Walt Disney was a fanatical innovator. In the 1940s, Disney created a term that became synonymous with improvement and enhancement – “plussing.” He was obsessed with plussing the customer experience.
In Pat Williams’ book, “How to Be Like Walt,” plussing means to give your customers more than they paid for, more than they expect, and more than you have to give them. Disney applied plussing to his movies, theme parks, and even scooping ice cream. When Disney visited theme parks, he occasionally would help serve guests. According to one employee, when Disney scooped ice cream for guests, he always gave the biggest scoops. He would do more and give more to exceed expectations throughout the entire experience.
Are You Plussing Your Customer Experience?
Too often, salespeople (and companies) look for shortcuts and ways to do the bare minimum. Companies create a mediocre experience to barely satisfy their customers’ basic needs.
It seems today’s goal is to do just enough to avoid customer complaints. What kind of service is that?
Another common service mantra is to “under-promise and over-deliver.” This phrase is one of the most damaging cliches in business. The insidious problem with under-promising is that, eventually, you are going to live down to the promises you make. You end up giving less because you’ve always promised less.
Today’s customer service benchmark is a mediocrity. Customers are frustrated, employees are frustrated, and the overall customer service experience is suffering. But there is hope. This new mediocre benchmark has created an opportunity. With service dwindling, it’s easier to stand out and shine in this dim service world.
In “Value-Added Selling,” the term plussing is called “tinkering.” Tinkering is about tweaking and improving the customer experience. Tinkering requires an insatiable desire to improve. Tinkering means you step outside your comfort zone and explore new ways to create value for the customer.
From Disney’s perspective, plussing included subtracting. He was ruthless in the editing room and walking the park. He unapologetically cut parts of movie plots and areas of the theme park. He understood intuitively that you can do more with less. How can your company do more with less? How can you reduce touch points in your experience? Do more of that which adds value and less of that which adds little or no value. Cost without value diminishes you in the marketplace.
You can only tinker if you challenge yourself. Disney looked for ways to improve. And if
his desired outcome wasn’t possible with the current technology, Disney created it. He did so with stereophonic sound and the multiplane camera. Disney is responsible for several advancements in filmmaking and theme parks – all stemming from his desire to improve.
I’ll often facilitate brainstorming sessions on improving the customer experience. I’m always shocked at how often business leaders scoff at employee suggestions, claiming their ideas are not possible. Impossible is often a convenient excuse to avoid change that is painful, capital intense, and risky. Be willing to take risks to improve – invest to grow.
It’s critical to invest time and money to enhance your customer experience. From my experience, Disney will make it right. Our family has visited Disney World on several occasions. On the rare occasion we experienced a service failure, Disney made it right. Disney solved the problem. How does your company fix issues in the customer experience?
Analyze your end-to-end customer experience to identify improvement opportunities. Look for the cracks throughout your experience.
Embrace a simple technique called a failure analysis. A failure analysis is getting to the root cause of the issue. One way to get there is to ask the question, “Why? Why did this happen?” Ask “why” at least five times. Asking five times will get you to the root cause.
Fixing customer issues generates more loyalty. In John A. Goodman’s “Strategic Customer Service,” he found that customers are 30 percent more loyal after you successfully resolve the customer complaint. “Plus” the experience by fixing the failure.
From Disney’s perspective, plussing included subtracting. He was ruthless in the editing room and walking the park. He unapologetically cut parts of movie plots and areas of the theme park. He understood intuitively that you can do more with less. How can your company do more with less? How can you reduce touch points in your experience? Do more of that which adds value and less of that which adds little or no value. Cost without value diminishes you in the marketplace.
Disney famously said, “Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in this world.” Imagine the power of applying that same ideal to your customer experience. New years often are filled with new resolutions. As you begin this year, tinker with your solution. Find a way to give more, serve more, and solve more problems. Focus on making a difference in your customers’ business.
Paul Reilly is a speaker, sales trainer, author of Selling Through Tough Times (McGraw-Hill, 2021), coauthor of Value-Added Selling, fourth edition (McGraw-Hill, 2018), and host of The Q and A Sales Podcast. For additional information on Reilly’s keynote presentations and seminars, call 636.778.0175 or email paul@reillysalestraining.com. Visit toughtimer.com and complete the 30-Day Tough-Timer Challenge.