Exhausted…

That’s how we felt after six days of shifting between Disney’s three theme parks, Universal, and Universal’s Island of Adventure (where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter debuted this year). I don’t want to merely repeat the thoroughly covered subject of Disney’s service excellence. But, I do want to share some observations about the whole theme park experience and its relevance to all service business models and marketing.

For one, there were a lots of similar rides, experiences – clearly a lot of copying going on in this industry of best ideas and similar concepts. In itself that’s certainly not a bad thing. We really had a great time, but there were a few things that stood out.

There was Disney’s queuing system and methodology that has become the standard of how to make 1 hour lines not feel like one hour lines. Everything from a lot of twists and turns peppered with a lot of entertainment along the way. Basically everything and anything possible to distract you from the fact that you are asked to wait an hour or an hour and a half to enjoy the ride.

And here came my question… ‘Why do we wait in line for an experience?’

The obvious answer is because it is a unique experience. It’s something you pay good money to go and participate in and get something out of. But really you paid a substantial sum to get into the park, you pay an incredible sum to eat while you are there, you sweat, your are working, you are walking all over for a series of two minute experiences.

This makes me think of some other situations where people wait for an experience, beyond entertainment. Hmmmm… what about waiting in line in front of an Apple Store? People are waiting for the (they hope) long term utility of a product. But, what gets them on line is the rush of holding the thing, whether the product is an iPod, iPad, or new iPhone (but make sure you hold it the right way- the ‘Steve Jobs Way’).

The rush of just having that moment where an expectation is met can be thrilling (ahem – to certain people – and you know who you are). You’ll pay a nice premium for that. You will sacrifice for it and you will promote and advocate for the product or experience afterward. In fact, you will be thankful for getting the opportunity to have that experience. I think the real lesson here with theme parks and other similar exclusive or ‘work to get in’ kind of experiences is that they have found a way to hit an emotional chord with their target audiences.

I have often observed that in B2B the emotional chord is left out except in some general way, I wonder if that can’t be developed further to make even business services feel more exciting. That is the ‘WOW!!’ factor or the Inspirational factor in I3 Value Proposition (Innovative, Indispensable, Inspirational).

So what is the bottom line?

Find a way to excite your target market and they will work hard to earn the right to purchase your service and they will also work hard to promote your service and move it forward in the market. Easy to do? Not at all. Is it likely that you are going to turn into Disney with people lining up outside your print shop, pizzeria, or business consulting service? Not likely.

But you can turn customers into fans and it starts with a few key things:

Listen to them- really listen!
And by listen I do not mean just asking them questions as it relates to your service. You need to find out what excites them generally. In the category- What are they interested in? As Malcom Gladwell pointed out in The Tipping Point… to become a fad or something viral, to become pervasive… you need to connect with thought leaders and trend setters – early adopters – and understand their overall context.

Understand their context.
You do this by really listening to them. You can listen by speaking with them as real human beings. Listening to them by finding out where they are congregating on line, listen to them by connecting to their interest via Social Media. Not just in connection with a particular decision point (i.e., buying this pencil or not buying this pencil) but not missing the fact that the customer is into art and that’s why they’re buying the pencil. People are not standing in line because they want to be propelled into ‘high g’s’ in massive circular roller coaster, per se’. They want an endorphin rush that comes from an expectation of something exhilarating or exciting and not standard.

Respond
Be willing to invest time, money, or both into taking these lessons learned and putting them into action that reflects that you actually heard them. Respond to them in other words. There is not point in listening and not responding.

Lastly
Make sure everybody in your organization is listening. It has to become a “way of being” for your company and not just top down thing.

Tagged as: Customer Perception, Customer Service, I3, Indispensible, Innovative, Inspirational, Strategy, Value Proposition