If you want your organization to not only prevail but thrive you must make the emotional connection with your customers and with your fellow employees.
We all need to remember when we deal with one of our customers, to take the time to make the emotional connection. Products and services can always be duplicated or, at least with enough money, can be replicated to some degree.
The one thing that sets an organization apart from the rest of the world is the emotional connection that they make with their customers.
When I worked at Disney, the letters I received about how great Disney World was, were all related to the emotional connection between a Cast Member and the Guest.
The Disney front line Cast Members make a huge difference in the Guests’ lives in so many ways.
It really is the emotional connection with Disney that keeps their Guests coming back year after year after year. This is the reason that the Disney Vacation Club business is so strong. People want to own a piece of this wonderful place. Did you know that 50 percent of all new Disney Vacation Club sales come from current owners? That alone is a testament to the strength of this “magical” place.
High customer satisfaction scores are not enough to ensure the future. High scores certainly do help keep your customers coming for some period of time . . . but the real reason that people will stay with your organization throughout their entire lifetime is that they have an emotional connection to your place and to your fellow employees who are the people who come to work every day to serve them and to be friends with them.
When people have a strong emotional attachment to something or to someone, they find it very difficult to leave.
This is why I continue to tell you week after week how important it is to treat your customers like family and like friends when you engage with them.
Remember that being just friendly and courteous is not enough. True engagement is when you make them feel special . . . and when you treat them as individuals . . . and when you show total respect for each individual and for children in particular . . . and last, but not least, when you are knowledgeable and you can help them have an excellent experience while they are in your place of business.
When your customers walk away knowing the name of an employee and something about them and when you walk away from an engagement with one of your customers and you know their names or something about them, then you and your team are on the way to developing an emotional attachment.
I read an article recently that ended with the following quote: “It should be obvious. Satisfaction without engagement is a trivial pursuit.”
This is one of the most important things that we must all learn how to do a lot better to ensure that our organizations will not simply prevail, but thrive! . . . Lee
This is great advice adn I will put it to work in my training.