Page 280 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do 261

Do

The teaming, the training, the obsession with “secret service,” and the commu-
nity volunteerism are all keys that have made John Robert’s Spa so successful.
And certainly, attention to detail is apparent throughout the organization. First-
time visitors to John Robert’s are given a white cape instead of the traditional
black cape. Not only do most newcomers feel special with such treatment, but
the employees also take care to turn these first-time guests into lifetime guests.
The industry average for retaining new clientele is 35 percent; at John Robert’s,
it’s nearly 70 percent.
It’s the little things at John Robert’s that people remember—from the
scalp massage to the mini-facials to the jewelry cleaning to the between-visit
bang trimmings—that translate into big returns. To the casual observer or
penny-pinching accountant, greeters may seem like a needless extravagance.
But John told us that their greeters are carefully trained to cross-sell services
and introduce new products. The sale of one or two services a day will cover
the salary of the greeter, but more importantly, the first 5 to 10 seconds in a
salon sets the stage for the entire client experience. As Eric Hammond tells
it, “You can get a haircut down the street for much less. You are coming to
John Robert’s for an experience.”
And that experience is why John Robert’s clients are loyal. They could
easily book their next salon appointments at one of the other 30 salons
within three miles of John Robert’s largest facility and spend about half
what they spend at John Robert’s, but they choose not to. When they can
feel pampered like superstars, why would they go anywhere else? And, in
times of trials and tribulation, as was definitely the case on the afternoon
of September 11, 2001, clients came to their special refuge from the storm.
Many clients didn’t even have an appointment that day. They just wanted to
be where they felt safe and secure and, most of all, to be treated like family.
This place is John Robert’s.

Men’s Wearhouse

Dream

When we first met George Zimmer, who was decked out in a sweater and jeans,
sporting the “permanent” grey beard, and spewing out lines like “Mammals
have the ability to detect authenticity in other mammals” in a gravelly voice,
we could picture him as a distinguished professor of philosophy. But, when you
see him with his employees on the dance floor at one of his annual Christmas