The difference between what you're selling and what they're buying

The first week of camp I had very few takers for (serious) kayak lessons. I wanted to teach campers how to "roll" a kayak, but very few were genuinely interested. Generally one camper in each group. Then we rotated groups after three days and I had less than one interested camper per period.

However, there was no shortage of campers asking about what they had to do to get their "bronze", "silver", "gold" or "platinum" award. I thought it was kind of silly that they were so focused on these awards that didn't teach important kayaking skills, so I kind of brushed off these questions by saying that I was in the process of re-writing the requirements for all of the awards.

After about a week I finally realized that I was going about it the wrong way. These campers were not "buying" kayak lessons or kayak skills. They weren't working towards a river trip like those at the Queen's University White Water kayaking club. They were "buying" self worth, a sense of accomplishment, and maybe something they could write home about. Getting your "bronze" is less about learning the basics of kayaking than it is about building confidence in one's own abilities and establishing self worth.

I should have realized this from day one, having worked with the fellows at http://blueprintstrategicplanning.com/ back when I was doing Darfur advocacy with Stand Canada. One thing they often talked about was the important distinction between what you are selling and what the customer is buying (it is not always the same thing, as evidenced by the above).

Once I made this realization I quickly re-wrote the requirements for each award, and was virtually swamped with campers that wanted to vie for their bronze or silver depending on their skill level in the coming days. The younger campers in particular seem to have a certain sense of satisfaction on achieving  a kayaking award. Also, the great part of this is that I have worked in practical kayaking skills into the higher award levels, and will soon have many more pupils working on advanced skills that will equip them for white water than I did the first week. So things are busier for me at the canoe/kayak beach, but mostly in a good way.

While there will not be the opportunity for me to take campers on a white water kayaking trip, hopefully this new approach will increase the number of people I inspire to take up the sport when they get home from camp.