Why IT CEOs Should Emulate Walt Disney!

by Paul DiModica

Recently I spent a week in Walt Disney World in Orlando and like many who have visited, I was impressed by the way they manage the entire sales, marketing and service delivery process. In past trips, I observed and appreciated the parks and the service but I never analytically broke down their business model and how it creates a "value add" that is hard to put a price on.

Measuring Customer Success through Multiple Steps of Interaction

Below is a chart that shows the methods companies use to measure their marketing success.

Provided to Paul DiModica under contract.

If you are an IT CEO trying to grow your business, it is important to realize that small changes in your communication can drive huge changes in your revenue capture.

. . . and that’s one reason why Disney is successful . . . it’s the attention to details.

Example 1
When I arrived at my hotel, they met me at the car, directed me to a golf cart, took me to my room and then electronically checked me in at my room without requiring me to go to the front desk.

Example 2
Every night, the manager called my room to give me the next day’s temperature and to ask if there was anything I needed to make my stay better . . . he called every night.

Example 3
When I called for room service, the waiter brought up a toaster with my breakfast order, so I could toast my order the way I wanted it.

Example 4
Whenever I left my hotel room, the housekeeping staff always addressed me by name and said hello.

Disney likes to call their approach “Magic” but it is really just strong attention to detail. As a CEO, do you know your business details? Have you created an environment where each step of your marketing, sales and delivery model have been examined and analyzed for improvement and customer communication options? How does your IT offering affect your prospects and customers before, during and after the sale? How does your IT offering make your buyers "feel"?

One Disney story, often told, is about how many off property park visitors, after a long day of fun, kept forgetting where their cars were parked. Disney employees would find visitors wandering around the park’s huge parking areas late at night confused and bewildered . . . even though all of the lots were numbered and lettered to help visitors find their cars.

So Disney decided to review the parking lot setup issues and came up with a novel approach. They had all parking lot van drivers keep a log book on their shift of the aisles by letter and by number and by time at which they picked up people.  So when tired park visitors went home at night and couldn't remember their car aisle number or letter, all they have to do is check in with the van drivers and tell them what time they came to the park and the drivers can deductively reason where their visitors’ lost car might be.

That’s attention to details.

7 Disney Tips For IT CEOs

Communicating With Your Customers
Like They Are Human

• Marketing - Does your marketing material describe in detail the "experience" of what your buyer will feel after they buy?  IT and software sales are mostly B2B sales, but you are still selling people.
  
  
• Marketing - Does your marketing approach personalize your offering’s value based on the needs of what buyers say they want?
  
  
• Support - Have you developed a written policy on "how" your company team members will communicate with the buyer after he/she buys?
  
  
• Support - What kind of communication do you provide to a client between the execution of the contract and the client installation, training and delivery steps? Do you have a "Let's get ready package" or specific identified steps that continually communicate your value to the new buyer to help them maximize their experience with you?
  
  
• Support - Do your clients get a detailed written checklist of what they are to receive above and beyond hardware, software modules, service delivery  and/or reporting capabilities?
  
  
• Support - Does your senior management follow up with your client without customer prodding to see how the "sale" is going?
  
  
• Support - After the sale is installed or engagement is completed, do you have a planned follow-up discussion with the client to discuss what they got (as compared to what they thought they were going to get) and what your ongoing support process will be with written escalation procedures if they need specific help?

Connecting with your customers means working with them through both their left brain and right brain thinking. Disney focuses on this approach by subliminally massaging your park experience through interactions focused on small details as you move through the pre-sales, sales and post sales transaction steps.

Most IT companies limit their customer interaction to traditional B2B tools assuming there is nothing else needed. To increase client retention, client referrals and top line revenue, analyze each business step your sales process goes through from prospect to contract and beyond and add human right brain communication.

Provided to Paul DiModica under contract.

All buyers are human, even IT buyers -- so treat them so!

Paul R. DiModica
CEO, Value Forward Group
(770) 632-7647
www.valueforward.com

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