I love visiting Disney World. Over the years the thing that has amazed me is the amount of construction and renovation that occurs. It’s all the time.
This could be a real negative. After all, it’s an expensive visit. But, the construction is not a secret. It’s far from it.
Disney World goes out of it’s way to let you know when a pool is closed, part of a hotel is being renovated, when a ride is unavailable. They use every available means to do this. It starts with their website, follow up emails, letters in the mail, signs at the construction site.
But this visit was fun. I experienced a whole new level of notification.
I recently stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and there was construction. I’m not gonna lie, the view on the ground level was of a construction fence with a painted mural. Would I rather have had a landscaped view? Absolutely! But, it was better than a plain plywood fence.
The construction machines made noise, but… Never outside the posted hours. It was everything that was mentioned in the previous communication, no surprises.
Here’s where they went above and beyond. Upon arrival to the room there was a nice card on the table by the TV. You couldn’t miss it. It said, “Pardon Our Pixie Dust” and inside there were three pins of Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Chip & Dale in a construction theme.
The gift set was something that welcomed you, thanked you, and surprised you. It is a quality set that you can’t buy in the park. “Pin Traders” – people that buy the Disney themed pins and trade theme, wow, they’d love this gift set! It is special.
I chose to stay at the hotel. I knew there would be construction because it was on the website. I did get the email about the construction. There was even a follow up letter by snail mail. But walking into the room with the surprise gift, that was a nice touch.
Try this!!! If you’ve got something going on that affects your product/service. It can even be before they get to your business. Is there road construction? Make your customers aware of it before they arrive. Then… surprise them!
For example, let’s say someone hypothetically drove your rental pontoon boat under the bridge marked “low clearance” and tore off the canopy and there’s no time to get a new one before the next day’s rental… After you call your next day renters with the news of no canopy, surprise them with a cooler of soda and chips… It can go a long way! (Hypothetically of course… Haha – it did happen)
