Guest Post: 5 Lessons Your Customer Service Team Can Learn From Disney

This week we feature an article by Kritagya Pandey, a content writer at CallCenterHosting. She shares tips and tricks on how to create a Disney-like customer service experience.

Delivering excellent customer service is an art. This era belongs to creating valuable and stellar experiences for the customers. And good customer service is defined as taking that extra step for the customers without being asked.

Remember,

Walt Disney once said, “Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.

Disney can be considered the master of creating magical moments for the customers when it comes to delivering world-class customer experience. In this increasingly competitive global economy, Disney has emerged as a leader in creating lifetime customer relationships.

Customer service is the most important aspect of any business. Understanding your customers and catering to their needs is the foundation of delivering amazing experiences. Here we will discuss some valuable insights that your customer service team can learn from Walt Disney and his methodologies.

1. Always Ask For Customer Feedback

The only way to create a great customer experience is to know people’s opinions about you. Disney understands its customers holistically because it consistently captures customer feedback. The Disney staff goes out in the theme park and seeks for customer reviews before and after they enter the facility. Their survey started with basic demographic information of the customers and moved on to ask what technology they use, what chat features they demand, and so on. Disney also provides an option for in-app feedback and email suggestions to its customers.

What Can Your Customer Service Team Learn From Disney?

• To understand your customers, continuously ask for their feedback.
• Conduct choice-based surveys and open-ended feedback.
• Take regular follow-ups with your customers before and after they purchase a product.

2. Know Your Customers Well

The key to exceptional customer service is knowing your customers well. Disney’s customer service works on the concept of “guestology,” which is the study of their guests. It determines the needs and wants of the customers, and how emotionally inclined they are to Disney. Disney understands the purpose behind customers visiting them, that is during vacations or with friends and family. Thus, knowing your customers helps you in identifying their needs and wants.

Understanding your customers gives you the exact idea of where you should invest your customer service.

What Can Your Customer Service Team Learn From Disney?

• Know what your customers are exactly looking for.
• Understand your customers’ needs and requirements.
• Establish communication channels to facilitate the flow of customer information.

3. Deliver Personalized Services

Personalization keeps your customers connected to the business. When customers feel that they have a personal connection with your brand, they are more likely to buy again and again. Disney has mastered this art of taking an experience meant for millions and personalizing it for an individual. When guests arrive at Disney, they can pick a button that represents why they are celebrating at Disney: birthday, wedding celebration, graduation ceremony, and so on. Disney treats each of its guests differently and serves them with personalized services.

What Can Your Customer Service Team Learn From Disney?

• Establish a one-on-one interaction with the customers to know them better.
• Send personalized thank you messages via mail, SMS or call.
• Pay close attention to each customer’s demands.

4. Define Your Quality Standards

Businesses must define their quality standards. Disney has prioritized its quality standards: that is safety, courtesy, show, and capacity, that help guide their Cast Members through a decision making process. Disney prioritizes its customers and staff’s safety over anything. The quality training to the cast members ensures that adventure guides fully understand the primary service delivery systems. Some delivery systems are aligned with some standards, which are referred to as “headliners.” Most importantly, Disney empowers and equips its employees with the necessary tools to make the right decisions.

What Can Your Customer Service Team Learn From Disney?

• Define the standards that you need to abide by.
• Carefully implement quality standards.
• Put the right guidelines and customer service standards in place.

5. Adopt a Top-Down CX/EX Approach

Regardless of the designation, Disney teaches its employees the purpose, to create happiness; on the first day of training itself. Bruce Jones, Senior Director, Design Institute, said that “When our cast members know their ultimate goal is to create happiness, they are empowered to create magical moments. From our theme park greeters to attendants, every employee makes decisions regarding a guest interaction that is centered on the key theme of ‘creating happiness.”

Leaders at Disney constantly teach their employees about delivering exceptional customer experience and creating magical moments.

What Can Your Customer Service Team Learn From Disney?

• Ingrain customer experience in your company culture.
• Always put customer’s demands, needs, and requirements first.
• Lead your team by empowering them and ensuring they make a difference.

Few more points that your customer service team can stress upon to deliver Disney-alike customer experience-

• Hire the right people
• Create an internal language and customer culture
• Always improve your process
• Keep your team members informed about the products
• Pay close attention to details
• Create a user-friendly mobile app
• Establish an emotional connection with customers

Wrapping Up

Customer experience is the overall interaction a customer has with the brand. Thus, it is essential for businesses to create an omnichannel and strategized customer experience that is available to the customers at every touchpoint.

Disney has always been a leader in delivering remarkable customer service and creating memorable experiences. Thus, businesses must strive hard towards understanding their audience first and then work towards catering to their needs.

Your customer service team can apply the strategies mentioned above in their everyday interaction with the customers. As we have seen, we can draw multiple parallels between Disney and a brand when it comes to delivering customer service. Keeping customer’s needs as the priority is the best strategy any business can adopt.

Kritagya Pandey is a technical as well as a creative content writer at CallCenterHosting, a leading provider of cloud-based solutions. Deeply motivated by arts, she invests her time reading novels, exploring literature and photography.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: How To Get Customers To Pay More