Little WOWs

I saw a speaker from Disney this past weekend at our yearly kickoff meeting in Arizona. His message was focused on customer satisfaction and how Disney focuses continuously improving in this area. They have a very high percentage of return customers. If I remember correctly at any given time at Disneyland, over 70+ percent of the people there are return visitors.

They encourage all their "cast" members to deliver little wow experiences every day. They aren't necessarily looking for the big WOW; just a series of little WOWs. He gave some examples; a maintenance worker when asked by a family with young children where the nearest restrooms were led the children in an ad hoc parade, children marching in tow to the nearest WC. Another small example enables Disney customers to have their purchases sent to their rooms so they don't have to carry packages around the park.

The speaker talked about these little WOWs as their secret. People react subtly and positively. He described the physical reaction people have when a little WOW is delivered, a tilt of the head and an upbeat hmm!. They say lots of little WOWs add up to one big WOW. With a high percent of return visitors to their theme parks they are clearly having success with this approach.

I think the little WOW approach is message and approach that we can adapt in our business. That means everyone from our help desk to project managers and supervisors need to look for ways to deliver little WOWs...We are going to try an incorporate this thinking in our teams. This wont be another program of the month but more a way of thinking. We have to encourage one another to think this way and recognize people that do. Should be a fun and rewarding journey.