Creating Your Magical Place Where Customers are Happy to Give you Money
May 1st, 2013 // 12:13 pm @ Scott Manning
I’ve spent the last couple days in Disney World and have a few to go. It’s been fun, lots to do and lots to see, my first time here since I was a young kid and as an adult experiencing it has given me many interesting observations.
Everyone says it’s a business and marketing marvel and I’d agree with this based on sheer volume of people even, how they pull off everything they do. All in all when you are used to a bit more private high end resorts and being pampered, it leaves a lot to be desired – but that’s just the exact point I wanted to make here.
Disney knows their customers, knows their market, knows who they are for and why they exist and the exact experience they want to create. It’s about families, about kids, about no down time and no idle time because if you’re down or on idle you sure aren’t spending any money.
I think the most impressive things that I have noticed so far are
– Number of staff, people are everywhere and that means you don’t have to do anything, for example where I’m sitting and typing this at the Grand Floridian Resort there is a person standing at the door to the restaurant literally standing there to open the door for people and help moms with strollers, he washes the door handle and rushes to spray off empty tables and then back to his post. You don’t often have to open your own door here.
– In the pool yesterday where I imagine there are hundreds of pools at all the properties throughout the parks there were people there entertaining children so the parents didn’t have to.
– They do for the most part think of all the little details and that’s important because it’s the little details that matter when you add them all up.
– For the most part they make it very convenient to spend money and to have fun.
Overall though the food is just okay and I suppose there is no way to really manage crowds. Still there is a lot of waiting in line, the entering parks is annoying, but it’s still miraculous.
They do have amazing things that you enjoy without any additional fee such as the light shows, the fireworks, the character and many other things.
At the end of the day, the most powerful thing they have, and they know it, is two things – Mickey Mouse wrapper – everything is better with Mickey. Their entire experience is packaged up and wrapped and a giant mouse bow put on top and so not much else matters, people are there because this is the only place on earth where that Mouse exists and Mickey Mouse waffles taste better because they look like a mouse head, lines don’t matter because Mickey is close by, prices don’t matter because you have the Mouse Factor.
And next, same thing really, is they have created their own world, their own universe, and they have exceptional marketing, you have lived your experience with anticipation before you ever arrive and you have already made up your mind that its going to be spectacular.
The happiest place on earth, they say, and who are you to disagree with that…
Your lessons are simple
1. Pay attention to the details, customers don’t want to work or decide, or figure things out, they want you to lead the way, make it easy, and guide them to give you money
2. You need a wrapper, you need your business to be about something more something bigger than your products and services, say yourself for example. They need something to grab on to that gives them justification for giving you money and that differentiates you from anything and everything else.
3. Finally you need to create a place where You and your customers exist together, your own universe where people want to belong where they have their own language their own experiences their own expectation. This place can be your “community” virtually, your store or events or membership, but you need this place people go that you can create and symbolize around everything you do and how you interact with them.
You embrace these three things in your communicate, marketing, selling, interacting with your customers and you will break through price barriers have people lined up waiting to get into your park and transcend experience of making money to building wealth through your universe, with your customers, wrapped up with all the little things and your overall vision.
And, you should come here to Disney World, experience it all, take it in, there are so many intricacies and every entrepreneur should experience them.
Category : Blog
