Influencing the Guest Experience from the Frontlines w/ Vanessa Ward

Making the Fan

In this episode, David Millay sits down with Vanessa Ward, Vice President of Event Service for the Phoenix Suns. Before joining the Suns, Vanessa spent time at Disney, launching the Guest Experience Center, and the Chicago Cubs, overseeing the Guest and Associate Experience. Understanding that the employee experience directly impacts the guest experience, Vanessa shares tactics on communicating significant changes from event to event, making events unique for the staff and how to develop niche service programs.

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3:17 Takeaways and Key Learnings from Disney

6:09 The Service Recovery Toolkit

10:42 Building a New Service Recovery Toolkit

13:25 Disney’s Guest Experience Center and Proactively Resolving Issues

20:17 Customer Satisfaction Surveys

25:50 Newsletters and Themes to Drive the Seasonal Employee Experience
33:53 Making Events in a Series Unique

39:17 “Know Before You Go” Communications

43:12 Building a Niche Service Operation

49:15 Training Throughout the Season

52:21 Taking Risks

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Other podcasts referenced in this episode:

Episode 35: Personalizing the Guest Experience w/ Brian Betts (Disney’s Guest Experience Center)

Connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn or email

Connect with Host, David Millay:
Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/
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Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay