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Worship in the Modern World

Praising God with the Best of the Past and the Present

The Importance of Great Guest Service Teams

As you may have heard me (and others) say before, the worship experience begins way before the first song is sung. It even begins before your guests take their seats. It begins the moment they arrive in your parking lot. It stands to reason that one of the first people a guest will come in contact with is someone on your guest services team. (They used to be known as Ushers/Greeters, remember?) Having a dynamic guest care team can make or break the experience for a visitor. If they’re not friendly or helpful, it can turn them off to everything that comes after their experience – even if it’s top notch.

In the book Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service, the Disney Institute has assembled a great list of guidelines and expectations they have for their cast members (employees). This should be applied to everyone involved in guest care/services teams:

Walt Disney World Guidelines for Guest Service

Make Eye Contact and Smile!
  • Start and end every Guest contact and communication with direct eye contact and a sincere smile.

Greet and Welcome Each and Every Guest

  • Extend the appropriate greeting to every Guest with whom you come into contact.
    “Good morning/afternoon/evening!”
    “Welcome!” “Have a good Day.”
    “May I help you?”
  • Make Guests feel welcome by providing a special differentiated greeting in each area.

Seek Out Guest Contact

  • It is the responsibility of every Cast Member to seek out Guests who need help or assistance.
    Listen to Guests’ needs
    Answer questions
    Offer assistance (For example: taking family photographs)

Provide Immediate Service Recovery

  • It is the responsibility of all Cast Members to attempt, to the best of their abilities, to immediately resolve a Guest service failure before it becomes a Guest service problem.
  • Always find the answer for the Guest and/or find another Cast Member who can help the Guest.

Thank Each and Every Guest

  • Extend every Guest a sincere thank-you at the conclusion of every transaction.

All of these are great to implement within your guest care teams. It’s also important to remember two very important things – being sincere and being authentic. The list means nothing if you’re fake about it. Guests will see right through it and you’d be better off if you were just rude or not even there. Take time to enjoy the moment with your guests. Be present and appreciate their company. The opposite of talking is not listening. The opposite of talking is waiting.

Never underestimate the impact having dynamic guest care teams can have on your worship experience. People will remember the extra care you took to create a great environment.

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