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What if coming to your business felt a little bit more like coming to Disney World for your customers? In this post today I am going to give you three practices that you can implement to bring a bit more happiness and magic to your customer experience.
#1 – Encourage your employees to “Put on a Show.” In today’s society many employees feel that they need to “be real” and “be themselves” all the time. Explain that working in your business is like being in a play or drama performance. They can be in a bad mood in the break room but once they walk through the door, they are on stage!
Disney World actually has a yellow line at the edge of each break or employee area and every employee no matter what job they hold is reminded that once they cross this line they are on stage, performing for the guests.
#2 – Keep your business clean and professional. This sounds obvious but many employees simply are not trained to understand that a dirty business literally drives customers out the door, never to return. If Disney World has anything to teach us, it is that a sparkling clean experience can be a magical experience!
Does your team know what behavior is appropriate and professional in your business? Is it ok to curse? Is it ok to have their shirt un-tucked? Is it ok for them to be on facebook using their phones? Put all of this in writing and engage your team on how to make your customer’s experience even better.
#3 – Know your customers. Even in a business setting as large as Disney World they find ways to customize your experience. I recently took my wife to Disney World for her birthday and they marked down that it was her birthday when we made our reservation. They gave her a special name tag and that whole day every worker at Disney World wished her a happy birthday using her name! Here are a couple ways you can customize your customer’s experience in your business.
- Pizza Shop – Utilize a POS System like the one we offer our clients “POS on Cloud” and add the “Caller ID” box. When a customer calls in to make an order their name, address and recent orders will all pop up on the screen allowing your employees to customize their experience and process their order quickly.
- Retail Store – Make sure you employees work hard to remember the names of your most faithful customers. Calling them by name is a powerful reminder of how important they are to your business. Also, utilize an eCommerce website synced with your point of sale system to send them automated email offers, like, “Hey Susan, I see you purchased running shoes a few days ago, here are the exercise clothes we have on sale right now and a 10% off coupon just for you!”
- Auto Repair – Create an automated email reminder system and offer to text or call customers when scheduled maintenance is due. You could also send an email the day before to prep them like, “How Changing Your Oil Every 3,000 Miles Could Save You $1.000 or More in Maintenance Fees!”
I hope these short tips will help you make your customer experience more magical this year! What are some of the ways you are personalizing your customer experience? Make a comment below…
James Shepherd
