Gather information and plan
With so many moving parts to consider, keeping everything running smoothly is difficult. But Grier and his management team gather copious amounts of information to anticipate any potential bumps in the road and take action to prevent the problem before it occurs.
“The planning aspect is the toughest part of it,” he says. “If we plan well and we train our cast well, then we will be successful. Because of our training and anticipation and knowing our guests, we set ourselves up for success.
“It sounds daunting, but because we have the organization set up so we have information flowing back and forth, it makes it, never easy, but certainly we understand what track we’re on and how well we’re doing.”
In order to craft an effective strategic business plan for the resort, Grier needs to collect as much information as he can. The resort’s managers constantly measure their respective area’s performance. Every detail must be meticulously reported.
“If you are one of my leaders who runs a big line of business, say food and beverage, that leader will know how well the operation did the night before,” Grier says. “Did they achieve their financial goals, did they achieve their efficiency goals, did they achieve their guest service metrics?”
Hotel managers know how many guests to expect on any given day and how many hotel rooms are occupied that day, depending on the time of year. Some of the guest service metrics Disneyland staff record may seem like sweating the small stuff, but knowing your business inside and out makes strategic planning much easier. Those little things also can make the difference between a one-time guest and a repeat customer.
For instance, Disneyland restaurant staff measures how long it takes to seat guests once they have arrived at the location. In another example of the personal touch that Disneyland strives to provide, if a customer made a reservation or used a credit card, restaurant staff is supposed to call the guest by name.
“We build in interactions with our guest and cast,” he says. “It becomes second nature for our cast members. It means a lot to our guests that when they come here that we can really take care of them, and they really have a one-on-one experience. You would say that would be difficult to do with millions of visitors, but that is really what is so important for us — to have these immersive personal experiences with the guests and our cast and the environment we create here.”
Guests who are visiting Disneyland on their birthday can go to the guest relations department and be given a special birthday button. The button tips off Disney employees throughout the resort, and the birthday boy or girl will hear, “Happy birthday; we’re glad you’re here,” quite often. It’s another example of the customer service that has helped Disneyland maintain its status as an American landmark for more than 50 years.
“We put those service standards into place, and it becomes the way our cast members operate,” he says. “All of those little details add up to make a huge difference for your guest experience here. It comes from small things, like interaction with the cast members or seeing one of our spectacular fireworks shows. All of those things are cumulative in effect.”
