When it comes to elevating the customer experience, a corporate mission or value statement are not going to make the customer happy, Doug Lipp, former head of training at Disney University, said at Tuesday’s general session at the NACS Show in Las Vegas.
“Platitudes and quotes mean nothing unless you back it up with action,” Lipp said.
Taking cues from his work at Disney, the best-selling author, who’s most recent book is “Disney U: How Disney University Develops the Most Engaged, Loyal and Customer-Centric Employees,” shared what convenience-store operators can adopt when it comes to winning the customer experience.
“Hire the right people, train them right and treat them right,” Lipp said.
Lipp shared several stories in his session, including one from Disneyland where an autistic girl was comforted by a cast member dressed as Snow White after being overwhelmed by the lights and sounds of a princess meet-and-greet. The cast member was able to comfort the girl and make her feel welcome after being uncomfortable and eventually rejoin the princess meet-and-greet.
Lipp said he told the tender story to emphasize the importance of hiring the right people especially when things don’t go as planned.
“I want you to think about what’s going on backstage in your stores, backstage in your office and how that eventually rolls out onstage, whether that stage is in the store, on the internet, over the telephone or however it happens,” he said.
Lipp also discussed workforce challenges after COVID.
“Post COVID is more difficult because people are on edge, and too many organizations don’t train or don’t hire properly and our employees are suffering as are our guests,” he said.
Lipp challenged the audience to think on a macro level about what feelings retailers and their teams are creating amongst themselves and with their guests because “feelings drive decisions,” he said.
“There are so many competitors out there and one of the many ways you can differentiate is to create warm feelings backstage, internally with your team, and onstage with your guests,” he said.
Building a culture of trust can most be shown from “our actions,” Lipp said.
He relayed how the founder of Disney was often seen picking up trash at the theme park.
Borrowing the quote from Walt Disney, “I want Disneyland to be clean enough to eat from the streets,” showed an action that trickled down to other employees, he said.
Lipp challenged the audience members filled with convenience-store operators and managers to think about what their actions are saying.
“You can capture minds with training, but you only capture hearts with your behavior,” he said.
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