"Disney Home Services"

How Disney's Former Experience Chief Shows Contractors the Way

December 11, 2024

Picture a hotel lobby in the late '80s….

A young John Formica stands at the front desk, greeting guests with the kind of enthusiasm that makes you wonder if he's secretly mainlining pixie dust. Little does he know, he's about to help transform Disney's hotel business from a mere "place to crash after the parks" into a destination that would make Mickey proud.

Fast forward to this interview, at Service World Expo in Orlando (where else?), John shares the secret sauce that turned Disney's 4 modest hotels into a 29,000-employee hospitality empire. The best part? He's not talking about fancy pools or overpriced room service – he's talking about something much simpler and more powerful: making people feel special.

"People don't remember the hamburgers," John says with a knowing smile. "They remember how you made them feel." And just like that, a room full of HVAC contractors suddenly realizes they've been thinking about customer service all wrong.

Today on Service Business Mastery...

STOP TRYING TO BE THE BEST TECHNICIAN IN TOWN

Start being the company that makes customers feel like VIPs instead.

John Formica reveals how Disney's "plus it by one" philosophy can transform any service business into a customer experience powerhouse.

Watch the interview here (or listen here):

In this issue of the Service Business Mastery newsletter, you’ll discover:

📈 3 Tactics To Implement Right Away

🧠 2 Big Ideas To Think About

🧐 1 Question To Ask Yourself

Let’s achieve mastery:

In partnership with:

This issue of 3-2-1 by Service Business Mastery is thanks to our partners at Rilla. Rilla means the end of ride-alongs. They record your Technician’s service and sales calls so you can coach them on the results.

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Take these, implement them right away:

1️⃣ Create your "plus one" moments - like the appliance tech who quietly vacuums behind the refrigerator while fixing the ice maker, turning a routine repair into a memorable experience.

2️⃣ Structure the experience in three parts: before the sale (proactive communication), during the sale (excellent service), and after the sale (meaningful follow-up).

3️⃣ Train your team to view every customer interaction as "showtime" - you're not just fixing problems, you're creating magical moments that customers will talk about.

Stop being a commodity - when you deliver extraordinary experiences, customers stop shopping on price and start choosing based on relationship.
Culture drives everything - hire for fit over competency, because technical skills can be taught but the right attitude and values must come pre-installed.

Are you building a business that merely provides good service, or are you creating experiences that customers can't help but talk about?

3 Ways To Experience The Full Episode:

▶️ YouTube

📝 The Show Notes