Toops Scoops: Tips on Agency Management from the Magic Kingdom

Last week I blogged about what your agency has in common with the slick 1960s ad agency on “Mad Men.” This week we're looking at attributes Disneyland shares with your business  — and no, it's not a Mickey Mouse operation run by Dumbo and Goofy. (Sorry: I couldn't resist.)

I'm writing this blog from Anaheim, Calif., home of Disneyland, where I'm attending the 2012 NetVU meeting for Vertafore users. Yesterday's main speaker was Bruce Kimbrell of the Disney Institute, who conducts leadership workshops for all types of businesses, both here and abroad.

Using videos and anecdotal stories from Disney history, Bruce gave an interesting presentation. But as I listened to him go through the list of business attributes Disney considers important, I was struck by how they could be applied to a successful insurance agency.

Disney's “chain of excellence” is made up of four links: leadership excellence, “Cast” (employee) excellence, “Guest” (customer) satisfaction, and financial results/repeat business.

Although leadership is an essential component, success starts with excellent employees. And financial success and repeat business are not the business goal, but the reward for satisfying ”cast” and ”guests” – both of which Disney considers its ”internal clients.”

Of course, your business isn't Disney. But see if you can spot the similarities:

1. Hiring and training young recruits is the future of the business. Disney primarily targets 17-to-25-year-olds as its “cast members.” When hiring, they look for attitude over aptitude since jobs can always be taught. Kimbrell's presentation closed with a video about a Disneyland usher at the “Beauty and the Beast” show who took the time to specially seat a little girl in a wheelchair — and afterward danced with her as she took her first tentative steps out of the wheelchair. Corny? Maybe. But that sort of empathy can't be taught — and is invaluable in creating an unforgettable customer experience.

2. Customer experience is key to success. Before the original Disneyland opened in 1955, Walt recognized that in a business as discretionary as entertainment, top-notch service and the resulting “magical” customer experience was the driver — not the rides or the attractions. From Day 1, Disney prioritized a customer experience based on cleanliness, emotional connection and safety — not the typical experience at amusement parks of the day.

3. People are willing to pay for quality. Admittance to a Disney park is expensive, but people are willing to pay for the high quality of the facility and its employees. “Nobody does it like Disney,” I heard one of the attendees say after the presentation. They must be doing something right: More than 23 million people visit Disneyland every year, with 80 million headed to Walt Disney World in Orlando alone.

4. The business is built on repeat customers. Kimbrell recalled visiting the famous Enchanted Tiki Room in the early 1960s and his mother's response to the animatronic birds that appear to be breathing — a little touch that Walt Disney insisted upon in spite of the expense. She wrote postcards to all her relatives raving about the experience — and brought the family back year after year.

5. Your front line is your bottom line. An Epcot employee working at the pub in the United Kingdom pavilion got repeated customer requests for fish and chips, although the facility wasn't set up to serve food. He kept track of the requests and turned the numbers over to management. Instead of shooting down the idea as impractical, Disney conducted a pilot program and ultimately reconfigured storage space for create a fish and chips shop, which now generates millions in annual revenue.

If you want to work some magic at your agency, you might want to think about how the Disney experience could translate in your own operations.