CX Insights
This week’s insights look a little different for a change. Last week, Kustomer spent the week at Walt Disney World, which was 1) lots of fun and 2) gave us a front and center look at the customer experience. Disney is known for their hospitality, and I approached the trip with that lens. You never know which one of your customers or guests has a massive social media following or writes a CX newsletter!
Just a reminder, I’m a real person:
For some context, I grew up near Disneyland so I went once every few years, but this was my first time staying on a Disney property and going to Disney parks back-to-back days.
Ultimately, Disney crushes it at attention to detail - and that’s been their brand since day one. I knew this from my dad’s stories from working at one of the Disney hotels way back in the day, but I saw this in a whole new way in my own visitor experience. The employee who checked me in drew me a map to my hotel room. The TV said “Welcome Dorman family” when I walked in. The staff around the hotel/convention center were bright and attentive, greeting all guests in the hallways. Staff came to take completed plates of food swiftly. The employee name badges have their hometown listed for a human connection. And of course, the Mickey-shaped waffles are the metaphorical cherry on top.
The Disney design is immersive, too. The parks and hotels are huge and design themes carry throughout the spaces. I sort of forgot I was in Florida (except for the humidity). I didn’t get it when people say they went to “Disney” for their vacation. Now, I do.
Disney also has tons of systems in place to shape the experience - which for me centered around the Disney World app. I didn’t need it a ton, but I was glad my friend encouraged me to download it.
It was helpful to understand the layout of the park and wait times for attractions. Of course, the wait time in the app said it was longer than what the physical sign showed once we got to the attraction - a “surprise and delight” moment built in. But, it only works if it pays off. My colleague timed how long it took from entering the queue to entering the ride car on Guardians of the Galaxy ride to compare, and it was pretty close to the queue time on the physical sign. I also made a dining reservation for my team in advance, and checking in was easy on the app, with the restaurant accommodating a shift in our party size.
The last bit of Disney magic: our team had a mad dash for dessert before the restaurants in Epcot closed, and an employee held off on closing just a moment longer so we could get a last-second gelato order in. He could have held firm to the 9:00 PM closing time, but the extra few minutes of flexibility made for a memorable experience.
Disney’s recipe for success comes down to people and systems (both customer-facing and internal). You need both to deliver a high caliber guest or client experience, and they need to work together to maximize efficacy. Explore how you can use AI to address common guest needs, but don’t forget about employee training and retention efforts.
We work in CX, but we’re all consumers, too. This is a reminder to pay attention to your own experiences. Even if you’re not in the hospitality industry, get inspiration from how they do it, and see how you can apply them to your brand’s CX.
Get ready for BFCM
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We teamed up with some of our partners to produce a playbook to help you prepare for BFCM. In it, you'll learn how to:
- Delight customers and build loyalty
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