Little Wows Add Up

 This is the third in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World's Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #3: Little Wows Add Up

Walt Disney World guests often exclaim, "It seems like Disney employees will do anything to make a guest happy!" And while cast members may sometimes do extraordinary things - like arranging for a family to be grand marshals of the parade - cast members are usually extremely busy loading people on rides, scooping ice cream nonstop, sweeping the streets, checking guests into hotels, and so on. While they create "big wows" when they can, the reality is that cast members focus on doing little things that wow, such asking guests where they're from, taking a quick photo for a family, or just smiling sincerely.

While these examples represent genuine acts of kindness, they don't necessarily knock your socks off. But the magic of these little wows is that they add up. As they accumulate over the course of a guest's visit, small yet sincere, personalized actions have a tremendous impact. And when these wowed guests leave at the conclusion of their vacations, they can't wait to come back. And they tell their friends, "Disney employees will do anything to make a guest happy!"

While it can be a daunting task to constantly come up with grandiose gestures that dazzle customers, it's pretty easy to come up with behaviors that cause a customer to simply think, "That was nice." Think of a time when a company's employee remembered something about you, paid attention to your children, or shared some useful information you didn't know about their product. These are all examples of little wows. And while taken individually these actions may seem like no big deal, little wows add up.

So, while the big wows are wonderful (and we should all create them when we can), the real magic is consistently creating little wows.

Questions to consider about Lesson #3:

1. What are some examples of occurrences that have caused one of your customers to literally exclaim, "Wow!"?
2. What are some examples of simple courtesies that prompt smiles and gratitude from your customers?
3. What actions can you take that demonstrate you truly care about the customer's experience with your organization?

To be released this summer!