Dennis Snow’s Service Excellence Blog

This is the tenth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #10: Take Responsibility for Your Own Career.

Walt Disney World is committed to employee development and provides many opportunities for career enrichment or advancement. However, in such a large organization, with over 55,000 cast members, there is a lot of competition when those opportunities come along. It’s easy to get lost in such a vast sea of employees, and many do - often due to their own negligence. Some cast members wait to be discovered, wait to be noticed, wait to be given more responsibility, wait to be promoted, etc. And they grow frustrated when it doesn’t happen.

Other cast members, however, take charge of their own careers. They let their managers know about their goals, they develop new skills, and demonstrate that they can be depended on. They don’t delegate responsibility for their careers to someone else. They see their careers as their own responsibility.

It’s a sad truth that some employees believe good things should just happen without doing what it takes to make them happen. And each time they get passed over for a promotion or assignment, they grow bitter and begin a downward spiral into a victim mentality; which eventually dooms any chance for future opportunities. On the other hand, companies and bosses love employees who take charge of their own careers. Responsible, self-starters are a welcome relief from the whiners.

There’s an old saying that there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. People who make things happen will always be in demand.

Questions to consider about Lesson #10:

1. What opportunities have you asked for lately at work?
2. What specifically have you done recently to gain new knowledge or skills in order to increase your value to your organization?
3. What can you do to take more responsibility for your career?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

This is the ninth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #9: Figure Out What Ticks Off Your Customers - and Do Something About it.

While Disney World’s mission is to create magic for guests, sometimes less-than-magical events occur. Rain, closed attractions, and long wait-times are just a few examples of circumstances that can result in guests being ticked off. Guests often save for years to visit Disney World, and their expectations are understandably high. Any glitch in the experience can easily cause frustration that is out of proportion to the actual problem - but the guest’s perception of the problem is the only perception that counts.

Rather than ignore those problems, however, Disney faces them head on. Over the years, for example, Disney “Imagineers” have addressed the wait-time issue in a number of ways, such as posting wait-time signs, providing entertainment while guests stand in line, and designing the queue into the story of the attraction. Most recently Disney World created Fastpass^TM - a process where guests can make reservations to go on major attractions, reducing wait times dramatically. These are all examples of finding out what ticks off customers and doing something about it.

Most customers have experienced company processes that just don’t make sense and that cause them intense frustration. Sometimes a particular process has been in place so long that the organization simply forgets how irritating it can be to customers. Other times the organization decides that their convenience is more important than the customer’s convenience, such as the appliance repair company that says they’ll be at your house sometime between 1pm and 5pm. Clearly, their convenience trumps the customer’s.

All it takes to successfully apply Lesson 9 is an understanding of how customers interact with your organization and to identify any “points of pain.” When asked, most customers are quick to share what frustrates them. Frontline employees are another source of information regarding customer frustrations. After all, those employees are usually the ones who bear the brunt of the customer’s irritation.

When a company identifies customer frustrations and takes steps to alleviate the problems, they set themselves apart from the competition. Customers think, “Why can’t other companies do it like they do?”

Questions to consider about Lesson #9:

1. What are some frustrating processes you’ve endured as a customer?
2. What do customers find frustrating about doing business with your organization?
3. What can your organization do to encourage greater sharing of ideas for improving the customer experience?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

 This is the eighth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #8: Everyone Has a Customer

When it comes to internal customer service, Disney World’s philosophy is, “Cast members are treated the way they are expected to treat the guests.” This philosophy is not just directed at those in Disney leadership positions. The statement can be slightly changed to read, “Cast members treat each other the way they are expected to treat the guests.”

Only about half of Disney World’s cast members work onstage with direct contact with paying guests. The rest work in backstage roles such as Costuming, Maintenance, Finance, Marketing, Training, and countless other departments where they interact primarily with other cast members. But the attitude of these backstage employees who serve the employees who serve the guests is the beginning of the chain of magical moments. And if the chain breaks down anywhere along the way, the guest experience is likely to suffer.

To be successful in the long run, it’s important for all employees in a company to treat each other the way they’re expected to treat customers. And to be the best in the business, it must be a company-wide practice. Every organization depends on internal coordination and cooperation to succeed. With every internal interaction, imagine if employees did what they said they would do (and did it well), were responsive to the needs of other employees, and demonstrated genuine care.

World-class organizations become world-class by not only creating great experiences for customers, but by also making the organization a great place to work. Turf wars, backstabbing and finger pointing aren’t tolerated. Everyone sees themselves as contributing to the larger mission of the organization and they work together to achieve that mission.

Questions to consider about Lesson #8:

1. How effective are your organization’s employees at treating each other as customers?
2. Who are your internal customers?
3. What would excellent internal service look like in your role, department, or organization?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

This is the seventh in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #7: Never Ever Say “That’s Not My Job” - Don’t Even Think It

From the day a Disney cast member joins the organization, it’s clear that saying anything remotely close to, “That’s not my job,” is about the worst thing he or she can do. Cast members are expected to pick up that stray cup on the ground, find the answer to a guest’s question if they don’t happen to know, pitch in to get the job done - no matter one’s job description. In other words, cast members are expected to take ownership for creating Disney magic. And yes, they accomplish this even though Disney World is a union environment.

Imagine how you feel when you ask a server in a restaurant for water and hear, “This isn’t my table,” or when told by a nurse in a hospital, “I don’t work this floor,” or when a post office employee, after you’ve been waiting in line for an hour, tells you, “I need to close this window because it’s time for my break.”

On the other hand, there is a special energy in a company where employees feel a sense of ownership. You can see the pride in their faces, and you can feel the care in their actions. Customers reward that attitude with loyalty.

This principle doesn’t mean that everyone has to know how to do everyone’s job. Expecting a hospital housekeeper to adjust a patient’s IV tube, for example, is impractical and unsafe. A housekeeper who takes ownership of the patient experience, however, will tell a nurse that a patient is complaining about the discomfort of the IV. It isn’t always about doing the job; it’s about taking ownership to make sure the job gets done.

Questions to consider about Lesson #7:

1. What are some examples of the “it’s not my job syndrome” you’ve experienced in your organization?
2. What causes that attitude?
3. What are some examples of behaviors that would communicate a sense of ownership to your customers?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

This is the sixth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #6: Pay Attention to the Details - Everything Speaks

Disney “Imagineers” go to great effort to design the details that make the Vacation Kingdom a truly magical environment. The goal is to transport guests from the real world to a magical place. The details don’t stop with the design. Cast members understand that they are a key part of the story the environment is designed to tell. They maintain the integrity of the story by paying attention to the details. They wear appropriate costumes and play their roles with enthusiasm. Cast members pick up that stray piece of trash or report that peeling paint on the fence. They know that when it comes to the details, “everything speaks.”

Regardless of the business or industry, the details communicate messages to customers. Sometimes these messages seem trivial such as a napkin stain or withering flowers in a flower bed. But sometimes they can be significant like an unattended help desk or dangerous potholes in the parking lot. Trivial or significant, every detail says something about the organization’s commitment to the customer experience.

Everything the customer sees, hears, smells, tastes, or touches impacts their experience. Anything that is out of alignment causes a disconnect in the mind of the customer. Everything speaks! Customers may not consciously notice every detail, but subconsciously clues to your culture are being communicated. What is your service environment saying?

Question for Applying Lesson #6:

1. How does the Everything Speaks philosophy apply to your job or organization?
2. Take a walk through the physical environment of your organization (preferably with a team). What messages are being “spoken” in your work setting?
3. What needs to happen in order to ensure the details support your organization’s brand?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Service Analysis, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

This is the fifth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

 Lesson #5: Don’t Be a Customer Service Robot

 Most of the jobs at Disney World have certain repetitive tasks, such as telling guests to “watch your head and step” as they board an attraction; emptying endless trashcans throughout the day; or reciting the same spiel (such as on the Jungle Cruise attraction) twenty-times a day, five-days a week. It would be easy for those jobs to eventually become so routine that they become robotic. And worse, for them to appear robotic to guests.

The Disney rule is to treat each guest as a VIP - a Very Individual Person. And you certainly can’t do that if your actions have become robotic. Disney cast members are expected to be animated, not automated. They are expected to make a real connection with each guest, even if it’s only for a few seconds. Sometimes it just takes a sincere smile, or secretly observing a child’s name stitched on his Mickey Mouse ears and welcoming him or her by name. The result is that guests feel Disney cast members care about them as individuals.

Robotic behavior doesn’t usually occur on purpose; it’s just that some tasks become so routine we do them without thinking. The bank loan officer who instructs her customer to sign here, here, and here, without acknowledging that the customer is using the money to send her only child to college - has fallen into the trap of automated behavior. Or the hospital receptionist who, without looking up, hands a patient a clipboard full of forms to fill out - has forgotten how nervous the patient may be. In both of these scenarios it is likely that the employee has performed these tasks so many times they can do them without thinking.

The problem is that when customers experience robotic behavior from employees they feel processed rather than valued. And it’s hard to generate loyalty when customers feel processed. The secret is to identify those routine tasks that involve customer interaction and commit to staying mentally present and to be fully conscious of how you come across while performing these tasks. It’s about maintaining an experience mentality versus a task mentality.

 Questions for Applying Lesson #5:

1. In your organization, what routine tasks could potentially appear robotic to customers - with the result that they feel they’ve been processed?
2. What can be done to personalize the tasks listed in question #1?
3. How can you make what is automated in your organization (such as voicemail, phone trees, or Website) more “animated?”

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

 This is the fourth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #4: Have Fun With the Job (No Matter How Miserable You Feel)

Guests will often gush to Disney cast members, “You have the best job in the world! It must be so much fun to work here!” Yes, being a Disney cast member is mostly enjoyable and very rewarding, but it isn’t always fun. Working at Disney’s It’s a Small World attraction, for example, and hearing the song, “It’s a Small World After All,” eight hours a day, five days a week is a torture most people can only imagine. Standing in the rain telling guests that Space Mountain is closed for maintenance for a month, can result in guests directing their disappointment or anger at the unfortunate messenger - the cast member.

Yet cast members know it’s their job to create happiness for the guests, and allowing job irritations to impact the guest experience is unacceptable. So they look for the fun - especially when they feel miserable. The secret for Disney cast members is to play with the guests - while remaining respectful. In the case of Space Mountain being closed, simply providing inside secrets about Space Mountain, or suggesting that the roller coaster in Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain, actually has a higher “barf factor,” usually results in a smile; and therefore creates fun (for the guest and the cast member).

Every job contains some miserable elements. Making those elements pleasurable is a real skill, and it’s all about attitude. Challenging yourself to get a customer to smile in an unpleasant circumstance; or turning an unpleasant task into a personal contest; or simply connecting with a trusted coworker who lifts your spirits can help get any of us through the inevitable unpleasant tasks that are a part of any job.

Unless you’re a professional comedian, work is rarely a laugh a minute - nor should work be all fun and games. But it certainly shouldn’t be unbearable. And work can easily become unbearable if we don’t actively look for those moments of fun. And those times we all face when we want to throw our hands up and shout, “I can’t take it anymore!” are the moments it’s most important to uncover the fun.

Questions to consider about Lesson #4:

1. What are some of the stressful or unpleasant aspects about your job or some of the jobs in your organization (your “Space Mountain is closed” situations)?
2. What are some ideas for finding the fun in those situations (while being respectful of customers)?
3. Within reason, what does having fun with the job look like and sound like in your role?

To be released this summer

Tags: Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

 This is the third in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #3: Little Wows Add Up

Walt Disney World guests often exclaim, “It seems like Disney employees will do anything to make a guest happy!” And while cast members may sometimes do extraordinary things - like arranging for a family to be grand marshals of the parade - cast members are usually extremely busy loading people on rides, scooping ice cream nonstop, sweeping the streets, checking guests into hotels, and so on. While they create ”big wows” when they can, the reality is that cast members focus on doing little things that wow, such asking guests where they’re from, taking a quick photo for a family, or just smiling sincerely.

While these examples represent genuine acts of kindness, they don’t necessarily knock your socks off. But the magic of these little wows is that they add up. As they accumulate over the course of a guest’s visit, small yet sincere, personalized actions have a tremendous impact. And when these wowed guests leave at the conclusion of their vacations, they can’t wait to come back. And they tell their friends, “Disney employees will do anything to make a guest happy!”

While it can be a daunting task to constantly come up with grandiose gestures that dazzle customers, it’s pretty easy to come up with behaviors that cause a customer to simply think, “That was nice.” Think of a time when a company’s employee remembered something about you, paid attention to your children, or shared some useful information you didn’t know about their product. These are all examples of little wows. And while taken individually these actions may seem like no big deal, little wows add up.

So, while the big wows are wonderful (and we should all create them when we can), the real magic is consistently creating little wows.

Questions to consider about Lesson #3:

1. What are some examples of occurrences that have caused one of your customers to literally exclaim, “Wow!”?
2. What are some examples of simple courtesies that prompt smiles and gratitude from your customers?
3. What actions can you take that demonstrate you truly care about the customer’s experience with your organization?

To be released this summer!

Tags: Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

This is the second in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #2: What Time is the Three O’clock Parade?
Is Not a Stupid Question

Every Disney cast member can tell you about funny questions Disney guests ask. How about “What time is the three o’clock parade?” or “Can we see where Walt Disney is frozen in the castle?” or “When will you be turning off the rain?”

In the face of such seemingly silly questions, the inviolable Disney rule is never to make a guest feel stupid. Guests are out of their comfort zones, the place can be overwhelming, and it’s the cast member’s job to understand and address the question behind the question. For example, when a guest asks, “What time is the three o’clock parade?” cast members know the guest really wants to know, “What time does the three o’clock parade get here?”

And those circumstances when a guest is completely in the wrong, the Disney philosophy is; “The guest may not always be right, but they will always be our guest.” Stated another way, “The guest may not always be right, but let’s allow them to be wrong with dignity.”

Customers are not stupid - it’s just that they may not know what we know. True; they didn’t read the sign, buy the right part, call the right phone number, or give the right specifications. But they’re not stupid. They’re out of their comfort zone - and each of us has made the same mistakes when we’re in an unfamiliar or confusing situation.

If we’re going create or sustain customer loyalty, we have to look at every situation through the eyes of the customer. When we view situations from the customer’s perspective, then and only then can we understand the question behind the question or the issue behind the issue. Then, and only then can preserve the customer’s dignity as well as their loyalty.

Questions to consider about Lesson #2:

1. What are some of the common yet bizarre customer questions or behaviors that sometimes occur in your business?
2. In the circumstances listed in question 1, what is the question behind the question, or the issue behind the issue?
3. How can you be sure that your customers who make a mistake are “wrong with dignity?”

To be released this summer!

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // Add Comment »

Some of you are aware that I’ve been working on a new book, Lessons From the Mouse, based on my 20-years working at Walt Disney World. The book is due to be published this summer and I’m truly excited about it. It covers the ten key lessons I learned as a Disney cast member and helps readers apply those lessons to their own organizations, careers, and lives.

With my next ten blog posts, I’d like to share a synopsis of each lesson that Lessons From the Mouse covers. My hope is that you’ll find these brief descriptions to be beneficial – and I also hope these descriptions whet your appetite so that you’ll buy the book when it comes out!

Lesson #1: Never Let Backstage Come Onstage 

The concepts of “onstage” and “backstage” are critical to preserving the Disney magic. Imagine a child actually seeing Cinderella smoking a cigarette. Years of therapy might be called for. Or imagine seeing a maintenance truck near the Frontierland train station – it doesn’t really fit the frontier theme, does it? Such disconnects would destroy the illusion that Disney has spent billions to create. As cast members, protecting the magic is a key part of the job.

No matter the organization, there is a brand image you want customers to have in mind. And that brand image can quickly be compromised by violating Lesson #1. Clearly distinguishing “onstage” from “backstage,” and keeping the two completely separate, helps to preserve the integrity of your brand. Even a seemingly harmless action like leaving a stockroom door open can create a “visual intrusion” when customers can clearly see all of the stockroom clutter. Or notes and memos about employee policies taped up on the wall in full view of customers. Do customers really need to know that returning late from a break may result in disciplinary action? 

And backstage isn’t just a physical place; it’s also an attitude. We’ve all overheard employees discussing things that have no business being discussed onstage. Customers don’t want to hear employees discussing last night’s keg party or hear employees complaining to each other about their supervisor. Most customers are annoyed when they have to get the attention of an employee whose head is buried in a magazine. Each of these perfectly natural employee behaviors belongs backstage where they don’t interfere with the customer experience.

Here are three questions for you to think about as you consider Lesson #1: 

·       What makes up the physical backstage of your organization?

·       What makes up the “attitudinal” backstage of your organization?

·       What magic or illusion should not be compromised at any time during a customer’s experience with your organization?

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service // 1 Comment »