netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Customer Relationship Management of Walt Disney Company : The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.[5] Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. in 1929, and became publicity-traded as Walt Disney Productions in 1938. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.
The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.
With a sinking feeling, you realize that last push isn’t going to happen in a hurry.
You are Here: Home :: Apology Research :: Customer Service Case Study
A Case Study in Customer Service
Customer Service and the Walt Disney Company.
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most well known examples of a company succeeding in large measure by applying the principles of customer advocacy and "service recovery"—principles that have become an integral part of Disney’s operations.
Prior to starting his own company, Integrated Loyalty Systems, Jake Poore spent close to 20 years in customer service working on service recovery for the Walt Disney Company in Orlando and Paris entertaining 25-35 million people a year.
According to Jake, "everyone makes mistakes, that's human. But how do you solicit those mistakes and rectify them so that the story is now possibly better than if there were no mistake at all?"
He goes on to explain that "uneventful does not create loyalty, and does not drive return visits or intent to refer new business…. So, how do you find your mistakes?"
Perhaps the worst outcome of all is a situation where mistakes aren't noticed and customers who experience poor service simply walk away without complaining and with no intention to return.
Jake points out that almost 70% of unhappy customers who decide to leave your business don't write letters of complaint. Finding and/or soliciting complaints by being proactive is the key—according to Poore, it's an art.
Finding customers who have complaints (legitimate or exaggerated) provides the best opportunity to fix the problem, retain loyalty and maintain satisfaction. Positive stories about bad experiences are just as important, and occasionally far more important, than positive stories about good experiences—the latter are expected while the former are impressive, more memorable and more likely to get repeated.
"If your customer goes home mad," Jake explains, "it is not only too late, but they will tell many people THEIR STORY." But if you can catch them and correct the error, "now they’re possibly telling YOUR STORY!"
Jake Poore was so successful at customer service while at Disney he went on to start his own company and is now President and Founder of Integrated Loyalty Systems, a consulting firm specializing in service development, process improvement, leadership training and service excellence.
Sitting on a curb with their three children one humid afternoon in October inside Magic Kingdom, the oldest of Walt Disney World's four Orlando theme parks, Jeff Pawlowski and his wife were in a sour mood. Long lines demanded waits of as long as two hours at some rides inside the 47-square-mile fantasy extravaganza, and the lines at the food stalls and restaurants weren't much better. "Today has been the worst," Pawlowski complained. His wife agreed: "Our neighbor came home from Disney on Friday and said there were no lines. We came here on Saturday, and it's not what we expected."
The Pawlowskis aren't alone. Throughout the amusement park industry, long lines, fidgety crowds and high ticket prices continue to rank as the top customer turnoffs. Meanwhile, Disney's theme parks have been particularly hard hit by sliding attendance figures and decreasing revenues. Bob Iger, Walt Disney Co.'s president and COO, told securities analysts on Nov. 20 that the Parks & Resorts division took in $6.4 billion in revenues in the year ended Sept.30, 1 percent less than 2002's $6.5 billion, which was already down 8 percent from 2001. Iger blamed the sluggish performance on lower hotel occupancy rates and a further decline in attendance, which had already fallen 14 percent, to 37.7 million, in 2002, from a peak of 43.2 million in 2000. Analysts say international visitors are staying away, thanks to the flat global economy, rising anti-American sentiment and a continued fear of flying since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ticket prices aren't helping: They've risen 20 percent since 1998, and at $52 per person per day, they're already at the psychological limit of what consumers are willing to spend for the theme park experience, say some analysts. Disney has cut ticket prices by up to 42 percent in some cases this year in an effort to drum up more business. That's stemmed some of the attendance erosion, Disney executives say, but it hasn't done much to the division's operating income, which fell 18 percent in fiscal 2003, to $957 million from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2002.
At the same time, Disney's costs continue to rise: Analysts say insurance premiums have nearly doubled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and health care and pension costs for the company's 54,000 employees in Orlando alone cost the company nearly $250 million in 2003. Analysts also note that capital expenditures for the parks were down significantly in fiscal 2002. That's exactly the cost-conscious environment that prompted Roy Disney, nephew of founder Walt Disney, to refer, in his Nov. 30 letter of resignation from the company's board of directors, to "the timidity of [the company's] investments in our theme park business."
Clearly, the goal for now is to do more with less. And Walt Disney Co. CIO Roger Berry is at the center of that mandate—but not for all the usual reasons. To help Disney usher in what Disney Chairman Michael Eisner has called the company's "digital decade," Berry has been helping to create a risky but cutting-edge technology strategy designed to help Walt Disney World restore the luster of its aging brand, increase efficiencies and boost attendance—as well as the bottom line. Berry's mission: to use Walt Disney World as a test bed for one of corporate America's most ambitious tryouts of the business use of IT convergence—the combination of global positioning satellites, smart sensors, wireless technology and mobile devices, including one that looks like Mickey Mouse himself—to reinvent the customer experience, influence visitor behavior and ease crowding throughout the parks. The goal: to reduce the hassle for visitors to the park by creating a more personalized environment, with IT at the core. "The role of IT is changing," says Berry. "It's not simply an organization that deploys technology, but one that now integrates technology from a lot of different angles to improve the customer experience."
Sitting on a curb with their three children one humid afternoon in October inside Magic Kingdom, the oldest of Walt Disney World's four Orlando theme parks, Jeff Pawlowski and his wife were in a sour mood. Long lines demanded waits of as long as two hours at some rides inside the 47-square-mile fantasy extravaganza, and the lines at the food stalls and restaurants weren't much better. "Today has been the worst," Pawlowski complained. His wife agreed: "Our neighbor came home from Disney on Friday and said there were no lines. We came here on Saturday, and it's not what we expected."
The Pawlowskis aren't alone. Throughout the amusement park industry, long lines, fidgety crowds and high ticket prices continue to rank as the top customer turnoffs. Meanwhile, Disney's theme parks have been particularly hard hit by sliding attendance figures and decreasing revenues. Bob Iger, Walt Disney Co.'s president and COO, told securities analysts on Nov. 20 that the Parks & Resorts division took in $6.4 billion in revenues in the year ended Sept.30, 1 percent less than 2002's $6.5 billion, which was already down 8 percent from 2001. Iger blamed the sluggish performance on lower hotel occupancy rates and a further decline in attendance, which had already fallen 14 percent, to 37.7 million, in 2002, from a peak of 43.2 million in 2000. Analysts say international visitors are staying away, thanks to the flat global economy, rising anti-American sentiment and a continued fear of flying since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ticket prices aren't helping: They've risen 20 percent since 1998, and at $52 per person per day, they're already at the psychological limit of what consumers are willing to spend for the theme park experience, say some analysts. Disney has cut ticket prices by up to 42 percent in some cases this year in an effort to drum up more business. That's stemmed some of the attendance erosion, Disney executives say, but it hasn't done much to the division's operating income, which fell 18 percent in fiscal 2003, to $957 million from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2002.
At the same time, Disney's costs continue to rise: Analysts say insurance premiums have nearly doubled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and health care and pension costs for the company's 54,000 employees in Orlando alone cost the company nearly $250 million in 2003. Analysts also note that capital expenditures for the parks were down significantly in fiscal 2002. That's exactly the cost-conscious environment that prompted Roy Disney, nephew of founder Walt Disney, to refer, in his Nov. 30 letter of resignation from the company's board of directors, to "the timidity of [the company's] investments in our theme park business."
Clearly, the goal for now is to do more with less. And Walt Disney Co. CIO Roger Berry is at the center of that mandate—but not for all the usual reasons. To help Disney usher in what Disney Chairman Michael Eisner has called the company's "digital decade," Berry has been helping to create a risky but cutting-edge technology strategy designed to help Walt Disney World restore the luster of its aging brand, increase efficiencies and boost attendance—as well as the bottom line. Berry's mission: to use Walt Disney World as a test bed for one of corporate America's most ambitious tryouts of the business use of IT convergence—the combination of global positioning satellites, smart sensors, wireless technology and mobile devices, including one that looks like Mickey Mouse himself—to reinvent the customer experience, influence visitor behavior and ease crowding throughout the parks. The goal: to reduce the hassle for visitors to the park by creating a more personalized environment, with IT at the core. "The role of IT is changing," says Berry. "It's not simply an organization that deploys technology, but one that now integrates technology from a lot of different angles to improve the customer experience."
The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.
With a sinking feeling, you realize that last push isn’t going to happen in a hurry.
You are Here: Home :: Apology Research :: Customer Service Case Study
A Case Study in Customer Service
Customer Service and the Walt Disney Company.
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most well known examples of a company succeeding in large measure by applying the principles of customer advocacy and "service recovery"—principles that have become an integral part of Disney’s operations.
Prior to starting his own company, Integrated Loyalty Systems, Jake Poore spent close to 20 years in customer service working on service recovery for the Walt Disney Company in Orlando and Paris entertaining 25-35 million people a year.
According to Jake, "everyone makes mistakes, that's human. But how do you solicit those mistakes and rectify them so that the story is now possibly better than if there were no mistake at all?"
He goes on to explain that "uneventful does not create loyalty, and does not drive return visits or intent to refer new business…. So, how do you find your mistakes?"
Perhaps the worst outcome of all is a situation where mistakes aren't noticed and customers who experience poor service simply walk away without complaining and with no intention to return.
Jake points out that almost 70% of unhappy customers who decide to leave your business don't write letters of complaint. Finding and/or soliciting complaints by being proactive is the key—according to Poore, it's an art.
Finding customers who have complaints (legitimate or exaggerated) provides the best opportunity to fix the problem, retain loyalty and maintain satisfaction. Positive stories about bad experiences are just as important, and occasionally far more important, than positive stories about good experiences—the latter are expected while the former are impressive, more memorable and more likely to get repeated.
"If your customer goes home mad," Jake explains, "it is not only too late, but they will tell many people THEIR STORY." But if you can catch them and correct the error, "now they’re possibly telling YOUR STORY!"
Jake Poore was so successful at customer service while at Disney he went on to start his own company and is now President and Founder of Integrated Loyalty Systems, a consulting firm specializing in service development, process improvement, leadership training and service excellence.
Sitting on a curb with their three children one humid afternoon in October inside Magic Kingdom, the oldest of Walt Disney World's four Orlando theme parks, Jeff Pawlowski and his wife were in a sour mood. Long lines demanded waits of as long as two hours at some rides inside the 47-square-mile fantasy extravaganza, and the lines at the food stalls and restaurants weren't much better. "Today has been the worst," Pawlowski complained. His wife agreed: "Our neighbor came home from Disney on Friday and said there were no lines. We came here on Saturday, and it's not what we expected."
The Pawlowskis aren't alone. Throughout the amusement park industry, long lines, fidgety crowds and high ticket prices continue to rank as the top customer turnoffs. Meanwhile, Disney's theme parks have been particularly hard hit by sliding attendance figures and decreasing revenues. Bob Iger, Walt Disney Co.'s president and COO, told securities analysts on Nov. 20 that the Parks & Resorts division took in $6.4 billion in revenues in the year ended Sept.30, 1 percent less than 2002's $6.5 billion, which was already down 8 percent from 2001. Iger blamed the sluggish performance on lower hotel occupancy rates and a further decline in attendance, which had already fallen 14 percent, to 37.7 million, in 2002, from a peak of 43.2 million in 2000. Analysts say international visitors are staying away, thanks to the flat global economy, rising anti-American sentiment and a continued fear of flying since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ticket prices aren't helping: They've risen 20 percent since 1998, and at $52 per person per day, they're already at the psychological limit of what consumers are willing to spend for the theme park experience, say some analysts. Disney has cut ticket prices by up to 42 percent in some cases this year in an effort to drum up more business. That's stemmed some of the attendance erosion, Disney executives say, but it hasn't done much to the division's operating income, which fell 18 percent in fiscal 2003, to $957 million from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2002.
At the same time, Disney's costs continue to rise: Analysts say insurance premiums have nearly doubled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and health care and pension costs for the company's 54,000 employees in Orlando alone cost the company nearly $250 million in 2003. Analysts also note that capital expenditures for the parks were down significantly in fiscal 2002. That's exactly the cost-conscious environment that prompted Roy Disney, nephew of founder Walt Disney, to refer, in his Nov. 30 letter of resignation from the company's board of directors, to "the timidity of [the company's] investments in our theme park business."
Clearly, the goal for now is to do more with less. And Walt Disney Co. CIO Roger Berry is at the center of that mandate—but not for all the usual reasons. To help Disney usher in what Disney Chairman Michael Eisner has called the company's "digital decade," Berry has been helping to create a risky but cutting-edge technology strategy designed to help Walt Disney World restore the luster of its aging brand, increase efficiencies and boost attendance—as well as the bottom line. Berry's mission: to use Walt Disney World as a test bed for one of corporate America's most ambitious tryouts of the business use of IT convergence—the combination of global positioning satellites, smart sensors, wireless technology and mobile devices, including one that looks like Mickey Mouse himself—to reinvent the customer experience, influence visitor behavior and ease crowding throughout the parks. The goal: to reduce the hassle for visitors to the park by creating a more personalized environment, with IT at the core. "The role of IT is changing," says Berry. "It's not simply an organization that deploys technology, but one that now integrates technology from a lot of different angles to improve the customer experience."
Sitting on a curb with their three children one humid afternoon in October inside Magic Kingdom, the oldest of Walt Disney World's four Orlando theme parks, Jeff Pawlowski and his wife were in a sour mood. Long lines demanded waits of as long as two hours at some rides inside the 47-square-mile fantasy extravaganza, and the lines at the food stalls and restaurants weren't much better. "Today has been the worst," Pawlowski complained. His wife agreed: "Our neighbor came home from Disney on Friday and said there were no lines. We came here on Saturday, and it's not what we expected."
The Pawlowskis aren't alone. Throughout the amusement park industry, long lines, fidgety crowds and high ticket prices continue to rank as the top customer turnoffs. Meanwhile, Disney's theme parks have been particularly hard hit by sliding attendance figures and decreasing revenues. Bob Iger, Walt Disney Co.'s president and COO, told securities analysts on Nov. 20 that the Parks & Resorts division took in $6.4 billion in revenues in the year ended Sept.30, 1 percent less than 2002's $6.5 billion, which was already down 8 percent from 2001. Iger blamed the sluggish performance on lower hotel occupancy rates and a further decline in attendance, which had already fallen 14 percent, to 37.7 million, in 2002, from a peak of 43.2 million in 2000. Analysts say international visitors are staying away, thanks to the flat global economy, rising anti-American sentiment and a continued fear of flying since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ticket prices aren't helping: They've risen 20 percent since 1998, and at $52 per person per day, they're already at the psychological limit of what consumers are willing to spend for the theme park experience, say some analysts. Disney has cut ticket prices by up to 42 percent in some cases this year in an effort to drum up more business. That's stemmed some of the attendance erosion, Disney executives say, but it hasn't done much to the division's operating income, which fell 18 percent in fiscal 2003, to $957 million from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2002.
At the same time, Disney's costs continue to rise: Analysts say insurance premiums have nearly doubled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and health care and pension costs for the company's 54,000 employees in Orlando alone cost the company nearly $250 million in 2003. Analysts also note that capital expenditures for the parks were down significantly in fiscal 2002. That's exactly the cost-conscious environment that prompted Roy Disney, nephew of founder Walt Disney, to refer, in his Nov. 30 letter of resignation from the company's board of directors, to "the timidity of [the company's] investments in our theme park business."
Clearly, the goal for now is to do more with less. And Walt Disney Co. CIO Roger Berry is at the center of that mandate—but not for all the usual reasons. To help Disney usher in what Disney Chairman Michael Eisner has called the company's "digital decade," Berry has been helping to create a risky but cutting-edge technology strategy designed to help Walt Disney World restore the luster of its aging brand, increase efficiencies and boost attendance—as well as the bottom line. Berry's mission: to use Walt Disney World as a test bed for one of corporate America's most ambitious tryouts of the business use of IT convergence—the combination of global positioning satellites, smart sensors, wireless technology and mobile devices, including one that looks like Mickey Mouse himself—to reinvent the customer experience, influence visitor behavior and ease crowding throughout the parks. The goal: to reduce the hassle for visitors to the park by creating a more personalized environment, with IT at the core. "The role of IT is changing," says Berry. "It's not simply an organization that deploys technology, but one that now integrates technology from a lot of different angles to improve the customer experience."
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