By: Peter N. Rasmussen
Uploaded January 2020
Asia Base Law & Projects (Suzhou) Co. Ltd.
Let me you tell a story. A story from real life in Suzhou, China.
On October 1st 1998, at around dinner time, my friend Taus and I set out on a secret mission in Downtown Suzhou. We were on the hunt to find a place where we could hold a surprise bachelors party for a friend of ours the following Saturday.
Back then, there were absolutely no nice places for foreigners to meet and chill in town, so our mission was one of dire need. It was pretty bleak really, apart from the lobby bar at Bamboo Hotel where a small band from the Philippines played every night there was just nothing going on anywhere. The bars were either dimly-lit “dance-halls” of questionable legality, or raw places illuminated by white light tubes in the ceiling – old calendar posters on the wall, with cheap plastic stools and tables. These were mostly frequented by patrons who consumed Chinese Bai Jiu and local beer, chewed sunflower seeds and spit the shells of these all over the raw concrete floor (and sometimes not only shells).
We discovered this little newly opened bar on Dai Cheng Qiao Rd with a Carlsberg sign in the window, and that was the first sign of hope. We bravely went forth into this bar to discover that it was extremely small, measuring just about 20 square meters – but there was just something special about it that we had never seen in town before. Over the door was a big neon sign in English boldly proclaiming the name of the establishment as, “Tom’s Bar”.
I spotted a guitar hanging on the wall and couldn’t resist the urge to take it down and give it a little test run, it looked like it could use a little love and attention. Much to my surprise the thing was actually pretty well tuned. The owner “Shandong” came over and asked me in broken English if I played music, to which I answered that I used to be a musician many years ago for a living, but that I had converted to become a business consultant. Shandong eyed the opportunity and said:
“Well, I really need some business advice, but I probably can’t afford your fees”.
Taus, who was inspecting the drinks menu, eyed the opportunity:
“I actually think you can afford it. Peter will give you advice for two ice cold Carlsbergs!”
Ignoring my initial rejections Shandong opened two almost frozen Carlsberg’s. He switched to Chinese and began to describe his business. It turned out that he was one of Suzhou’s first rock musicians from the times when such kind of music was more or less outlawed in the country. We talked about what he could do to get more customers to Tom's Bar, so I asked him:
“What business are you in? What are you selling?”
He answered with a big wide grin:
“Alcohol, that’s what I sell here. You can buy cigarettes to go with it too”.
I challenged him right on that point and said,
“If alcohol is really the business you are in, you might as well close this bar. Because I can go to the that little mom-and-pop store right next door and I can buy beer and wine for much cheaper than you are selling it for here.”
Shandong gave me an empty glare and mumbled something I didn’t really hear clearly. That was when it struck me that I was standing inside a space that had the potential to become something really different and special. Something that the city really needed. So, I suggested:
“Foreigners are a great niche; they have no nice places to meet to have a great time in town. You could turn this bar into a gathering space for them!”
To me, foreigners were a very obvious target group considering that they had a distinct and unfulfilled need and they were easy to spot on the streets and address with marketing. Shandong raised his eyebrows:
“So, how do I create a great time for them?”
I wanted Shandong to figure the details out himself, so I said:
“Just make sure they are happy – that’s all!”
All the time while I was talking with Shandong, I tried to play an old 70’s tune on the guitar. I didn’t really remember all of it, so I made it up in some parts as I went along. Taus was annoyed:
“What you play there is outright wrong…”
That pissed me off… I thought “What does that nerd know about music?”
We downed our beers. But Shandong wouldn’t let me off the hook and quickly served two more ice cold Carlsberg’s. And then two more. Taus told me he played the accordion and had been for a very long time, which made me laugh inside… “How ridiculous is that” I thought.
It was still early in the evening and I knew that a nearby musical instrument shop was still open for another hour. “Oh Yes!” thought I, still pissed off by Taus’ remarks, so I made up an excuse to leave the bar for a couple minutes and ran as fast as I could and bought him a Chinese made accordion. A big fat polka-machine with 96 basses, for just 1800 RMB!
When I came back Taus laughed out loud and strapped the thing on (that sounds funny right?) but I couldn’t possibly have prepared myself for what happened next! Out of the blue, Taus started playing that exact tune I had tried to improvise on the guitar on that ridiculous Chinese accordion! All the correct notes one-by-one! Wholly Moley! I tell you, that was interesting… I seriously considered never again making fun of accordion players. Never. Because some of them can really wrestle those polka-machines and make them sound like music...
Taus was a true genius on that accordion. Later I learned he had won accordion wrestling competitions as a kid. Humbled I strapped the guitar on, and we played some more music. Shandong was over the moon and started paging his friends on their beepers and within minutes they started to filter in. Before we knew what was going on around us, Tom's Bar was full. We didn't stop playing until so many of the 96 bass buttons on that cheap Chinese accordion had fallen off that the thing had become un-wrestlable even for a genius like Taus.
Having completed our mission, the following weekend we brought the bachelors party to Tom’s bar. With 20 square meters. 30 degrees. 40 people. And 480 bottles of Carlsberg, we had a party like we had never expected, it was incredible, and everyone had a great time. So great, in fact, that we managed to run out of beer before the end of the night!
Shandong had hired a local 4-piece band and squashed them and their instruments together on a two square meter stage. They could only play one foreign song - that awful “Shalalalala - Shalalala in the morning” thing. After they had repeated “Shalalalala” four- or five-times Shandong must have sensed that it was going nowhere, so he called in this great longhaired crazy Japanese guy “Sunshine”. This guy showed up and took over the guitar and started busting out Beatles songs. Soon, with liquid courage running strong in his veins, Taus joined him on keyboards… another instrument he proved to master! Ten years earlier when I had retired from professional performance, I swore that I would never ever touch a bass again… but all those ice-cold Carlsberg’s numbed my resistance… I grabbed that four-stringed beast… and jammed along for a set!
Everyone had the time of their lives - at least the part they had lived in China - on that night! In the middle of "Hey Jude" when everyone sang along came that defining moment when Shandong grabbed my arm and shouted into my ear:
“Ta Ma De Ku!" (that means “Motherf*cker Cool” in Chinese) "We are selling happiness here! Tom’s is a happiness factory!”
He kept repeating these words the whole night. While he was full on beer-belly dancing, singing and shouting. And right he was, Shandong. Happiness became his most important product. As simple as it sounds, this was his “value proposition”. And knowing exactly “what business he was in” Shandong had no problem after that discovery in getting his staff to focus on happiness and putting spot-on marketing into the place.
Business boomed at Tom’s Bar after that night. Shandong changed the layout a little and made a little more space for the band from the bachelor party (we nicknamed them “The Shalalalala’s”). They went on to show what real cool Chinese rock music is all about and became very popular. Foreigners and Chinese alike were thrilled! That little bar was always crowded and on weekends people were lining up to get inside. Taus, Sunshine, and I often stopped by, downed a few cold Carlsberg’s, went on stage, and fired the place up.
Tom's became an immense success. So big that the toilets could not match the capacity needed. Night after night stinking sewage flushed over from the toilet and flooded the entire bar. Naturally the best possible solution Shandong came up with to combat this messy dilemma was to lay down some old newspapers and bricks from a nearby construction site as stepping stones on the floor and sprayed some perfume around, so the production of “happiness” could continue un-interrupted.
On weekends Tom’s was so crowded that Shandong let the door stay open and sold beer to the dancing crowd outside. That caused complaints from neighbors, so Shandong had to figure out a way to get himself some more space. He managed to get his hands on the massage parlor next door and integrated the space in the bar. He also hired the masseuses, offered them English courses and re-educated them to become some of the most amazing waitresses in the area, with the sole purpose of providing happiness. And voila! The success was complete! Toms had grown to triple its original size, now offering some additional much needed toilet capacity! No more wet stinky shoes, socks and pants!
Before too long, other entrepreneurial locals got the idea to open copycat bars and compete for the business of foreigners in Suzhou. But no one really pulled it off. Why? Some opened even fancier decorated places with much better toilets. Others lowered the price of beer by half, and still others hired more expensive bands. However, no one seemed to ever stop and consider that simple but essential question: What Business are you in? Therefore, none of them really delivered what the customers wanted: “an exceptionally great time” and “Happiness!”
On one occasion, Tom’s house-band (Shalalalala) which played there every night, resigned and set up their own competing bar. They thought “Ha! All these customers… they come because of us!” How wrong they were. They played the same songs in their new bar and even learned new Western songs. But even they failed too. Much to their dismay, they learned the truth the hard way, and after a while they closed their new bar and came back to play in Tom’s again.
When Tom's Bar reached the pinnacle of its success, Shandong sold it. The new owner didn’t fully understand the unique value proposition that had made Tom's so popular, she didn’t understand the “selling happiness” factor that was so important. Sadly, the bar slowly slid into mediocrity, it became just another local bar with nothing really special and unique to offer. A few years later I passed by there and saw a sign pasted across the door “Reward 1000 RMB for any information leading to finding (name of owner)”. She had failed to pay her bills and left town for good. No one ever saw her again.
The moral of this story is this, “Know what business you are in,” because that makes the difference between success and failure.
For Taus and I, our “businesses” weren’t playing music in the bars. It had been, many years earlier, but neither of us could find that passion again. My passion was already – and still is: Managing my company Asia Base! And nothing beats the witnessing of that “aha-moment” when a client realizes what his or her China value proposition really is. Like Shandong, when he discovered his and proclaimed out loud:
“Tom’s Bar is a happiness factory – what we offer is happiness! If you should get thirsty, we can also serve you an ice-cold Carlsberg to go with it”!
Without ever thinking deeper about it, Shandong proved that once everyone in an organization understand what real value they offer their customers is all about – then that is when they can focus on delivering exactly that. If they think it’s all about the alcohol - they will focus on just selling alcohol. If they realize it is "happiness" then they focus on delivering exactly that with all it takes. That is a powerful thing - and makes a heck of a difference for the customer.
In a competitive world, you can never hope to succeed and stand out from the crowd if you can’t realize what it is that makes your business different and special, if you can’t first figure out what business you are in!
What is your value proposition?