Page 218 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Capture the Magic with Storyboards 199

or services. Plan to provide refreshments, a light meal, or a gift
certificate to compensate for their time. We have found that most

people, especially loyal customers, welcome an opportunity to provide
feedback in areas that directly aff ect them.
2. Present a brief overview of the mechanics of storyboarding. Distribute
the supplies to the group: 4 × 6 index cards, blue (or black) and
red water-soluble felt-tip markers, three-quarter-inch blue and red
removable dots, masking and drafting tape for creating the “board.”
(Use masking tape to anchor the top and bottom of 4-foot tape strips
that are placed sticky-side out in rows of 12 to 14 per board.)
3. Ask the group to storyboard, answering the question: “What elements
create your ideal customer experience in the area of _____(fill in your

product or service)?” For example, if you are in the hotel business,
you might ask your customers, “What elements create your ideal hotel
experience?” Explain to them that this step is to really identify what the
ultimate experience should “look like.” Write the question you have

asked on a 4 × 6 index card. This is the “Topic Card.”
4. Once you have collected, read aloud, and posted all the Detail (response)
and Header cards (Figure. 10-1), distribute three “red dots” to each
participant and ask them to place their dots on the three cards that they
consider to be most important.
5. Distribute three “green dots” to each participant and ask them to
place their dots on the three cards that they believe are your strengths,
or things you are doing well
6. Distribute three “blue dots” to each participant and ask them to place
their dots on the three cards that they believe are your weaknesses, or
things you could improve.

In a 60 to 90 minute session, the storyboard will be complete and
you’ll have a snapshot of what really matters to your customers and how
you measure up to their criteria of an “ideal” experience with your orga-
nization. Figure 10-2 is an actual example of a customer feedback story-
board from one of our clients, a residential healthcare facility. 71
It is not uncommon to discover that some of the things that customers
believe you are doing well are unimportant to them. If you discover an obvi-
ous conflict between what you think is important and what the customer
thinks is important, consider this a serious red flag. If you don’t change
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