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| James Dodkins - Chief Customer Officer BP Group |
Well as it is so often said, it isn’t rocket science. In fact it has to be one of the simplest concepts available in business today – and yet so often missed. It is often so simple it is elegant, so let’s review what Disneys SCO might just be...
Most of us have been there. A car full of screaming kids eager to start their Disney vacation, however trouble is you’ve driven six hours (or flown ten) and frankly the last thing you want to do is fight the car lot. Much better find that quiet hotel room and bar and chill until tomorrow? Not so. This is the kids vacation and they’re going to squeeze every minute out of the long awaited trip to the Magic Kingdom. So what say Disney in this situation? Do they leave you to fight the crowds, get incredibly irritated and leave you with a pile of now prickly family? Well no - they have been there too after all and it is real easy to see it from the customers point of view.
Perhaps the SCO is ‘simply magic’? Not some weird business jargon Mission/Vision but something that talks and causes everyone in the Disney business to ensure they are aligned and delivering to that promise. So how would the SCO ‘simply magic’ work? Let’s review where we are – on the way to the busiest car lot this side of the LA freeway. It is the hottest day this summer the question ¨are we there yet?¨ echoes around yourself, partner and three kids in the car (that’s the average party size to arrive at Disney – five). And yes you are! So you find a spot disembark the kids, look around to size your location and... shut the car doors.
In the ‘rush to the fun’ process Disney discovered that many people lock their keys in the car so right at the start they have on-hand a team of professional locksmiths. They drive through the lot looking for distressed families and unlock their cars – free of charge. Simply Magic. Then there’s the walk to the gates – but wait. Driving through the crowds are golf carts and helpers to steer you towards the nearest ‘magic bus’ with color coded location tags! You probably get the picture and that’s one of the things that makes the Disney performance truly outstanding. The belief that if everything gets itself aligned to the SCO we reduce cost (how much effort do you currently apply to fixing stuff that goes wrong that results in queries and non value added activity?), drive up revenue (how many people would you tell?) and improves customer satisfaction (would you be pleased?).
To coin a phrase, the SCO is a gift that just keeps on giving.
Kindest Regards
James Dodkins
Chief Customer Officer
BP Group
Twitter - @JDodkins
