Customer service in schools? Don't let data guide you.

Customer service is not a program. It is not an initiative. It is not the technology you use. It is not something you do.

And please, whatever you do, don't let data lead the way. For many years the number one question asked by guests at the Magic Kingdom, according to data, was, "What time does the 3 o'clock parade start?"

Imagine if Walt Disney World had spent an inordinate amount of time seeking ways to ensure the guests understood that the 3 o'clock parade began at 3 o'clock. It would not have minimized the question and Disney would have been dumbfounded because the data told them this was the problem. (See point 3 below for the answer)

Too many schools work from the outside-in. They launch initiatives to offset parent problems or an influx of calls. They purchase new technology in order to make it easier for parents to connect with the schools. And, they gather data that tells them how many parents are complaining about X, Y, or Z so they can then work to alleviate X, Y, or Z.

Over time the band-aid approach of initiatives fails and schools are left to wonder why. So, they move on to purchase new technology or reassess the data and the pattern begins again.

Where are they going wrong?

1. Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Psychologist, and TED speaker, says that "how you say something is more important than what you say."

Walt Disney World understands that customer service (guest experience) must be a culture -- not a program nor an initiative. And, technology must serve the guest experience culture and bring value to it. And, data? Well, data is used properly to help Walt Disney World identify pain points and delight opportunities. You see, customer service is not an effort to overcome a bad experience. It is also an opportunity to build experiences that continually delight the customer and build loyalty.

More importantly, Walt Disney World understands that how you say something carries more weight than what you say. But, when HOW and WHAT merge together seamlessly and both are done properly, delight is the result.

2. If schools truly want to serve their students then they must move beyond the idea of initiatives and programs. They must place technology and data where they belong. They must, I repeat, must move toward a culture of service that permeates the school.

My oldest son started his college experience in a class designed to assist new students with the college experience and, hopefully, lead to better retention of students. His professor, on the first day of class, spent much of the time sharing how much he cared about them and wanted them to succeed. "I am here for you this semester to make sure you have a great experience," is what he told them. One week later he was gone, replaced by a new professor who repeated the same content. Why? Because it was an initiative of the university and for those who led it, they had their script to follow but their heart was not in it.

Another professor of his that same semester went about her duties of teaching and guiding the students, answering their questions, encouraging them, and working to inspire them. When she would see my son on campus, she would walk over and ask him how he was doing and how his other classes were going. She didn't need to tell him how much she cared but when she said it, he knew she meant it. For her, it was not a program nor a script. It is who she is, not what she does.

Three years later when she sees him she still inquires about his well-being.

3. Back to the 3 o'clock parade. Disney understood that the real question being asked was somewhere below the surface. The data did not guide them, rather it assisted them because they kept it where it needed to stay -- in a support role. Once they uncovered the real question being asked, they then built it into their culture of how to answer it (how you say something). (If you want to know what they did, shoot me an email - houston@figment-consulting.com)

When a student says something improper in a school that has a customer-service culture, they understand the real issue might lie below the surface. And, they are trained to look for it, be open to it, and how to probe for it.

It has a completely different feel to it.

Start with these three tenets and you can begin to build a customer service culture in your school -- one that will last and one that will radically improve the relationships you desire with your students and parents.

houston@figment-consulting.com

7 lessons learned from leading a Sweepstakes campaign

A few years ago I had the opportunity to bring together K12, Inc., Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (specifically working with Disney Youth Programs) for a Giveaway campaign that I titled Rhythm of Conservation.

With Earth Day arriving tomorrow I thought it might be helpful to share some insights I had in leading a national giveaway campaign that was inspired by Earth Day and World Oceans Day.

The ultimate goal: Leads for K12 virtual schools in 32 states across the country

Below are 7 lessons or takeaways from my experience that I hope can be of help to you if you are considering a sweepstakes/giveaway or find yourself launching one right now.

Find a professional firm to handle the legal side

I worked with Ventura Associates (www.sweepspros.com) to help me take care of the legalities and ensure that everything we did was in line with standards and laws. There are other firms out there who do the same thing as Ventura but I would definitely recommend them for your consideration.

Whoever you select, having a firm like Ventura at your side is reassuring and well worth the investment. Trying to navigate each and every state law associated with sweepstakes or giveaways would be maddening. I simply turned this part over to them and allowed them to do what they do best, and they did.

Think inside the box

Creatively we all like to "think outside the box" but I quickly realized how many parameters were in place when it comes to sweepstakes/giveaways. Many of my initial desires had to be refined to fit within the legal fence. At first this felt restricting until I happened to mention to my team in a meeting that it "felt like we were being boxed in so we just have to think inside the box this time."

By accepting this the creativity began to flow, and Rhythm of Conservation was born. Sometimes the fence around us can actually force us to be more creative. My friend Michael Milchalko, in his book Thinkertoys, describes this as Brute Force. The legal parameters, or box, forced me to be creative in a completely new way.

So, don't fight the structure and legal associated with sweepstakes/giveaways, embrace them instead and see how it drives your creativity.

Make the Grand Prize grand

My desire from the beginning was to bring Disney into the fold for this campaign. Simply having their name attached to the campaign brought further credibility, awareness, and entries. While we had secondary prizes to entice more entries (one Grand Prize most often means less entries), I wanted a Grand Prize that fit the motif of the campaign at Walt Disney World.

A 4-day/3-night stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge with Savannah View fit the Grand Prize naturally

and nicely. It was also Grand enough to warrant a strong giveaway enticement. Making the award for a family of four with two Disney Youth Education passes helped diminish unqualified entries (to a certain degree). Also, part of the prize was a 4-day Park Hopper pass for each individual. Disney's Animal Kingdom is an AZA-accredited member so that was an added bonus.

It also fit my goal of having each component of the giveaway synchronize with the theme of conservation.

One note here -- when working with Disney, when the lawyers become involved build in time for delays. My good friends at Disney Youth Programs helped me maneuver through this web in a timely fashion and ensure we maintained Disney standards, but there were times of concern along the way.

Partnerships must be real partnerships

I mentioned earlier that the campaign brought together K12, Inc., AZA, and Disney Youth Programs. It was important to me that, although the prime goal was leads for K12, that each participant would benefit from this campaign.

AZA was able to gain commitments from over 110 zoos and aquariums across the 32 states, and Disney Youth was instrumental in helping me secure Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge as the grand prize (4 days / 3 nights).

AZA members were tasked with promoting the Rhythm campaign across their social channels before and during the 75-day campaign. In addition, they placed signage within their parks promoting the campaign to drive people to their zoos and aquariums.

My goal was to drive people to our online entry form and drive them to the participating zoos and aquariums on Earth Day and World Oceans Day. I did this by having the signage mentioned above carry a text entry option that was the equivalent of 5 additional entries.

As we collected entries, Disney Youth Programs had the opportunity to promote their educational programs to the collected leads. And, we each did cross-promotion on social media to promote the campaign.

One final area, and one I was most excited about, was the way in which the essence of the campaign was shared. It was after all, Rhythm of Conservation, and promoting conservation efforts was of prime importance to me. So, we continually promoted member zoos and aquarium conservation efforts on our social pages. And, I worked with AZA to develop a conservation initiative tied to the entry form page.

When a person arrived at the entry page, they could enter of course. Also, while they were there they would also be introduced each day to a new animal that AZA had selected to showcase. Each animal was an endangered one. A family could see a photo of the animal, learn about it briefly, and learn about ongoing conservation efforts for each animal. This was a wonderful addition because a person could enter once each day which meant a great return base of families. Our tracking of the landing page showed that people spent

an average of 2+ minutes on the page whereas it would have only taken seconds to fill in the form. This meant they spent time on the page learning about the endangered animals, using the K12 lessons, and simply reading the content.

In addition, K12 had some interactive portions of their science lessons on the landing page that allowed families to learn more about conservation, animal science, biology, and earth science.

The overall result of Rhythm of Conservation was 12,000+ unique, qualified leads at a cost of $10 per lead.

The zoo and aquarium social media posts, on-site signage advertising, and the extra effort each one did for the campaign was the equivalent of over $3 million in advertising for the campaign. Not bad on a $120,00 budget.

Example:

http://www.houstonzoo.org/rhythm-of-conservation/

https://www.facebook.com/memphiszoo/posts/411826888827470

https://www.aza.org/PressRoom/detail.aspx?id=25295

Consider entry form first before creative concept

One of the issues I ran into early on was the entry form itself. K12, Inc. served students in grades K - 12 and this meant I was aiming for a targeted group. Singles, families without kids, and the empty nesters were not a target, however, they would see the campaign, and could enter if they so desired.

Also, you have the professional sweepstakers as I called them. These are people who have web sites and social sites dedicated to all the sweepstakes and giveaways available. Then, add to it the Disney connection and it had the potential to be a lot of unqualified leads.

I had estimated a 12%-15% throwaway based on research and opinion but felt it was worth the effort if I could achieve a per lead cost of less than $20.

This relates to the entry form because this was my one area to limit the unqualified entries. How could I design the entry form in order to better target the families with children?

The reason I say start with the entry form before the creative is it falls into the legal side of the equation. Once you have the structure in place (legal) and the entry form (in terms of function and selection), then you can turn your attention to the creative and strategy in a more orderly fashion. I felt the entry form delayed and hindered the creative and wished I had started there first -- get it out of the way, then have fun with the rest of it.

By the way, the unqualified leads came in at 16% so it was slightly above my estimation but still acceptable.

Internal communication is critical

One area I fell short on was internally, connecting it across the country to the K12 schools and marketing representatives. Looking back I had a plan for the internal side of the campaign -- communication and follow up -- but fell short on the execution stage. This is a part I would pay more attention to if I had a do-over.

Lead-up communication, buy-in, and communication throughout your campaign to all of your fellow employees is critical. Spend as much time on it as you do on the external.

Make it all fit together

I chose the theme Rhythm of Conservation and went all out with the alignment of assets to fit this theme.

1. Assets had a New Orleans and Mardi Gras look and feel to them to bring in the rhythm section.

2. As mentioned previously we focused heavily on the conservation education on the landing page. We also did this with our Rhythm Facebook posts, continually linking to participating zoos and aquariums and sharing their conservation efforts with our new Facebook fans.

3. The Grand Prize tied into the conservation theme as I shared above.

4. Even secondary prizes connected with the conservation theme. The NOOK had pre-loaded conservation apps.

5. Our messaging and content carried the jazzy vibe of New Orleans

In the end, I tried to build a cohesive campaign where all the pieces fit together and made sense. I would encourage you to do the same -- when you develop your theme, consider all aspects of the campaign and how they either naturally fit the theme (Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge), or how can you make them fit the theme (pre-loaded science apps on the NOOK)?

Hope this is of help to you. Feel free to share your thoughts and comments, and reach out if you have any specific questions.

houston@figment-consulting.com

FIGMENT Consulting
Data driven. Imagination crafted.

A story to tell

"This way please and you can enter to see Mickey Mouse," said the Disney Cast Member. My wife and I, along with our youngest walked with several other families, turned the corner and entered the room to see Mickey himself standing there.

Everyone in line was exhausted after standing in line waiting to enter for well over 20 minutes. Adding to the exhaustion it was approaching midnight as we turned the corner because we were all there for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World -- a ticketed event that starts at 7 p.m. and ends at midnight.

We were third in line but the room was quiet enough and secluded enough where you could hear Mickey visiting with the guests who had come to see him.

The first family made their way over, their little boy strolled up to Mickey, handed him his autograph book and then they each posed for photos. The two Cast Members (one an assistant and the other a photographer) played their roles very well, staying in character, and adding to the show.

Next, just in front of us, was a man in a motorized scooter and his son, who had to be at least 15 years old. I could easily tell that his son had some sort of mental disability, and my guess was autism. But, when his son approached Mickey, he clearly thought he was with THE Mickey Mouse -- there was no doubt in his mind this was the real Mickey. He hugged him over and over. They visited with each other and he continually whispered something in Mickey's ear to which Mickey responded each time with encouragement, to the young boy's delight.

In what normally takes a minute, two at the most, to move through, grab a photo, and then move on, took almost five minutes. The boy did not want to leave, and the Cast Members, along with Mickey, did not want to interrupt what was clearly a special moment occurring.

For us, and the rest of the families in line witnessing this moment, it was something that seemed to cause time to stand still. None of us said a word, made a sound, or even moved. We all simply watched with amazement at what was transpiring between Mickey Mouse and this young boy.

At last, his father edged out of his scooter, called his son, walked over to him and guided him away from Mickey. All the while the boy kept his eyes on the one person he had come to see. And, as they departed, we all took a brief moment to collect ourselves before taking our turn with Mickey.

When we exited, all my wife and I could say to each other was, "Wow, that was amazing."

Fast forward 30 minutes and we are across Town Square at the Magic Kingdom and I am waiting on our other children to join us at the Christmas tree as my wife takes our youngest daughter to the restroom. Approaching me on his scooter is the boy's father, and he comes to a stop just a foot away from me.

"You are the father of the young boy who just visited Mickey aren't you?" I asked him.

"Yes, I am," he said in a hesitant manner.

"I cannot tell you how much of a privilege it was to be a part of what we just witnessed in there," I told him.

Relief seemed to come over his face, and he grinned from ear-to-ear. "Thank you," he said. "My son has autism and he lives for that, for meeting Mickey Mouse. He absolutely adores Mickey."

"Well, it was evident to my wife and I that was the case. Again, we were just glad to be part of it," I said.

"You know, most of the time, people get frustrated at us, and even make comments about us taking too long," he answered. "But they don't know our story and why it is so important to him. I mean, he has written stories about Mickey and wants to work for Disney when he grows up. When he meets Mickey, he believes he is talking to a real Mickey Mouse, and that's why he whispers in his ear all the time."

"Tell your son to dream big and we look forward to the day when he greets us as a Cast Member," I told his father, seeking some way to encourage him for a brief moment.

"Thank you, I will," he said. And then he drove off.

I wish I could say that I responded like this every time I have had the opportunity, but I haven't. However, my interaction with this man reminded me, reaffirmed to me that each family has a story to tell.

So often though, others won't take the time to listen.

During this time of year, be a listener. There are families around you, people close to you, strangers among you, and each one has a story to tell. The question is, who will listen?


houston@figment-consulting.com

My office is EPCOT

Thanksgiving is a mere two days away. Today I find myself sitting across from my namesake Journey Into Imagination with Figment conducting executive coaching calls, re-imagining virtual schools, and helping a new client develop a customer-centered culture -- and doing it all while I listen to the EPCOT music overhead, watch people pour into the Figment attraction, and enjoy the reason why I started my own firm over two years ago.

I am in Florida for over a month working on a special Mouse-related project along with my normal consulting efforts. Today though I have the privilege of working from EPCOT, because today this is my office.

Two years ago I chose myself, as Seth Godin would say, because I grew tired of the corporate life and became disillusioned with the evolution of K12. Since then I have had the honor of working with some wonderful clients who are out to truly "do virtual right." They too are weary of the current model, and desiring of something far greater. Those are the types of virtual schools and companies I want to do business with -- ones that want to make a difference, a real difference.

The fun thing about being a consultant is you also get to choose your clients. Oh, I know most would say the client chooses you, and that is true to a point. However, you also get to choose your clients. You determine who you are willing to work with, and who you are not. The selection process is a two-way street, and by seeing it that way it actually increases your potential.

Since leaving K12 I have become wealthy in ways far more than mere financial wealth, though that too has increased dramatically.

The wealth of freedom.

The wealth of independence.

The wealth of doing the work that matters.

The wealth of making a difference.

The wealth of working with clients who are remarkable.

The wealth of providing a service that is appreciated.

The wealth of having my family with me for this journey.

The wealth of being there for my children, and not missing anything in their lives.

The wealth of relocating by choice.

Today my office is EPCOT. The beauty of it all though is that tomorrow my office is wherever I want it to be. And for that, I am grateful.

Now, I have an hour until my next call -- perhaps it is time to experience Journey Into Imagination with Figment.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Personalized learning

There is a difference between personalized and individualized.

Main Street in Magic Kingdom is the same Main Street for every individual who walks the path. Yet, for each guest on Main Street there is an opportunity for the walk to be a personalized experience.

When virtual schools grasp this difference and begin to truly focus on personalizing not just the academic adventure but also the learning experience overall, then the true journey of education can begin for each individual.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Bad customer service . . .

. . . doesn't really have to be bad, just not good enough.

. . . is not the opposite of great customer service.

. . . can simply be mediocre.

. . . is found more in the details than one would imagine.

. . . can be more about attitude than action.

. . . can overcome good intentions.

. . . can offset beautiful marketing.

. . . by one can intrude on good service from others.

. . . can easily invade the company culture and spread quickly.

. . . should not be accepted (not just by the customer, but by the company).

houston@figment-consulting.com

Caring for Customers

Comcast, TimeWarner and AT&T do a poor job of caring for their customers. They talk the talk but fail to walk it. If their customers had a true alternative they would leave in droves.

On the other hand, companies such as Life is Good, Hoot Suite, Squidoo, and Walt Disney World understand what it means to care -- to walk the talk is more important than the talk itself.

In today's world it is much easier for customers to share their experiences, go behind the curtain and see whether or not the walk is consistent and true to the talk, in short, authentic.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Think outside the box.

Think outside the box has come to symbolize the point in the conversation when people are going to think creatively. As if prior to that point everyone has been thinking inside the box.

Who brought the box to the meeting? Whose box is it? Do we each have our own box? Is my box different than yours?

What if we threw the box away? What if we never had the box in the first place?

Let's quit placing parameters on ourselves and embrace the concept that if you can think, then you can think creatively.

Open your mind to the possibilities and understand that you don't have to come up with a great idea, just come up with any idea. Ideas tend to breed other ideas. Once they start growing then you have the potential to develop one, or two, or three, that can be great.

Don't look for a "Eureka!" moment. Be on the lookout for the "Wow, that's interesting." moment.

As for the box, let it serve as a container of supplies, not ideas.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Disney's quinoa customer service

It was four years ago and we had just landed as a family in Orlando, caught the Disney Magic Express, and headed straight to one of our favorite restaurants after checking in at our resort -- Whispering Canyon Cafe. If you have never been to this restaurant, I encourage you to try it out next time you are in Lake Buena Vista -- just be ready if you ask for ketchup.

All was going well, our kids were excited (it was the first trip for our youngest), and we were hungry. One item on the menu had caught my eye: Quinoa Cakes.

Now, keep in mind this was four years ago and quinoa had yet to be "discovered" as the superfood that it is today -- meaning, I had never seen the word before.

The server, dressed in his themed attire, took our orders, and when it was my turn, I proceeded to ask him, "Can you tell me more about the Quinoa Cakes?" -- the only problem, I pronounced it as "kwi noah" cakes.

Without missing a beat and sliding in the correct pronunciation (it is pronounced "keen-wa"), he simply replied, "The quinoa cakes are new to our menu but one of the best we have offered in a long time. They are especially great if you are going into the parks later this afternoon because you will not have a drop off in energy after eating them. So, I highly recommend them to you."

In other words, he corrected my pronunciation and at the same time made me "feel" ok about it.

As marketers, entrepreneurs, and business owners, spend time thinking about how you make your customer feel each time you interact with them. Every time you have a "touch point" with your customer, do they come away feeling better about it? If not, you may be focused on the wrong thing.

houston@figment-consulting.com