Proof of Micro-Interactions

Here's an e-mail I recently got from Mike:

"I am currently in Orlando attending Educause (an education technology show) and decide to try out some of the restaurants up-scale Disney offers at Walt Disney World. Last night I went to their "Flying Fish" restaurant in the Boardwalk area next to Epcot. During the already fantastic meal, the chef came around to all the tables to check in on us and to visit. At one point, he asked if this was my first visit to the Boardwalk and I answered something like "No. we've been here many times but this visit is so much better than the last. That time we got stuck on the Boardwalk in a horrible rain trying to get back to pick up our kids from the Disney Child care facility. We got them, no problem, but along the way I misplaced the cinnamon rolls I had purchased from the bakery as a breakfast treat for the kids for putting up with my wife and I going out to a nice dinner without them. This visit, I might not be with my family, but I sure wasn't going to miss out on the food again!"

He made a joke about me being responsible for bad weather... rain last time and "cold" this time (60 degrees as a high yesterday and the locals were in parkas). Then, he was back to visiting.

About ten minutes later, I was paying the bill and the chef came back with a white paper bag as "a little treat for later." After a "thanks" I headed out. When I got to my hotel, I unwrapped the surprise to find a cinnamon roll and a note: "a little something to warm your morning. Just keep the rain away. -C"

Yes, I know that it was not expensive to have someone add a $4 cinnamon roll to a $80 dinner, but it was done so quickly and with such personalization that I stood stunned thinking about it. Not only was he concerned about my interaction last night, but he made up for my own stupidity a couple of years ago. Disney wasn't even at fault that night... but he tried to correct the wrong in such a classy way.

Will Disney get something out of it? You bet. I'll tell that story as an example of top-notch service whenever I can. I'm sure my wife will be sick of hearing it. I have a talk coming up about changing how a school's Help Desk should refocus their thinking to be an positive service to their constituents. They need to be the folks people want to talk to, not those people have to talk to. This simple Cinnamon Roll story will be at the heart of my example. Many folks will hear how Disney is at the top of my "best service" list.

I'll be back to Disney over and over, but I suspect my Cinnamon Roll will end up being served to hundreds of folks over time who, I hope, will come away with an even more powerful respect and desire for the Disney brand.

I thought you should hear the story. thanks for giving me a framework to tell it to someone who understands the power of a simple action.

Mike"

Do the little things really matter? You tell me.  Thanks Mike for letting me share your tale of a micro-interaction that mattered to you.

Comments

[Adam Kmiec]

Wow, very cool. Great story.

[Jim Hoff]

Yes, the little things. And now Disney gets the benefit of that story being told by Mike to his friends, and by you to all of us. I imagine the challenge is capturing the spirit, thoughtfulness, and even logistical skill that went into that successful micro-interaction and weaving it into the fabric of Disney. (Maybe they do it consistently, maybe they don't. I haven't had much interaction with them lately.)

Regardless, one good micro-interaction is better than none, and two is better than one, and...

[Jason Zipperer]

As a Florida native, I have taken many a trip to Disney World. The most recent trip I took with my wife and two daughters we happened upon the 'Meet the Princesses' room. As my daughters are HUGE fans of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella (respectively) we jumped at the chance. They allow 3 or 4 children in at a time to take individual pictures with each of the princesses there. We happened to be the last of our group, but instead of just shuffling us through to get the next group of kids in, they took the time to take several pictures as well as a big group picture with all 3 princesses there. My daughters were talking about it for weeks.

They won some very loyal fans that day.

[Mike Gerholdt]

Absolutely the little things matter. If this interaction had not been relevant and personal Mike would never re-tell the story. If the chef had just said sorry, handed him a coupon or gift certificate and moved on there would be no story.
If you are going to empower your staff to create stories and engage personally with your customers you can't structure it. Case in point-- I hosted a conference at a Marriott back in May for about 700 people. I returned to that same Marriott two months later for business (no conference) when I checked into my room there was a gift and a note on the bed that thanked me for returning and jokingly asked where my 700 friends were! How great was that! The hotel by the way was the Indianapolis Marriott.

[Michael Leander]

Hi, thank you for sharing. Glad that there are merchants out there whom understand the importance of retention. I have always been under the impression that US marketers were very good at that. But I guess that is just yet another misconception of mine, or?

Mike says that little things matter. I so agree. In fact, that's all you need: little, relevant initiatives to make customers come back for more.

[Pam L]

What Disney does particularly well is that they empower their employees to make these kinds of decisions, without requiring that they go up the chain of command for approval. My husband's company sends people to Disney to learn about this and other things that makes their management unique.

Our own added story -- we have a son who cannot eat gluten or casein. One night, we stood outside Goofy's Cafe (or whatever it's called), the more casual restaurant at the Contemporary Resort. We were examining the menu, trying to figure out if we could feed our son. The hostess stopped by to see if we had questions, and when we told her our dilemma, she sent the chef out to talk to us. He was able to craft a yummy and appropriate meal for our son. Needless to say, we visited that restaurant at least 4 more times during our stay, because all the kids loved it.

[Colin Shaw]

It is these little things that matter. All to often we hear people saying "they can't afford to improve their Customer Experience". They miss the point that most people just want to be treated as if they are a friend with a few kindnesses along the way.