Now that Spring Break is behind us, my attention is squarely on Summer Vacations! Not just the one coming up in 58 days … not that I’m counting … but of vacations of the past as well.
Which leads me to a story I often tell in my branch experience seminars.
A few years ago I took my family on the obligatory trip to Disney. It was late June and we were “fortunate” enough to catch the park on a record-setting 115-degree day. It was so hot that, during an air-conditioned lunch, my son actually cried, “Please don’t make me go back out to Disney!”
But we had to endure. We had to head back out to the park … because we were on a mission, a mission for my daughter, who, at the time, was obsessed with Sleeping Beauty. The mouse and rides and castle and cartoons were all extra. There was one goal - only one experience that drove us. The trip would not be a success until she met Sleeping Beauty in person! In Sophia's mind, the expectation was this…
But, taken at face value, the details of the trip were more like this. We drove 14 hours to get to Orlando … the last several hours in stifling heat and no A/C (the van’s air died just past the Florida border). After dropping several hundred dollars on tickets, we went straight to the princesses and waited nearly an hour only to learn that Sleeping Beauty apparently didn’t wake up until after noon. With a day that was so hot, our shoes seemed to melt on the asphalt, the park apparently opted to mark-up water to a premium price. My wallet was draining as quickly as my patience.There is a point to all of this that reflects on your bank or credit union.
You don’t measure quality service on your best day.
You measure it at 4:50 on a Friday afternoon.
As service providers, we are ALWAYS on stage. When I interviewed for Disney’s internal ad agency in 2000, I got to see “back stage.” At every entrance to the park is a full-length mirror with the words: Smile, You’re on Stage. And every single cast-member from the janitorial crew, to the gardeners, to Sleeping Beauty herself embraces the concept.
When we finally met Sleeping Beauty, she was magnificent. She had no idea of the National Lampoon-like journey we endured to place Sophia into her lap. But she made it all worthwhile and took as much time with us as we wanted. She was in character and on-point … she made us feel special – like the only guests in the park. This is what we remember from that day at Disney.
In your branches, we don’t know what obstacles stood between our customer’s home and our branch. We don’t know what hardships may have lead to their needing cash or a loan. But we are all on stage! We are all in that flowing pink Sleeping Beauty dress … in character … making our customers feel special – like they’re the only guests in our lobby.
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