Customer Service IS Rocket Science

A common phrase that gets thrown around by a lot of professional speakers and consultants when it comes to the topic of customer service is that it’s simple and not “rocket science.” And while being nice to people, and saying things like “please” and “thank you” are simple, the fact is that it can be very challenging to consistently deliver a high level of service.

In a recent LinkedIn post, I observed that customer service isn’t rocket science. An old family friend and former Disney cast member, Duncan Dickson, shared a story from a training session he was at with Jim Cunningham at the Disney Institute back in the '90s.

It read, “I clearly remember a session Jim Cunningham was teaching when he used that phrase. A hand from the back of the room shot up. Jim called on the gentleman and he proceeded to disagree with Jim.

He said that he was a rocket scientist with NASA. He said that our concepts (meaning Disney’s) were much more difficult. He said that rocket scientists had a firm set of rules, formulas, & the laws of physics to follow. We had this weird thing we called guests who felt that while Disney guidelines & standards were fine, for everyone else, they were special, and we should alter our processes to fit their desires.”

I know that I wouldn’t want to find myself trying to argue with a NASA rocket scientist, but I found this line of thinking to be very intriguing.

As he said, they have to follow the rules and the laws of physics. Any deviation would cause costly delays or much worse.

In the world of customer service, there is infinitely more room to interpret what a great customer experience would look like. Now, many companies have their guidelines or service principles that they try to follow. But an employee might have several interactions with different customers throughout the day and there’s a good chance each of those interactions will vary depending on the unique situation.

The Complexity of Customer Emotions

Consider the following examples taken from Dennis Snow’s book, Unleashing Excellence.

Two different scenarios take place at a hospital help desk:

• Statement 1: I’m here to see my daughter. She just had a baby. Can you tell me what room Sally Jones is in?
• Statement 2: I’m here to see my daughter. She was just in a car accident. Can you tell me where I can find Sally Jones?

Or, you might be a mortgage broker. During the course of a day, you have an investor who buys and sells houses regularly filling out an application for a loan, followed by a young couple filling out the application for their first home.

In both examples, the processes are the same but the emotional components are VERY different and deserve different behaviors. Sadly, the reality is that many hospitals and bankers will treat those two customers the exact same way.

The Disney Approach to Handling Customer Emotions

When I think back to my time working on Big Thunder Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, I can still picture the wide range of emotions you would encounter on a daily basis.

• Excited Families: People who saved up for years for this trip, trying to squeeze everything in and exhausting the family all day long.
• Joyful Children: Happy, smiling kids skipping through the line.
• Proud Parents: Happy, smiling adults enjoying every second of watching their kids have the time of their lives.
• Too-Cool Teenagers: Middle schoolers and high schoolers who were too cool to be seen having fun at Disney.
• Frustrated Guests: Angry guests who had been waiting in lines all day, with the cost, the crowds, and the heat getting to them.
• Stressed Couples: Couples who are arguing and on the verge of breaking up. Days at Disney can be stressful.
• Disappointed Children: Kids crying because they are too short to go on the ride.
• Angry Parents: Parents mad at us that we wouldn’t let them risk their child’s life for the ride.
• Accident-Prone Guests: Kids crying that they dropped their ice cream cones.
• Impatient Guests: Guests are upset that the Fast Pass lanes (now called Lightning Lanes) move through the lines at a much quicker pace.
• Celebratory Guests: Guests celebrating their birthdays, anniversaries, or a number of other special occasions.

That is a lot of different emotions and encounters throughout the day. And each one of them needs to be handled differently. Working on the attractions, you typically only get a couple of seconds to interact with a guest. I’d say “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” or try to comment something related to their favorite team if they were wearing a hat or shirt with the team on it.

Even at the happiest place on earth, you’d encounter these sad faces regularly for many different reasons. Dealing with kids who were too short for the ride was always a sad moment. We obviously don’t want to cause a meltdown for the child but we want to make sure everyone is safe. In these instances, we would be able to provide them with a future rider pass. So, the next time they come to the park and they’re tall enough to ride the ride, bring that pass with them, and their entire party would get to go right to the front of the line.

If a child dropped their ice cream cone, Disney cast members were empowered to go and get them a new one at no charge.

We weren’t able to connect or even interact with each and every guest but with every cast member on the lookout, we were able to connect with the majority of our guests and have a positive interaction. But it took understanding their unique situation and adjusting our delivery to make sure it was done the right way.

Balancing Standards with Personalization

The challenge in customer service is balancing the need for consistent standards with the desire for personalized service. While rules and guidelines provide a framework for operations, the true art of customer service lies in the ability to adapt and respond to individual customer needs and emotions.

Working at a theme park like the Magic Kingdom was an ideal place to learn adaptability. With a constant flow of guests, you quickly learned to adjust your approach based on each interaction. My parents were adamant that my brother and I work at Disney at some point in our careers. They believed that whether we worked there for a month or twenty years, the lessons learned would be valuable throughout our lives. They were absolutely correct, and that experience has served me well in many different roles over the years.

The Role of Empathy in Customer Service

Empathy is a crucial skill for any customer service professional. Understanding and acknowledging the emotions and needs of customers can transform a standard customer interaction into a memorable experience.

Think back to my earlier examples of the same person walking into a hospital either to see their daughter who just had a baby or got into a car accident. With statement 1, that’s a momentous occasion in someone’s life worthy of celebration. As a hospital, you’d want that team member to share in their joy or at least give a smile and offer of congratulations before giving directions to the room.

Regarding statement 2, the unknown of her daughter’s situation after a car crash is likely rather frightening. A soft tone or expression of comfort or sorrow would go a long way in creating a genuine connection.

Unfortunately,both scenarios are often met with indifference as they look up the room number even though the difference in the emotional context of the two statements requires a vastly different approach in response.

Training for Customer Experience and Continuous Improvement

World-class companies like Disney invest heavily in training their staff to handle a wide range of scenarios and emotions. While most companies give you the basic components of the job during training and contain some wording on what will get you fired, very few take the time to train for customer service.

Along with the skills and company-specific processes that go along with any job, it’s critical that we provide employees with the tools necessary to succeed in helping our customers. Ideally, you want every single team member to deliver a high-quality and consistent experience. It ultimately comes down to your company training to outline exactly what a high-quality customer experience looks like in your business and what actions are needed in order to deliver it consistently.

To give you an idea of the initial training that all Disney World cast members go through as well as the ongoing training they provide, you can read additional articles from Snow & Associates, Inc., here and here.

Recommendations for Excellent Customer Service

1. Prioritize Empathy: Train employees to understand and respond to the emotional needs of customers. Every customer is unique and we need to treat them as an individual rather than just treating them as another transaction.

2. Personalize Interactions: Use the customers’ name or find ways to connect with them based on the information you have available. You might have to adapt your delivery to achieve this based on the customer in front of you, but it will make a difference. I’ve built great relationships with several company reps over the years when they’ve made the effort to personalize their interactions with me. Most center around my love of Florida State football and they made a point to start a conversation after noticing my FSU shirt. Whether they’re also fans or rivals, I love talking college football and it helps build a relationship.

3. Invest in Training: After the initial training for new employees, provide ongoing training and development opportunities focused on customer service skills. When you notice a team member isn’t living up to your company values, take the time to coach. It will pay off in the long run.

While customer service may not involve the rigid laws of physics or complex mathematical equations, it requires a different kind of precision and adaptability. Similar to rocket science, if you are going to be truly successful in delivering a consistent, high-quality customer experience, it demands a deep understanding of complex variables, continuous learning, and a commitment to excellence.

If you would like information on how Snow & Associates, Inc. can help your organization build a culture of service excellence, you can contact us here or email Danny at danny@snowassociates.com.