Exit experience at de Efteling
If there is one organization that has experience as its core business, it is the most famous theme park in the Netherlands: the Efteling. The organization therefore makes full use of Customer Journeys to optimize the visitor experience.
Background
Customer journey 1.0
The Efteling first brought together a multidisciplinary core team and a challenge team under the motto: Creating the Customer Journey is for people by people! The core team started on their task by asking several questions: What relevant data are available from quantitative customer satisfaction surveys? What reactions to leaving the Efteling have been expressed on social media in the recent period? And what complaints and compliments has the Efteling received in the past year? In addition, the core team conducted a number of interviews with colleagues from operations, including the entrance. An analysis presents the following results:
• On days when the park is open until later, families with young children often leave the park well before the official closing time (in the period under investigation, closing time was 8:00 PM) – "mentally speaking," they start leaving earlier.
• In particular, families with older children usually end the day with the Aquanura water show (the last attraction of the day) on their way to the exit.
• Although the price of parking is clearly communicated, reactions on social media show that this comes as a surprise for some visitors on leaving the Efteling.
• Especially on busy days, guests are stressed by the high amount of traffic when leaving the park – their last memory of their day at the Efteling is supposed to be a pleasant one.
Customer Journey 2.0 experience analysis
All members of the core team (Customer-Journey masters in training) then conducted three to five experience interviews with visitors who had recently visited the park. These interviews carefully looked at the context of the visitor and selected respondents based on their background to ensure the group was as diverse as possible. During the interviews, images brought by the visitors themselves were used. The interviews were then elaborated and analyzed. Based on the identified deep motives and needs, the core team presented the following six experience themes to the challenge team:
2 You sacrifice yourself – fatigue doesn't play a role
3 Passing on tradition
4 Unspoken longing for peace and quiet
5 Between sadness and satisfaction
6 Balanced transformation
In addition, the core team presented a number of valuable customer insights:
The theme “leaving” begins to play a role for many visitors about two hours before departure. This is the natural moment to take stock: What have we already done, has everyone done what they wanted, which attraction do we definitely still want to do? This leads to a peak in visitors' need for information: How busy is it at attraction X? What is the shortest route to attraction Y? Etc.
• The desire to end the day on a positive note leads some of the visitors to skip Aquanura. They rush to the exit because they are worried that there will be a traffic jam if they want to leave the park after the show.
• For many visitors, eating in the Efteling doesn't fit in the tradition of a day at the Efteling, and so the fear of ending negatively starts to play a role: We had a good day, why stay for dinner (something we didn't do when we were kids)?
• Many guests don't know that a number of restaurants are still open after the park closes. Dinner at the Efteling is not often part of the exit experience.
A new emotion curve is now being formulated that includes Moments of Truth (MoT)
Customer Journey 3.0: Generate and elaborate ideas for improvement
The core team took the insights gained as a starting point for a brainstorming session, which explicitly focused on generating ideas to change or eliminate the negative dips in the emotion curve. This resulted in a short list of five 9+ core ideas:
2 “The last attraction is a blast”
3 “Back at the car before you know it”
4 “Drop off”
5 “The Efteling Wegwyzers” (Efteling employees who help visitors find their way)
In consultation with the challenge team, it was decided to develop core idea number 5, “The Efteling Wegwyzers”, as a first concept and to test it directly in the form of a pilot. From 3:00 PM onwards, there will be easily recognizable “Wegwyzers” in the park to answer questions that visitors may have and thus eliminate any uncertainty. The Wegwyzers proactively advise the guests on how they can best spend their last hours in the Efteling. This is a very direct, guest-oriented solution that can be realized quickly at low cost.
Making the Customer Journey: The Efteling Wegwyzers get underway...
The 9+ concept the “Efteling Wegwyzers” is set out as follows:
• During the high season (August/September), they are active between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM.
• They'll wear an “I” button, making them clearly recognizable for visitors.
• They point out the possibility to book restaurants online, look up waiting times, etc.
• They are equipped with a bag with maps and small gifts to surprise guests.
A successful pilot eventually led to the following, partly extra, insights:
• The Efteling Wegwyzers are the biggest help to guests who are less familiar with the Efteling.
• Visitors experience the most stress when the park closes at 6:00 PM, but most questions are asked when the park closes at 8:00 PM.
• The Efteling benefits from more/clearer maps and better signage (including at the entrance to attractions).
• Personal contact is greatly appreciated and strengthens the Efteling brand experience; visitors even quickly develop a preference for certain Wegwyzers!
