Airlines, Disney World and the Customer Experience
I've been spending a lot of time flying around, and one of the places was to Disney World for my nephew's wedding (which was spectacular, by the way). I was struck by the incredible difference between the air travel experience and the Disney experience from a customer service perspective.
Let's be frank. Airlines don't give a damn about you. I can't think of one thing about the air travel experience that is designed to make the customers feel good about flying that airline. At best, the attitude is "my airline isn't any worse than the others." Whoop-de-do. The rich irony is that I spent my time on the flight reading Secret Service by John R. DiJulius. I wish people from the airlines would read it.
Then there's Disney, who are so maudlin in their client service that it is sort of creepy. It is so over-the-top as to not feel authentic. You know why? Because every person follows the same recipe. Unlike Ritz Hotels or Nordstrom, which empower staff to solve customer problems on their own, Disney uses a recipe formula--systems and training. The scope of their enterprise in Florida is so breath-takingly large that they probably have no choice, and they certainly rank high in customer satisfaction surveys. So far be it from me to question what they do.
In terms of time and thought given to the customer experience, is your law firm an airline or a Disney?
