News

Doug Lipp, the former head of training at Disney University,  counseled an audience of managers and executives in Dubai on how to win the hearts of their customers by following the Disney model.

Lipp discussed the importance of customer service in UAE and gave his feedback on how to improve it, with simple and strategic plans. The executives were getting a talk by Lipp on the concept of “leadership and service magic”.

He went on to discuss the importance of senior management to be involved in little details and show interest in all aspects of the company and not find any work below their position. Lipp quoted the example of the famous Walt Disney himself who paid attention to detail and worked collectively.

“There is no question in my mind that there is a measurable benefit to what we used to call at Disneyland ‘walking the park’ – to get out and walk the property whether it is a factory, whether it is a store, whether it is a hospital and connect with the staff directly and customers directly.”

That’s something Disney himself was famous for, says Lipp, but today’s CEOs sometimes see some of the operations of their own firms as not being worthy of their time.

“All too often I see leaders with many, many excuses as to why they are too busy to do that and I say to them ‘Walt Disney could walk the park and pick up trash, why can’t you get out of your office or your cubicle and go talk to your staff?’” Lipp says his seminars prove that “the values that I learned at Disney can be utilized by any organization”.

He talked about how the great Disney staff was trained to give free popcorns to kids who dropped their packets, or always being there to facilitate their customers, that made them happy and love the Disney experience. The same can be used by organizations today, who should empower their managers and staff to look after the customers and care for their needs and queries so they enjoy customer loyalty and return.

“I am not against technology, I would just argue that we have to make it as user-friendly as possible,” he says. “Compare an old mobile phone to the iPhones of today – the iPhones are still technology, but they are really much easier to use.” Said Lipp.

Lipp mentioned the use of technology was taking away from the customer experience, since the example of Disney and its staff shows how happy their customers are, then why are organizations shifting to service, such as electronic complains and automated phone calls.  This showed his concern for good customer service to be a balance between technology and human exposure, where the customer feels valued and looked after, finding the experience easy and friendly to use.