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Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service

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Reveals the behind-the-scenes strategies, principles, and processes of the Disney approach to exceptional customer service, which emphasizes the best ways to provide quality service to one's customers. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

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Walt Disney Company

32.5k books2,622 followers
Note: The decision was made to consolidate all Disney publications under the name Walt Disney Company. This profile is for Walt Disney, the characters he created, and the company he founded. Any questions, please ask in the Librarian's Group.

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.

Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong.

Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5. On December 31, 2009, Disney Company acquired the Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

--from Wikipedia

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 258 reviews
Profile Image for Jeremy.
902 reviews51 followers
July 10, 2017
I sometimes wonder if companies purposely write hypnotically boring business books to make readers lose interest in discovering the real trade secrets.

Going into "Be Our Guest", I was hoping for juicy details about Disney's creepily scientific customer service (i.e. the way they subtly manipulate your emotional state with music and visual cues), but it read just like your typical business book. If you like bland execu-speak and forced acronyms that help you remember corporate values, then this book is for you!

I should have known it was going to be lame, since it was written by Disney, but I kept holding out for some good dirt. I guess after a lifetime of watching Disney movies, I still believed that dreams could come true. How wrong I was.
Profile Image for John.
226 reviews11 followers
January 2, 2022
I recently finished taking Disney's Approach to Quality Service online, and it was fun to see how the program, 10 years later, has updated and expanded the content explored in this book! A lot of things to take away and put into practice - if an updated edition of the book is ever released, I'd recommend!
Profile Image for Matthew.
312 reviews7 followers
March 2, 2014
As a pastor and leader, I am always trying to think of what I can do to create an environment that will open up people's hearts to the most important truths in the world. If anyone understands how to create compelling environments, it's Disney.

Some of my favorite thoughts in the book were:

"Quality service means exceeding your guest's expectations and paying attention to detail."

"Everything speaks." (in other words, everything in your environments is saying something)

"My business is making people, especially children, happy." -Walt Disney

"We don't put people in Disney. We put Disney in people."

"You can't change people. But if you change the environment that people are in, they will change."
Profile Image for Raynee.
389 reviews293 followers
November 13, 2023
10/28/23
This is not great.
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10/27/23
Reading this for my work book club and we will see how it is...
Profile Image for Diz.
1,687 reviews110 followers
September 25, 2018
The book provides an overview of the management process that is used at the Disney parks. The examples of how the parks are run are fun to read, but this book also provides examples from other companies that have attended Disney business seminars. Those examples are a bit dull and drag the book down a bit. Also, it should be noted that some of the examples from outside companies date the book a bit. For example, Toys "R" Us is held up as an example of a company that put greater effort on customer service after participating in Disney seminars. Toys "R" Us is out of business now, but even when it was open, customer service was not something that I associated with that store, so that makes me wonder about the examples of other outside companies that they provide.
Read
May 13, 2011
Be Our Guest : Perfecting the art of customer service

We all share the same goal – satisfied customers

Disney in In Search of Excellence

Long term success depends on our ability to motivate people, one day at a time and one innovation at a time

Disney approaches
- Quality service
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Leadership
- Loyalty
- Supply chain excellence

Training programs connect companies to their
- Own heritage
- Values
- People
- Guests

Trends come and go – companies need to mobilize the
- Brainpower
- Passion
- Creative energies
Of their workforce

Best practices and philosophies in action
Quality service principles
Disney’s fundamentals of success
- You build the best product you can
- You give people effective training to support the delivery of exceptional service
- You learn from your experiences
- You celebrate your successes
- You never stop growing
- You never stop believing

Walt Disney World – 30,000 acres or 47 square miles
A work in progress
Largest single site employer in the U.S.
55,000+ cast members (employees)
Serve millions of guests each year (customers)

Page 19 "Think for a moment about a magic show. To the audience, the show elicits feelings of wonder and surprise. Most of those watching have no idea how the magician is creating the effects they are witnessing on the stage. Not knowing how an illusion is created and simply enjoying the show are a big part of the fun. The magician's perspective is completely different. To the magician, a magic show is a highly practical task, a series of repeatable steps designed to create a fixed result and delight the audience.

The same thing happens at Walt Disney World and in all other companies that create magical customer experiences. The happy surprise that a well-served customer feels is a result of hard work on the part of the company and its employees. For the customer, the magic is a source of wonder and enjoyment. For the company and its employees, magic is a much more practical matter." Page 19

Partnerships – relate to 16 separate branches at MCLS ? … The challenge is to maintain Disney standards in restaurants and hotels the company does not own and to make passing between these separate businesses a seamless experience for guests.

Customer Service Conundrum – Customer retention requires customer satisfaction, but customer satisfaction is a moving target. Consumers as a whole are more demanding than ever, and rightly so. Further, delighting the repeat guests on whom Walt Disney depends means raising the service bar with every visit.

We all must satisfy our guests or customers or patrons or risk losing them.

The Experience Economy
We’ve seen the demise of the industrial economy
We are past the peak of the service economy
Entering a new age of competition authors call the experience economy
- Goods and services are merely props to engage the customer in this new era
- Customers want memorable experiences and companies must become stagers of experiences

“… while the work of the experience stager perishes upon its performance (precisely the right word), the value of the experience lingers in the memory of any individual who was engaged by the event.” Page 23

Practical Magic
Make a clear distinction between being on and off stage.
Employees are on stage every time they are in public areas of the park or in front of guests.
Employees are backstage when they are working behind the scenes and out of guests sight and hearing.
Profile Image for Valerie.
185 reviews10 followers
March 30, 2013
Being a huge Disney fan, I really wanted to love this book. And the behind the scenes peek at things that one would normally not learn unless they were a Disney employee about the way they deliver an unparalleled experience was quite entertaining.

However there wasn't enough practical application to make this a useful book for trying to evaluate my own corporate culture. Some exercises to apply the Disney philosophy to other industries would have made this more helpful.
Profile Image for Ashley.
1,103 reviews14 followers
January 8, 2020
A book that I think is worth the light read/skim. I started reading this but got so tired of the Disney success story with every chapter that I went into skim to light reading mode. It's a Disney book - so of course they are gonna do some humble bragging, but a bit much for me when I'm looking for improvements to service.

ONCE you get into the meat there are some really good information and take aways in this book. Some for basic service and some that would be more enlightening for higher positions to lead teams with.

Two things that stuck with me are in quality customer service SAFETY is always the first step and there was a nice quote that went along the lines of 'The guest isn't always right, but they are always a guest' - which is a really nice, more honest, and more accurate take of the phrase that 'customer is always right'.
70 reviews
August 18, 2018
Quality Service:
“Exceed the expectation of our guests and pay attention to detail “
Simple things done to the asymptote defines what every business should strive for. Disney certainly does this better than any other.
Profile Image for Kyle.
10 reviews
March 27, 2021
It is a little dated, but I would say the concepts/principles are still very much applicable.
Profile Image for Christian Rodriguez.
12 reviews29 followers
February 19, 2020
Despite Disney being the topic of conversation, this book seemed to lack magic and be in desperate need of some pixie dust.


Honestly pretty disappointed with this book. Felt like the book itself was poorly written, felt like it used a lot of the same examples multiple times. Would have loved for the book to have just focused on the Walt Disney company rather than giving so many examples of other companies applying things Disney does.
Profile Image for Michael.
209 reviews4 followers
April 3, 2022
This is a must read for anyone in a service job. That means everyone. A lot of easy to pick up information. Fast, easy and brainstorming read.
Profile Image for Mariel.
116 reviews8 followers
June 4, 2019
Ay Disney, cualquiera se enamora. En este mes de no-ficción decidí irme por un libro de negocios. No es un libro para todos, en verdad que a veces aburre, y como muchos otros de su liga pudo ser más corto. Aún así me gustó, porque enseña como crean la razón por la que todos queremos volver a Disney: la magia. Bueno, más bien dicho por los detalles. Y wow, ellos le ponen mucha importancia a los detalles.

Si puedo resumir el libro es que la magia está en los detalles. Hay que darle aplausos a Walt Disney por entender que ganaría más clientes (o como los llaman invitados) excediendo expectativas. Esto se cumple: al conocer tu invitado, definir los estándares, crear y enviar la historia de todas las maneras correctas (empleados, setting, y procesos) e ir siempre manteniendo e innovando. Nada fácil.

El libro es sencillo, explica todo y da ejemplos que usan en Disney (los parques y hoteles), además de algunas de las compañías que han recurrido a Disney por mejoras. Todos sabemos que el servicio al cliente es clave, pero muchos se nos olvids la prioridad que es esta economía de las experiencias. Leer como el mega monstruo (sea Sullivan o Wazowski) de Disney lo maneja da diferentes perspectivas.

Léanlo: si tienen un negocio o trabajan con clientes. Recuerden: la magia está en los detalles. ✨
Profile Image for Mili.
243 reviews43 followers
September 13, 2023
Este libro desgrana de manera amigable y muy accionable, el diseño de procesos que hace que Disney sea Disney.

Tiene insights súper valiosos para los profesionales de cualquier rubro. ¿Por qué tan amplia mi recomendación? Porque todas las industrias y organizaciones se diferencian por cómo interactúa con sus clientes, ya sea para aplicación personal o dentro del contexto de una compañía, es un libro súper útil para tener a mano. Sirve a emprendedores, profesionales freelancers, ejecutivos en pequeñas, medianas o grandes empresas, artistas, profesionales que recién ingresan al mundo laboral, etc.

Lo más valioso es que guía al lector para que pueda trabajar en su diferenciación y propuesta de valor, y lo hace súper ameno, conociendo los entre telones de cómo la compañía de entretenimiento más grande del mundo administra sus parques. Gran lectura.
Profile Image for Stephen Simpson.
643 reviews13 followers
December 13, 2018
The "secret sauce" that Disney uses for customer service is actually pretty simple, and I'm sure there will be/are many reviews criticizing it for its simplicity, but that's the thing about business strategy - most effective strategies actually ARE very simple. The trick is finding managers who can execute them consistently and who can find and motivate employees to follow them.

The book is a little light on implementation, but the reality is that every business/industry will have some pretty specific requirements, so there was no way they could offer much practical advice.

The one strong criticism I have is that the self-congratulatory tone practically veered toward auto-fellatio; we get it guys, Disney's the most awesome thing ever.
Profile Image for Luanna.
62 reviews
March 31, 2023
O livro é quase um estudo de caso de como a Disneyland foi projetada de maneira meticulosa a pensar na experiência do cliente. Entretanto, acredito que falhe em trazer elementos que sejam facilmente extrapolados para outras realidade fora do que foi aplicado. De qualquer forma, é interessante conhecer a atenção aos detalhes que faz com que a experiência seja boa e que encante. Para mim, não acredito que trouxe elementos inovadores (que eu não tenha lido antes em algum outro livro), mas me deixou com muita vontade de ir à Disney :)
Profile Image for Jorrit.
108 reviews3 followers
September 5, 2021
In dit boek neem je een kijkje achter de schermen bij Disney. Hoe creëren zij overal en altijd een gouden gastbeleving? Ik vond de premisse van het boek interessant, maar uiteindelijk viel het een beetje tegen. De visie en structuur zet de schrijver helder meer. Ik had alleen gehoopt op meer inspirerende voorbeelden en toepassingen. Het blijft een beetje droog.
Profile Image for Ben Schnell.
87 reviews3 followers
June 2, 2021
I found the last chapter to be the most insightful, the one on integration. The book has solid ideas and advice. I don’t know what I expected but it’s a bit more “corporatey” than I hoped which made it a bit pedantic. Solid read though.
Profile Image for Carrie Brownell.
Author 1 book40 followers
December 30, 2021
I love Disney and I think they have much to teach the world about customer service. I prefer the book How to be Like Walt more than this one (although it's longer and will require more attention to read).
Profile Image for Daniel Marques.
35 reviews
January 10, 2024
Um livro nunca me deixou com tanta vontade como esse. Estou já fazendo minha poupança para ir à Disney ASAP. Se tudo o que é relatado for verídico mesmo, com certeza será uma das melhores experiências em viagem que terei na vida.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
567 reviews
May 8, 2021
Very good view of customer service and at helping an organization to find its focus. Inspirational.
Profile Image for Fernando Avalos.
24 reviews
October 13, 2023
This book packs a lot of valuable information in the Hospitality World.
I didn't realize all those small details that Disneyland parks has until after I read this book.
24 reviews2 followers
September 8, 2022
Easy to read, short book about Disney’s method to happy customers. However, it could had easily been summarized in a 10 page article without losing any important details. Also, in my opinion, a little exaggerated and propagandistic.
Profile Image for Porsha.
316 reviews17 followers
October 1, 2023
As a Disney fan and someone who appreciates creativity, intentionality, and as someone who works with people, I wanted to read this book to see how Disney seems to be this Utopia in the world. How the employees go to work and genuinely seem happy and make every visitor feel special…they are like Chik Fil A employees times a million. I gained a lot of insight for this book and I can’t wait until my next visit so I can seek the nuggets that I read about.
Profile Image for Jen.
115 reviews5 followers
November 15, 2018
As a former Cast Member who was also part of the Disney University, I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great introduction into how Disney is so successful and consistent.
Profile Image for Greg.
1,586 reviews88 followers
May 25, 2010
The Disney Institute has written a very interesting book describing Disney's approach to providing world class service to their "guests." In a clear and compelling style, Be Our Guest outlines principles of service quality that can be readily adapted to the needs of most organizations. The quality service cycle is introduced, with its focus on (a) a service theme, (b) service standards, (c) delivery systems, and (d) integration of them all into one coherent whole. They emphasize the importance of employees ("cast," in Disney-speak), setting, process, and integration in delivery of the service quality cycle. Each of these is treated in depth in succeeding chapters of the book.

Ten powerful points that stood out for me:

1. The concept of combustion points, as early warning indicators of potential explosion points.
2. The absolute need to mix with customers and stakeholders…you learn little when you distance yourself from them.
3. On purpose – “Whereas you might achieve a goal or complete a strategy, you cannot fulfill a purpose; it is like a guiding star on the horizon – forever pursued but never reached.”
4. On service standards – “…the next logical question is: How will you fulfill that promise and purpose? The answer is the establishment of service standards.”
5. On people – “Everyone knew Walt had been right when he said, “You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful place in the world…but it requires people to make the dream a reality.”
6. On alignment – “First, new visions and missions were designed to align the workforce to the business unit in a more powerful way. Second, the values connected to the mission and vision were identified, articulated, and linked to behavior on the job. And finally, the workforce was turned loose to create the Quality Service vision it had designed.”
7. On setting – “All organizations, knowingly or unknowingly, build messages to their customers into the settings in which they operate.”
8. On combustion points – “The best way to identify key combustion points is to study your guests. What do they complain about? Where do they get stuck in the service experience? What are the common problems they face when moving within your organization?“
9. The concept of the “Integration Matrix” as a way to guide the process of service quality analysis and improvement.
10. The concept of the storyboard as a tool for mapping out service solutions and their implementation. A great adaptation from the creative process first developed by Disney artists.

I read this book as part of a "common reading" for a select group of staff and faculty at my university, with an eye toward applying the principles in our environment. I believe we are already doing good work with our students, student families, potential employers, and other stakeholders, but we certainly have room for improvement. many of the principles and methods outlined in this book would be excellent next steps, both at a university-wide level, as well as at an individual level for the faculty and staff of our fine institution. I plan to implement them in my own work with my classes and the programs with which I work.

I recommend the book highly for any business, organization, or individual committed to providing better service to those with whom he or she interacts.
June 21, 2015
I work as director of online education in a local university and while being at Disney World I realized that the most important thing was the experience not the rides themselves so I thought to myself what if I could take and apply this vision to the online education world making the experience of students more than just a sequence of courses, making them feel as a global experience. So I started analyze Disney from a management point of view. I read a couple of books, I saw different videos on youtube and then I discovered Disney Institute where I was able to understand how they created that magic. I took several ideas, principles and visions to my industry. The book Be our guest can be seen as the recipe of Disney's approach to customer service and it is a mix of art and science. This book taught me a lot on how to hire, train, motivate and evaluate my workers to create an entire experience in online education putting the students in the center experience. However I must confess that this book only makes sense if you have visited any of the Disney Parks before reading it
Profile Image for Sheila .
1,958 reviews
July 8, 2015
A very good book on customer service, and how to provide better customer service. The philosophy in this book is based on how Disney trains all of their employees, and there is a lot of information on the Disney corporation, but there is also a lot of useful information here that can be applied by any business owner of any size business.

The only difficulty I see is how to get your employees to buy into this philosophy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 258 reviews

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