The “Q” is an effective tool to generate clarity in the face of uncertainty. It has many applications. What follows is one such use.

Meet Loris. She owns a kitchen cabinet distributorship of an international, high end cabinet manufacturer. Loris has an outlet in Vancouver, BC and sells to customers in BC and down the West Coast of the USA. Loris has done a Q on finding an installer in the Seattle market, something she needs to do, but over which she has been stuck.

There are four quadrants to the Q. Where you are now (both what you know and what you are not sure of); where you are going (i.e. what results you seek); How to get there (i.e. brainstorming alternatives); and SMART Actions (the first 3 to 5 actions to get you started and in motion).

Quadrant 1: Now

(a) What I know:

• Finding good people has been difficult but the job market is opening up
• Installers make more money in Seattle than in Vancouver, BC
• Need to understand European cabinets
• Metric dimensions
• Have their own metric tools
• Team player
• Good company and sales skills (hard to find)
• Need to be flexible in scheduling
• Need insurance

(b) What I am not sure of:

• Where you might find them
• If they exist
• How to test them
• Skills
• Company loyalty

Quadrant 2: Going (What Success Looks Like)

Two Installers

• Trained in European cabinets
• Team players (not renegades)
• Flexible timing / scheduling
• Good customer relations skills
• Good tools – perfectionists
• Able to handle problems independently
• Communicative
• Reliable
• Train them in Siematic Cabinets
• Be able to quote reliable pricing, based upon predictability of performance
• Be contract-based

Quadrant 3: How

• Find out who my competitors / colleagues are using
• Put an ad in the Seattle paper
• Fly in installers from elsewhere
• Sell cabinets – supply only
• Ask designers & architects who they know
• Ask customers
• Local community colleges – woodworking shops
• Run ads in national papers to check American market for installers
• Retrain my existing (difficult) installer to not be a renegade
• Contact furniture builders or yacht makers
• Contact appliance companies and ask who they have seen
• Contact builders and contractors
• Hire someone on staff instead of contract
• Ask my existing installers for questions to test potential applicants
• Hire a consultant for interviewing and hiring these people
• Get clear on the questions to ask
• Look in on-line “watering holes”
• Do a web search
• Check the monster board
• Conduct a trade-based focus group for ideas
• Possibly buy a competitor in Seattle who has this handled
• Offer an existing Canadian installer an over-ride to handle the problem in the USA market

Quadrant 4: SMART Actions

• Develop an ad and place it in the Seattle paper (this week)
• Get my office assistant to research schools and place the same ad there (by the end of this week)
• Talk with 3 designers, 3 architects and 3 builders from existing network for referrals (next Saturday)
• Phone Siematic to see if they have any interview criteria questions (Next Monday)
• Speak with Tom (current head installer in Canada) to see if he is willing to oversee the USA installation department, including hiring and training (tomorrow).

With increased clarity, Loris now has specific steps that she can take to move this project forward. And that is the purpose of the Q.