Guests at Disney's theme parks, resorts and other outlets often comment on three aspects of Disney's service: cleanliness, quality and friendliness. Disney's recognizes that it has an energetic, loyal audience with high expectations. Meeting these expectations require more than just adherence to a policy manual. Disney executive realize that they can't possibly supervise all their employees all the time., so quality must be ingrained in the organization's culture. Quality service becomes a way of life in the company; employees follow the guidelines implicit in the culture. For example, Disney University in Orlando puts new theme park employees through an intensive three day training programme to familiarize them with Disney practices, the company's history, its mission an objectives and its emphasis on quality service. Disney theme park employees routinely converse using the Disney language of "guest", "cast members", "on stage" (working), and "off stage" ( not working).
The emphasis of Disney's approach is simple: make people happy. But beyond that simplicity is a strategy based on hard work, attention to detail and exceeding the customer expectations. Disney's approach to entertain guests can be summarized in four principles taught at Disney University.
Know your customer. Disney maintains guest information in areas such as demographics, evaluation of current marketing strategies, attraction evaluations, payment preferences, sensitivities and the economy. Who then take corrective action to resolve any problems. Disney also hires professionals to attend and evaluate the theme parks.
Empower your employees and treat them with care. Disney provides a positive work environment to make employees happy; happy employees enjoy providing quality service.
Built delivery systems to ensure quality service. Front line employees at Disney's theme parks have the authority to resolve customer problems; customers can ask questions by using telephones placed throughout the park that are connected to a centralised question-and-answer line.
Create a simple service theme that can be understood by everyone. Disney's theme is: "We create happiness by providing the finest in family entertainment."
(Sourced: Dibb, Simkin, William and Ferrell (2001) Marketing Concepts and Strategies, Fourth European Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, USA.
