I’m writing tonight’s blog as I’m sitting on an airplane flying home from Orlando, Florida where I’ve just spent the last several days at a Business Leaders’ conference where I had been asked to speak. It was a great conference to be a part of and it was fun to spend time with some truly amazing people. One thing I really loved about the conference was that we had a really great group discussion on common issues we all faced as business leaders, and we were able to give one another ideas and share things that had worked and not worked for each of us. It’s always so refreshing to hear from people who have gone through similar things you have and hear one another’s advice and input.
Given that the conference was taking place in Orlando, I knew that there was no way I could fly all that way and not spend at least one day at Disneyworld. After all, it’s the happiest place on earth! So Friday night and Saturday I was able to go with my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and some friends to visit the parks. On Saturday we literally spent 17 hours going to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios…we hit all four parks in a single day…
Waking up this morning to fly home, our feet hurt, our legs hurt, our backs hurt, and we are all completely worn out. What makes matters worse for me personally is that when my flight lands late tonight I’ll get just a few hours of sleep before I need to wake up and be back at the airport catching another flight to an event in San Francisco Monday and then I fly back late tomorrow night…what was I thinking wearing myself out like that yesterday?!
I’ll tell you what I was thinking – I was thinking that you cannot fly all the way out to Florida and not go to visit the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH! It’s DISNEY! And all one needs as evidence of Disney’s awesomeness is this – Disney is the only place on the planet where you willingly spend an insane amount of money to be there, you willingly stand in lines for hours on end in the blazing hot sun, you willingly walk and walk and walk and walk until you have blisters on your feet and your entire body aches, and yet when you leave the park you think- that was SO WORTH IT!!!
That is customer service done right. That is providing your customers more than a product or service – it’s providing your customer a FEELING! And THAT is what creates the MAGIC of Disney.
~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )
