The Time of Our Lives

If the title of this post brings up memories of the Bill Medley/Jennifer Warnes song from Dirty Dancing because it was the theme song from your prom, you and I have something in common.  But when you think of the “best time of your life”, what do you think of?

On a recent stint of R&R in San Antonio, our good friends Tom and Patsy shared that when they asked their grown kids about their favorite time during childhood, they both mentioned that it was the time that their Dad (Tom) was out of work.

Getting ready for a Segway ride - Patsy is in the white jacket on right, Tom is right behind her.

Huh?

When asked why, they mentioned that they really enjoyed being able to spend more time with Dad (and Mom of course!), and that they really liked the simple things they did to spend time together.  Tom and Patsy recalled lunchtime picnics listening to the cars go by, feeling sort of bad that they couldn’t do more for their kids at the time.  Turns out, they were doing exactly what they needed to do.

If you have kids, feel free to take this as a lesson in parenting.  If you are a leader, PLEASE take this as a lesson about the MOST valuable resource you can give your employees – your time.

Your time means you care.  Your time means you’ll listen.  Your time means they can count on you and trust you.  You may have read my post from Jan. 16 about providing undivided attention to your guests.  Your employees deserve the same courtesy.

In that post I discussed looking at staffing levels and NOT reducing them to their bare bones level of efficiency, but to look at what is really needed to serve your guests properly.  Tom and Patsy’s example shows that we should be careful about spreading our leaders too thin as well.  In order to spend time with your employees, you have to HAVE the time to spend.  It’s unfortunate, but the area that usually gets eliminated when time is tight is the time with the employees.  Reports and paperwork seem to get done because there is a measurable deadline.  Why don’t we put the same value on time with the people who are most valuable to the organization?

This is also good to keep in mind when thinking about what it really takes to motivate your employees.  Ever wonder why gift cards and movie tickets lose their luster?  Same reason that toy you really wanted for your birthday is sitting in the closet collecting dust.  Those things cannot bring you the joy and value that quality time can.

Just like everything else regarding leadership, this is a balancing act.  So what can you do to carve out some extra time to spend with your employees?

A Practical Guide to Social Media

If you are interested in getting involved with social media, especially from a business standpoint, there is no shortage of resources out there to choose from. Especially if you are a small business or an entrepreneur, the choices of programs, consultants, seminars, and articles (this being one of them) out there are staggering, and you could easily spend more time trying to figure out what you should be doing than actually doing it.

I noticed I was doing that – spending more time reading about it than doing it.  And if there is one absolute truth I have learned about social media, it’s that this is not a spectator sport.  Read a bit about it, do your research, but then jump in.

If you remember one thing, remember this.  It’s a conversation.  A conversation between friends, among you and your guests, and potential guests.  Wondering about what to say, tweet, or post?  What would you say if you were standing in front of someone?  Type that.

I am going to keep this brief because I don’t want you to spend a lot of time reading, I want you to spend time doing.  So here are three steps to get you going (assuming you already have a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account, and perhaps just don’t know what to do with them.)

• Take no more than 5 minutes and find a discussion or topic you are interested in and make a comment.  Again, think about what you would say if you were right in front of that person, having a conversation.
• Think of one of your most pressing business questions.  Post that as a discussion somewhere.  Chances are, someone else is struggling with that or they have a suggestion and they will continue the conversation.  Even if no one responds, you still started the discussion.  Don’t let that discourage you from trying again.
• Set aside 5-10 minutes to do this every couple of days.  It takes time and consistency to build up these relationships, just like in real life.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on Likes, and landing pages and stats and followers and all that.  Make sure you are comfortable with who you are following or connected to and just be mindful (as you would in real life anyway) about who is seeing or hearing what message.

Lastly, I will say be nice.  That’s it.  Talk to people and be nice.  That’s my practical guide to social media.  Hope that helps!

Pay Attention!

I had a friend in grade school that said he was so poor he couldn’t even pay attention.  While I am sure he didn’t originate that phrase, it was still pretty funny to a bunch of 6^th graders.  Today I was reminded that providing undivided attention is something your guests need and want.

Today it was Doris at our local WalMart who reminded me of this.  Linda and I were approaching the checkout, and Doris waved us over to her register.  Very pleasantly she walked with us from the aisle to the register, joking that we had just won something.  “You are the big winner”, she said.  Being at a checkout line with no wait, I figured we had already won, but I wanted to play along.

“What did we win?”  I asked.

“My undivided attention.” Doris proclaimed.

And she was right.  While ringing up our stuff, she joked and chatted with us like we were old friends.  She learned a little about us, we learned a little about her. And at the end of the transaction, she didn’t thank us for our purchases… she thanked us for the conversation.

This really made me think about what a customer or guest wants from a service interaction, and why so many of them go horribly wrong.

Distractions.

Think about it.  With today’s smaller budgets and lower staffing levels, front line service employees are being asked to do many more things than they have in the past.  Answer the phone, ring up a sale, find a missing item, process a return, answer the phone again, make change, call the warehouse, etc. And these are just generic retail responsibilities.  Think about how many things you are asking your employees to do.

Some people can handle the pressure.  William at Full Throttle VW here in Orlando is one of those people.  He has a vast experience dealing with the public, and it shows in the way he can handle multiple responsibilities all at once.  I am working on more in-depth profile on William for a future post.

If you are like many who long for the grand ol’ service of yesteryear, don’t think in terms of the quality of people (which is the typical assumption), instead think of the number of people involved and how they were allowed to specialize in their field.  A quick example is the gas station.  One person comes out to fill the tank, another person is checking your oil, and another person is washing your windshield.  Is this expensive in labor dollars?  Yes.  But think about the experience the customer had… they probably thought that was great service – and they came back for the service.  You can get gas anywhere.

Today you would pull up, pump your own gas, check the fluids and wash the windows if you felt like it, and possibly have no contact at all with an employee.

Until the pump doesn’t work.  Then the employee calls over the intercom to try to help, but the audio quality is shaky at best, so you can’t understand them.  You get upset, they get upset, all while they are also dealing with a line up people in front of them and the Pepsi delivery that just showed up 4 hours early.

You drive away thinking the service sucked because some untrained teenager who would rather be texting is completely incompetent and you weep for the future.

Get over yourself.

If you are a leader, I urge you to look at this from a workload standpoint.  If your first thought when the budget needs to be cut is to cut staff and combine duties, please stop.  Look at history and think through that move.  Think about the best service experiences you have had (and the places you want to go back to) and see if there is any corollary between the attentiveness and attention of the employees and your wonderful experience.

Then ask yourself about the worst experience, and the places you don’t want to go back to.  Probably someplace like the gas station example above.

People will wait longer, drive farther and pay more for great service.  Don’t make them choose you because you are cheapest, make them choose you because you are the best.

Thanks for reading!

Who’s vision is it anyway?

As leaders, we hear a lot about vision.  Not the kind that Lenscrafters can help with, but that kind of forward thinking, forward seeing strategic concept that drives a company to new heights.  However, I think this is only part of the picture, and as a quote shared by my friend and colleague Val Paralitici states, it’s as much (if not more) about finding the vision within your employees.

“Leadership has nothing to do with blindly driving your own vision onto those you lead, it has to do with discovering that vision inside every person and helping them in their path towards achieving it.” H. Landolfi

I think this quote identifies two types of leaders… those who can let go, and those who can’t.

In the past, I have written about Dave and Nancy Tkachuk, who I worked with for a short period of time between theme park jobs, and how they reacted when I told them I would be leaving their company.  You can read about that here.

Dave and Nancy really understood that if I wasn’t happy trying to achieve their vision, it would be better in the long run for me to leave to pursue my own path.  They were supportive, generous and kind.

On the other hand, we have probably all known leaders who were so afraid of losing their top talent that they did whatever they could to keep them on board, whether it was good for the employee or not.  They tried to manipulate, control and just hold on too tight.  Ironically, this usually leads to frustration from the employee, and they end up quitting (sometimes bitterly) anyway.

If you can let go, you encourage development and exploration.

If you can’t let go, you encourage blinders and closed-mindedness.

If you can let go, value your own opportunities for growth.

If you can’t let go, you are likely afraid of your opportunities to fail.

Where do you fall?  If you are someone who can let go, how do you help your employees find their own vision?

What “the holidays” can teach us about leadership

Peace on Earth, good will toward men.

‘Tis the season to be jolly.

Be nice to your sister, it’s Christmas!

It never fails.  When we get to “the holidays” time year, there is palpable feeling in the air of hope, good will, family togetherness and kindness for those less fortunate.  “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, states one classic song, and most everyone buys into it.

But why?  Why at this time of year do we all of a sudden turn on the compassion and caring and treat our neighbors (and even foes) with the respect and dignity they deserve?

It could be tradition, a time of celebration, or the desire to not end up on Santa’s naughty list… to me it doesn’t matter why we do it for a month in December, so much as it matters why we don’t do it the rest of the year.  Whatever the reason, we choose to act differently.  In many cases, we choose to give.

From a leadership point of view, this is a huge opportunity.  If you notice that people are a little more kind and cooperative around the holidays because more people are in a giving mood (including you), then why wouldn’t they react that way the rest of the year?

So what are we giving (beyond the obvious tangible “things”) that people are responding to?

• Our time – the holidays are about slowing down and appreciating the people around you.  Why wait?  This is not the only time of year that people need attention and appreciation.  And it doesn’t have to be a lot… a little of your time and sincere attention will go a long way.
• Our patience – Unless it’s 4 am on Black Friday, there is usually a little more patience granted during the holidays.  People learn, understand and develop at very different paces.  Allowing someone the opportunity to learn and grow on their own timetable makes them much more comfortable with the task or concept you are trying to teach them.
• Our understanding – Employees are people.  Leaders and managers are people.  And people need encouragement, guidance and support.  Sometimes that just means listening to them about what they are going through.  Maybe a little compassion or a little empathy to show that you really care about them as individuals.

Walt Disney said it best, “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

And it takes time, patience and understanding to keep the people around you feeling like they want to give you their best effort.

Happy Holidays!

Trolley Parks to FEC’s… and back?

In early 1900′s, Trolley Parks were all the rage in the United States.  If you don’t know what a Trolley Park is, it’s a recreation park that was developed at the end of a trolley spur in a city or town to encourage ridership on the weekends – in essence giving people a reason to ride the cars (and spend money) on Saturday and Sunday.  Those small parks were often near lakes, and eventually grew up to become full-fledged amusement parks.  I am proud to say I started my career at one such park in New Hampshire, Canobie Lake Park.

Unfortunately due to that pesky invention, the automobile, people did not need to rely on trolleys as much for transportation, and the decline of the Trolley Parks began.   Other economic factors were at play as well, and today only a handful survive.

Something occurred to me the other day, though, that got me thinking that there is a new generation of trolley parks popping up all over the country.

They are called FEC’s.  Family Entertainment Centers. Some as quaint as an arcade and ice cream parlor, others as grand as mini-golf, go-karts, rides, games, restaurants, water slides… some are getting so big they are redefining the category of FEC.  They are really small amusement parks.

Which tells me this: the market for a close-to-home, moderately priced attraction did not die with the Trolley Parks – it just went away for awhile.  But now it seems to be back with a vengeance.  With more and more “stay-cations” happening these days, a trip to the local FEC could be the perfect answer for an afternoon of merriment.

Of course the challenge for FEC operators is to ensure that their businesses do not fall out of favor like their predecessors.  One significant advantage some of them have is that at least a portion of their attraction can be operated year round, even in colder climates.

So will FEC’s take the place of Trolley Parks?  Have they already?  What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

More from Pat Koch and Holiday World’s Legacy of Friendliness

For many people, visiting a Disney park or property has a magical quality. Because of this, just as many companies around the world have been trying to emulate the Disney experience in their own facility, attempting to tap into their own brand of magic. But here’s the problem: there is no such thing as magic.

As much as I wish it weren’t true, I cannot wave a wand or snap my fingers and transport myself to Hawaii anytime I would like.

Except for magicians, most people can’t explain how a magic trick works (and magicians really aren’t supposed to tell, either). We know there has to some logical explanation about the lady that gets cut in half, but we are too busy being entertained to really question it. That’s what Disney is counting on for the guest experience, and what makes emulating them so difficult.

So I say don’t bother. Especially when there is a little park in Indiana that has been named the friendliest park in the world 13 times, positioning themselves as the new gold standard for hospitality in the hospitality industry.

And here’s what’s cool. If you were at the Pat Koch Lunch and Learn at IAAPA, she told you exactly how Holiday World has done it. If you weren’t, I’ll recap a few points here.

1.  They train. They commit to making sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do and has the skill to do it. Even as Mrs. Koch says, “it takes time and it’s expensive, but it is vital.”  And it’s not just for the front line, either.  Folks in management ranks are also required to keep up with industry trends and certifications.

Speaking of training, it was something she said about the timing of their training that was very intriguing as well. She said they let people get comfortable their tasks for a little while, then bring them back in for hospitality training. That way they aren’t trying to cover too much at once.  Seems to be working. )

2. They have “high standards and strict rules”. Many people seem to think that young folks need to be coddled or they have no work ethic. Not so. Holiday World proves that you can have high standards and people will rise up and meet them IF you are clear about the expectations and you enforce them fairly and consistently.

3. They “mentor, teach and care for” their employees. People need to know how they measure up to the standards, that they belong, and that there is someone looking out for them.  As a brief aside, my wife and I have been watching the show “Gold Rush” about the new gold boom in Alaska.  One of the characters, 16 year-old Parker Schnabel, recently enlisted the help of his father and grandfather to build a road on his claim.  Parker shows a tremendous amount of respect for these two, not just because they are good at what they do, but likely because they have been there to encourage, guide, mentor and care for Parker throughout his life.  Our employees at work need that, too.

4. They listen to the front line. Mrs. Koch stated that, “maybe the cashier or sweeper has a better idea of how things should be than we do.” It takes a strong leadership team to admit they don’t know everything, and that the people in the trenches probably have some good ideas, too. We just have to listen to them.

There was one last thing that Mrs. Koch said in her presentation that stuck with me, something that applies to business, relationships and how you lead your teams. She said, “Be number 1 to somebody, not number 2 to everyone.”

To me that means be the best you can for YOUR audience (ie. clients, guests, employees, friends, family, co-workers). Don’t worry about being everything to everyone.

Who are you number 1 to?

Pat Koch: Humor and Humility

For those fortunate enough to attend the Pat Koch Lunch And Learn at the IAAPA Attractions Expo, you already know what I am about to tell you. She rocks.

I went in to the lunch expecting insight, but walked away with so much more. After hearing Mrs. Koch speak, it’s not surprising why Holiday World has enjoyed the success they have over the years. It starts at the top.

Here are a few leadership golden nuggets I took away from her presentation.

First, she said she was humbled to be given the opportunity to address the association. Humbled. As in not putting too much importance in yourself or taking yourself too seriously. How many leaders do you know that would qualify as humble?

Too often leaders are under the impression that they have to keep spouting their accomplishments to be taken seriously. Even if they want to be humble, there could be a feeling that their vulnerability could be perceived as a weakness.  Mrs. Koch showed that putting others first is how you succeed.

Mrs. Koch was also not short on humor.  Whether it was sharing with us where NOT to put the dispenser of free sunscreen (right next to the hot dog condiments) or her favorite pizza that turned out to be a bust (baked potato), you got a sense that she embraced learning from the silly things we sometimes do.  Can’t underestimate the importance of a sense of humor, especially in this business!

Lastly, Mrs. Koch reminded us how critical it is for us to role model the behaviors we want out of our employees. “Do what you want them to do, be what you want them to be.”  Again, it starts at the top.  If she isn’t doing it, she can’t expect anyone else to.

Mrs. Koch also shared how Holiday World has been able to earn the Golden Ticket award for Friendliest Park for 13 years.  I’ll be sharing some of those insights in a future post.

If you were there to hear Mrs. Koch speak, what did you take away?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading!

Where’s your passion?

The IAAPA Attractions expo is almost here. For those attending, the excitement about this week is palpable. It’s like Christmas morning that lasts for an entire week. And I was reminded recently why this week is so special.

The other day, a good friend and I were spending the day at Busch Gardens in Tampa. We were lucky enough to be joined at lunch by my friend and colleague, Robbi Lepre, who oversees entertainment at the park. As a bonus, Robbi was able to spend time with us after lunch, showing off the parks animal exhibits, and demonstrating a deep knowledge and passion not just for the entertainment offerings in the park, but for every aspect of what the park (and the industry) does.

And that one word, passion, really stuck with me as I think about why this one week out of the year is so special. It’s the collective passion we share for the industry, our guests, and each other that make this such a rich experience, both professionally and socially.

If this is your first time attending, do not be afraid to strike up a conversation with… anyone. This industry is full of talented, hard working people who are willing to share so much of what they do for the betterment of the business as a whole. There really is a big sense that this community is a family, and that “we’re all in this together”.

I would encourage any attendee to take advantage of everything the show offers. The trade show is great, full of all sorts of new gadgets. There are behind the scenes tours, social events and one of my favorites, the education sessions. It’s worth your time to do your homework to make sure you don’t miss anything!

I went to my first IAAPA convention in 1997, and it is still just as exciting now as was back then – probably even more so because of the friends I’ve made over the years. It will be great to see you all next week!  I’ll be spending a good amount of time with my friends and new business partners, Scot and Rob at the Amusement Advantage booth #4510, so if you are on the floor, please stop by and say hi!

Have a great show!

Taking the Mystery out of Mystery Shopper’s Reports

A month or so ago, I wrote the following article for the IAAPA Family Entertainment Center newsletter FunExtra.  A few people have asked me about the topic of mystery shopping lately (especially given my new partnership with Amusement Advantage) so I thought I would run the article here as well.  Enjoy!

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Secret shopper reports do not want to end up living in a drawer.  Unfortunately, that’s where many spend their dying days, mostly because we could be too busy to squeeze all the great information out of them, or we just don’t know how.  On behalf of all of the secret shopper reports out there, that stops today.

In this article we will discuss the report itself, what to look for and what to do with all that information.  We’ll also focus mostly on the employee side of the coin.  If a shopper says there is missing paint, there is missing paint – not a lot to discuss.  It’s the far more complicated world of employee behavior that I think trips most of us up.

The Report

For a manager or leader, the heart of the secret shopping experience is the report.  That’s what you signed up for – to get this unbiased account of how your facility and employees are performing.  You now have a tangible representation of how your business is seen by someone you don’t know.  If you care at all about your guests’ experience, this is powerful information, and it should be taken with a few considerations.

The report is a snapshot. Each report covers the events of one day, and individual reports should be viewed as a starting point for determining the best actions to take based on the needs of your company and employees.  You and your staff still need to observe on your own, using the shoppers report to supplement what you’ve seen.

Also consider that as objective as secret shoppers are, they are still human beings.  They still have opinions, feelings, and previous experiences that guide their assessment of your facility.  This is not to say that we should discount them for this reason at all.  If anything, this support the role of the report as a snapshot.  All of your guests are different, too.  So a non-shopper guest might interpret a situation differently than the shopper, but you will only get one piece of data.  That’s why you still need to do your own homework.

What To Look For

So you’ve got your report in front of you, now what?  Later we will focus on actions you should and shouldn’t take based on a report, but even before that you have to know what data you have and what it means.

One word I will ask you to keep in mind is trends.  What are the trends telling you?  You may see on one report that Suzie was rude.  She wasn’t smiling and she never said thank you.  This is surprising, since most of time when you see Suzie, she is smiling and making great conversation with the guests.  That “trend” (or break in the trend, in this case) should tell you that you need more data.  Here are some questions you could ask to gather more concrete information:

1. Was this an isolated incident? Is this the first time anyone has mentioned Suzie being rude?
2. Was there something going on that day that would have caused Suzie to be acting differently?
3. Who was she working with?  Were they people she got along with or not?

This is just a small sampling of the kinds of information you would need to have to know what to do next.

Other trends to look for on the report include:

• Policies – are there multiple people not following rules, or is it just one or two?
• Areas/departments – are there certain areas or departments that are performing consistently well (or poorly)?
• Comments – is there anything similar (in tone or content) in the verbatim comments that can give you more insight?

What Do You Do Now?

To this point, you have probably seen that it takes more than just a quick read-through to pull out all of the pertinent information.  But that is a necessary component of the process, in order to be able to take the right actions.

Looking at the situations above, what do we do about Suzie?  I think we discuss the report with her and ask her about her side of the story.  It’s very dangerous to reprimand based on the comments from the shoppers report.  Since this is not going to be immediate feedback (given the time it takes to compile the report), it’s best to look at it as a learning opportunity, not a disciplinary action. On the other side of the coin, it would be appropriate to praise or recognize an employee’s performance based on the shoppers report.  They still made a good impression, and the more that is acknowledged, the more likely it is to happen again.

What if you notice that all the employees mentioned were not following a particular rule or procedure?  That might be an indication that there has been a miscommunication about the procedure, maybe it just recently changed, or it’s something the employees don’t like doing.  In all of these cases, it would take some investigation to find out what’s going on and why.

One of the most important things you can do with the information in this report is to share it.  Share it with your management teams, with your employees (as appropriate; be careful of negative or damaging comments) and get their perspective on the best way to either make things better or continue doing the good things you are already doing.

Delegating or getting assistance with looking over the reports will not only ensure that you get the most out of them, it will also save the reports from living out their days in a dark and dreary desk drawer.  No one wants that.