Disney: Little things keep customers coming back

There’s very little in common between the Walt Disney Co. and Gem Plumbing & Heating Service Inc.
One is a worldwide entertainment giant that, among other things, runs a magic kingdom; the other is a family-operated, Rhode Island-based company that, among other things, fixes toilets.
Still, Gem owners Larry and Anthony Gemma figured they could learn a thing or two about running a business from Disney.
The Gemmas were among more than 175 people from dozens of Rhode Island businesses hoping that a little of that Disney magic would rub off on them at a recent daylong event in which representatives from “the happiest place on Earth” outlined keys to Disney’s success. They insisted those keys can be applied on a smaller scale to local manufacturers, banks, doctor’s offices and plumbers.
“What better company to emulate to be successful?” said Anthony Gemma.
Sponsored by the South Kingstown Chamber of Commerce, presenters from the Orlando-based Disney Institute – which offers professional development to companies worldwide – shared Disney’s leadership, management, loyalty and customer-service secrets.
“Nothing about us is rocket science,” Disney Institute representative Mary Flynn told the gathering at the Sheraton Providence Airport Hotel on June 6. “What we really are good at is taking common sense and turning it into common practice.”
The seminar was filled with Disney terminology: employees became “cast members;” public areas of the theme parks were called “onstage,” areas prohibited to visitors were called “offstage;” souvenirs were referred to as “tangible memories.”
And there was the crucial “guestology,” Disney’s term for the study of visitor’s needs and wants.
Disney has it down to a science, locating things such as gift shops within their parks with psychology and human behavior in mind, and even going so far as to place trash barrels 27 feet apart. Any farther apart and guests will throw trash on the ground, Disney research has shown.
“Most organizations can do the needs and wants,” said Disney Institute presenter Ben Reed. “But sometimes they get a little muddled.”
For example, visitors to the Magic Kingdom will often ask park employees obvious questions such as “What time is the three o’clock parade?”
With some businesses, employees might give a sarcastic or snide answer. Not at Disney. “We train our cast members to dive deep into the question,” Reed said. The visitor might have meant to ask when the parade is passing by that location or where is the best viewing spot. Knowing the true question allows a better response, Reed said.
What are some similar questions asked at your businesses? Reed asked the audience.
A local veterinarian chimed in: “How late is your 24-hour service available?”
Reed asked what it was that person might have really wanted to know.
Are there different rates for a late-night service? the vet responded.
Knowing what the visitor wants and responding to it is critical to Disney’s success. And the same philosophy can be applied to smaller businesses with limited resources, Reed said.
Case in point: When a father in the Magic Kingdom once asked a park employee where he could get a cup of ice for his daughter, the employee pointed him to a food cart, then radioed ahead so the cup was ready when the father arrived.
“Simple, easy and it doesn’t cost a thing to do,” Reed said. “But all those little things add up.”
It’s all about emotions. The Disney presenters told the audience that customers won’t always remember what an employee said or did, but they will remember how an employee or company made them feel.
That’s why, although Disney brochures say the parks open at 9 a.m., the gates usually open 10 minutes earlier – to the delight of those waiting outside.
Flynn drew a comparison to waiting outside her bank for the doors to open one morning. “Imagine how I would have felt if they said, ‘You know what, come on in here,’ ” she said.
It also explains why Disney has a developed a system that helps lost guests track down their cars in Disney’s 12,500-space parking lot. Certain sections of the lot are filled precisely at certain times. The car can be found immediately, if a visitor can pinpoint his or her arrival time.
Reed said Disney doesn’t want a visitor’s departing emotion to be “Disney failed me.”
Flynn said Disney’s definition of customer service is exceeding guest expectation and paying attention to detail.
That attention to detail is illustrated in a series of panels inside Cinderella’s castle in the Magic Kingdom, Flynn said, noting that one panel alone used 350,000 pieces of cut stone and tile with 55 hues of color.
“We could have painted this quicker, cheaper, easier, but why didn’t we?” she said. “Attention to detail and exceeding expectation. It’s really easy to wow people at Disney when they’re there for the first time, but then you start coming back. There are people who have been to our property 20 times who have never seen this.”
They know of what they speak. Disney continues to draw the masses, with Disney-owned attractions filling the top five slots in the 2007 attendance list for U.S. theme parks, according to a report issued by industry consultant Economics Research Associates and industry nonprofit TEA.
“If we create the big wows – the tallest, fastest roller coaster – in six months there’s going to be an even taller, faster roller coaster right next door at our competition,” Reed said. “So we can’t use the big wows to succeed. It has to be those little wows.” •