Postcards from the Road: Disney’s Chain of Excellence

– By Linda Seelman, director, communications, Lean Six Sigma Operations

I recently visited the happiest place on earth. Okay – it wasn’t all fun in the sun, I attended a conference and learned how hard Disney works to be considered the ultimate family vacation destination.

A presenter from the Disney Institute walked us through Disney’s Chain of Excellence: leadership and cast excellence, guest satisfaction, and financial results and repeat business. Sound familiar? While it may seem funny to imagine calling a Xerox employee “a member of our cast,” and we don’t refer to our customers as “guests,” I identified and found parallels with Disney’s story.

The presenter asked us to throw out suggestions of who we thought of as Disney’s competitors. You guessed it; we shouted out Universal Studios and MGM. But we were wrong. The presented suggested Harley Davidson and a new kitchen. We fell silent and she explained that the discretionary dollar is Disney’s competition – parents ask themselves, “Will we buy Dad’s dream vehicle, remodel the kitchen, or take a family vacation?”

That’s why brand attributes are so important – Disney has to make sure little girls want, no NEED, to visit Cinderella’s castle and little boys absolutely MUST meet Mickey, so a family vacation is a no brainer.

Consider for a moment Xerox’s brand identity, and how our chain of excellence reflects it. While we aren’t trying to create the happiest place on Earth, we are trying to understand customer needs. We transform the way our customers work, managing their business and document processes so they have freedom to focus on what matters most – their real business. If you want a taste of our brand identity, check out our recent global marketing campaign here: RealBusiness.com.

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