There's nothing Mickey Mouse about Disney Enterprises! There is a lot for a remodeler to learn from their systematic approach to wowing the families who visit their world-class theme parks. How do they deliver first rate service when they pay their employees no more than market rate and when most of those employees are young and relatively inexperienced? It's definitely worth reading about. And you'll have a full shelf of books to choose from. I started with "Be Our Guest, Perfecting the Art of Customer Service" from the Disney Institute.

When Walt Disney first discussed the development of a theme park with his wife, she was dismayed because "they are so dirty." But, said Walt, that was exactly why he wanted to create with a new brush. Today, Walt Disney World in Orlando is the largest single-site employer in the US run by a "cast" of 55,000 and open every day of the year.

Underlying the near perfect delivery of service is a strong core ideology. It starts with a service theme which has evolved over the years - "We create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages, everywhere." This theme defines the organization's purpose or mission (creating happiness), communicates an internal message about how it will be delivered (through the finest in entertainment) and creates an image of the organization. What is your service theme?

Writers such as Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence) and Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (Built to Last) have stressed that excellent companies all have powerful service themes well embedded in the organization. But that is not enough to help employees do their daily work and make the myriad decisions needed each day.

Underlying this service theme are four Disney service standards or service values. In prioritized order they are Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency and are meant to be filters to enable staff to judge and prioritize their actions. What are your service standards that will enable your staff to make appropriate decisions to further the client experience?

But how is quality service delivered in such a way that it wows and entertains, and delivers more than the promises? Disney has isolated these three delivery systems - Cast, Setting and Process.
In Disney-speak Cast = employees. Every world class organization delivers through well chosen, well trained and well motivated staff. And no one does it better than Disney. How are you doing?

Setting is Disney-speak for the physical area where your guests (clients) meet you. Or to get more technical, "Setting is the environment in which service is delivered to customers, all of the objects within that environment, and the procedures used to enhance and maintain the service environment and objects." Disney World distinguishes Backstage (no clients) and Onstage (the public areas). Your setting is certainly the jobsite and probably your office. It's the vehicles your folk drive and the tools they use. How are you doing there?

Processes are the policies, tasks and procedures that are used to deliver service. They are critical.

They need to be designed from the client's point of view. If a guest has a complaint, it is a "combustion point" and must be handled before it becomes an "explosion." Great effort is expended at Disney World to anticipate common combustion points and work at preventing them. Standing in long lines was a frequently-heard complaint and there is an entire program designed to reduce upset, allow for visit planning as well as create honest expectations around just this issue. What are your clients' common combustion points? What standard ways do you have to prevent them and to handle them when they arise?

I hope this column sends you scurrying out for a book on the Disney systems. I checked Amazon.com which listed 82 and there were 4 different free lists of favorite Disney business books. There is so much that is fun to read about (did you know Walt Disney started making short films at 18 in his family's garage) and so much that could be adapted creatively to the hairy remodeling process. This column is simply meant to challenge you to get out of your comfort zone and add a little Mickey Mouse to your company.

Back to articles | Home