Aligning Your Customer Experience

Posted on March 07, 2013 by Jeff James, Vice President, Disney Institute
Yesterday’s D’Think Chat on Twitter emphasized the evolving role the customer experience, not just customer service (there is a difference), plays in creating and maintaining a brand’s image through a “people’s voice” style of marketing. That is, the word of mouth stories your customers will tell about their experience with your organization.

Once the importance of creating an exceptional, emotion-inducing experience is understood and a vision has been created, the question becomes, “How do I get my employees to align with the customer experience strategy I envision?” Guest Host, customer experience expert, and Disney Institute facilitator, Stu Levine, shared the importance of training and top-down buy in from leadership.


Echoing that same sentiment in a recent article was Zappos’ Director of Customer Loyalty, Rob Siefker. “Good customer service has to start with the top; it cant just happen on its own. It needs to be who you are and not just a business strategy,” he said.

Share your opinion — How does the customer experience differ from customer service? How are you able to align employees with your vision for the customer experience?


Posted in Quality Service | Tagged Customer Service Techniques, Customer Experience Improvement, Leadership Skills, Customer Retention, Quality Service, Jeff James

2 Responses to Aligning Your Customer Experience

  • Shep says:
    on March 10, 2013

    Great post. First you must hire the right person with the right personality. Then you “train, train, train” them on how to use that personality to fit in and align with the culture.

  • Bob says:
    on March 14, 2013

    Danny Meyer in "Setting the Table" was describing hospitality, but it's also a good starting point on the difference between guest service and guest experience: "Hospitality is present when something is done FOR you and absent when something is done TO you." Great post, Jeff!

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