? With that information firmly in mind, he could do what all good performers do – improv.

Contrast Steam Whistle with our next stop, Amsterdam Brewing Co. Now don’t get me wrong, Amsterdam makes great beer. I bought a six pack. (If I can’t have a six pack, I can at least drink one). But the reason I bought it was due to Oliver’s skill in describing the beers during our tasting; and of course the quality of the beer itself. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the two fellas manning the retail store when we arrived, neither of whom seemed to have read the company’s website which states that advance notice is only expected for groups of ten or more. Since there were only five us ….

Win-win often has more than two elements. In this case, even though I shall be more than happy to drink the company’s product, the result of our visit was win-win-and not so much.

If you’re interested in details of the balance of the tour, I’ll leave it to you to visit Oliver’s site. The point I wanted to make is, I think, pretty clear by this point. While we may think that being customer focused is an obvious part of our businesses, and that understanding customer satisfaction is simple (we are, after all, all customers in our own lives aren’t we? Shouldn’t we naturally understand what the person on the other side of the counter expects?), the reality is that, unless you’re a natural showman like Oliver, and most of us aren’t,  win-win requires a process and a procedure. .

Oliver employs that process naturally, perhaps even unconsciously. Steam Whistle implements it deliberately, corporately. Amsterdam – and again, great website, terrific beer – has a very common problem – ensuring that every member of the team understands how to create win-win on the fly, in every situation, every time.

It’s not a vague, mystical undertaking. I’ve sat through dozens of touchy feely sessions designed to provide facilitators with a comfortable living and the company with …. I’m not sure what.

We need something practical, something simple, something you can implement on a recessionary budget.

I have 7 Questions for you.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 10:18 pm and is filed under 7 Questions Applied. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.