In my last article we spoke of VIPs at Disney, and that “VIP” could stand for very individual person as well as very important person. Let’s further this conversation in answering the question, “who is the most important VIP”
There’s a twist to the term “Every Guest a VIP”—the “I” means Individual as well as Important. But there’s another twist, as well. Customers and guests are internal as well as external. Who are internal guests? Those are the individuals we serve that are employees of our organization. One cast member serving another is as important, if not more important, than serving the external customer, because it all tiers up to the eventual guest experience. Let’s look at an example of this.
Let’s suppose I am a CM working the counter of the restaurant at Lottawatta Lodge at Blizzard Beach during lunch time. I’m on the front line, responsible for serving a guest who requests that there be no cheese on her hamburger. So I turn to the cook and request no cheese. Who is the cook serving? Well, ultimately, the cook is serving the guest wanting no cheese. But the cook is also serving me as an internal customer: another CM.
The cook is trying to flip that burger, but in goofing around and acting like some “wannabe juggler,” the spatula falls on the floor. Usually there would be a clean spatula he could grab quickly, but the dishes are piled up so he heads back to the kitchen sink to clean the spatula he has. In the time that takes, the hamburger is overcooked. But the cook had no choice. The staff is short of kitchen help. The manager could come in and help out, but she’s on hold on the phone trying to find out from Casting (HR) why they still haven’t filled the position for the part-time kitchen person.
Casting is on hold with the manager because their computer system is down. In fact, it’s been down several times over the last few weeks, making it increasingly difficult for them to complete the task of hiring a new dishwasher. They’ve been promised that the hardware glitches would be taken care of, but that requires the support of IT.
IT would have had the part available, but in the last calendar year, they purchased so many parts that their budget went over. So in this calendar year there’s been push back in the opposite direction so as not to stock up on those parts. Thus Casting is waiting until a part comes in.
Why did the budget get cut? That’s because a senior head of the organization railed on the IT department for not managing its costs. In part that was justified because IT didn’t effectively manage its supply chain. But the senior head went so far as to create an absolute prohibition on obtaining parts until they were needed.
And why did the senior executive get on IT’s case so badly? There’s a promotion he’s looking for, and he knows he has to have his ducks in a row in order to lock in on that promotion. The VP he reports to considers having a “perfect budget” as a requirement for promotion—no matter what it takes. Last year’s “imperfect” budget was inexusable and caused the exec to miss the promotion.
And why did the vice president not forgive that senior executive for the budget overrun? Because perfection is ultimately what the guest wants.
Well, what the guest wanted was a burger without cheese that wasn’t burned. But that’s what happened … the burger was burned. Oh … it wasn’t burned that badly. Not so bad that the guest thought it would be worth bringing the burger back and waiting even longer. Not so bad that she would write some letter to the VP of Disney. But it was dry. It wasn’t very tasty. Was it enough to keep that guest from ever coming back? Perhaps not. But it didn’t create the “Wow!” that builds an instant repeat visitor relationship either. And she certainly isn’t going to rave about it, or recommend it to others.
Lessons from Lottawatta:
Several important messages leap out of this hypothetical, but very plausible, example:
First, consider the Disney expression, “If you aren’t on the front line, then you are the front line to the front line serving the Guest”. So, in a sense, every Cast Member is a front line employees when it comes to serving others.
Second, great organizations succeed when they flip the traditional organizational pyramid upside down and ask themselves, “What can I do to support those who I work with or who report to me?” When that occurs, a different experience appears—one that could look like the following:
- The cook focuses on how he can anticipate the needs of the individual on the front line serving the guest, rather than doing aerial tricks with kitchen utensils.
- The manager is in the kitchen asking how she could support her staff and then rolling up her costume sleeves to work. She then follows up on the vacant position during an off hour of the day, rather than during the most important hour when she really needs to be in the trenches.
- Casting proactively leaves the manager a voice or e-mail message explaining they were having difficulties completing the hiring of the CM but that they were working on it rather than the manager didn’t have to go and seek a response.
- IT implements better measures to realistically estimate how many parts are needed in order to best meet the needs of all internal departments they serve, rather than simply over estimating and overstocking.
- The senior executive considers how he can better support IT in estimating its budget rather than submitting a budget based on his own need to get a better position.
- Finally, the VP practices leadership by walking around to determine how she could best support the senior executive in eventually assuming a greater role.
Third, my experience has shown me that the biggest obstacle to greater customer service and loyalty is our inability to take care of the employees within our own organization. For instance, during my business seminars, I ask organizations “What it would be like if, for one week, every person within your organization took the time to pay attention to or recognize someone else in your organization. What would your culture be like then? Answers of “fantastic!” and “phenomenal!” are common, along with “we’d be at the top of our customer service game!” In light of what we’ve already learned about customer service, these responses reflect the obvious—if you want to take things to another level, you must take the time to understand people and treat each of them as someone special.
And the best way is to treat them like a VIP. A Very Important Person. A Very Individual Person.
In summary, looking in your own magic mirror, ask the following?
- How do I treat others like a very important person?
- How do I treat others like a very individual person?
- In what way can I formalize opportunities to treat others in a special way?
- How do I pay attention to the 1 percent who really need extraordinary service?
- How do I emphasize the platinum rule in my organization?
- Who are my internal customers? How do I individualize the service I provide to them? Do I understand their basic needs?
The answers to these questions are what makes the magic come alive. So here’s to the magic in your business.
