Page 67 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

48 The Disney Way

that successful, innovative companies define what is important to them and
then communicate those values to their employees. By encouraging everyone
to live those values day to day, a secure, familiar atmosphere arises in which
employees at every level feel comfortable breaking down traditional barriers
and participating in a worthwhile way.
Innovation in terms of service is much of what defines Disney; indeed,
stories of the company’s employees going to great lengths to provide extraor-
dinary service are common. One such story concerns a family that visited
Walt Disney World and stayed at a Disney hotel. The family included three
little girls still young enough to take their teddy bears with them.
At the end of the first day, the family returned to their hotel room.
There, seated around the table, were the three bears with cookies and milk
placed before them. The little girls were delighted, of course, and the follow-
ing evening they urged their parents to hurry back to the hotel. This time,
the three bears were placed sitting up in bed “reading” Mickey Mouse books.
One can imagine the joy this scene evoked in the youngsters. The third eve-
ning, the girls found their bears again at the table, but this time they were
arranged as though playing cards!
The hotel cast member had truly taken to heart Walt’s pronouncement
that “visitors are our guests” and had come up with an innovative way to please
the children and, by extension, their parents. At some shortsighted companies,
management might have objected to spending extra money on cookies and
milk. But at Disney, this welcoming gesture was a natural outgrowth of the
company’s unshakable commitment to customer service.
At Disney, providing innovative service extends into the business process
arena as well. Some years ago, as we were walking through one of the parks,
we noticed a kiosk for the Disney Vacation Club time-share condominiums.
The first surprise came when we approached the kiosk operator; the lack of
pressure was the complete opposite of our previous such experience at Lake
Tahoe. There, after a high-pressure, two-hour sales pitch at a resort on the
top of a mountain, we decided to forget the whole idea.
The Disney approach, we later learned, came about because Michael
Eisner firmly vetoed any high-pressure sales tactics when he permitted the
selling of time-share condominiums. So at Disney, we were told the purchase
price right up front and were asked if we wanted to see the units. When we
declined, the Disney cast member gave us what proved to be an informa-
tive and fun video that allowed us to tour the units at our leisure when we
returned home. After our video tour, we were hooked.