Author Dennis Snow
Unleashing Excellence author Dennis Snow has been at the forefront of defining and implementing world class customer service systems for three decades. Beginning in 1979, he spent 20 years on staff at the Walt Disney World Company in Orlando, including as the head of Disney University Cast Training and manager of the Disney Institute’s Customized Programs for outside corporations.
Through his own training and consulting company, founded in 1999, Snow has since incorporated the Disney standard into a broader application – now available through his book, Unleashing Excellence – that makes it possible for companies in any industry to become world-class service leaders.
Straight out of college, Snow headed south to Orlando, hoping to find work at Walt Disney World. He took the only job open at the time, a weekend position as Captain Nemo on the “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” submarine attraction. Before long, he was a full-time ‘cast member’ working on various attractions throughout the famous theme park.
Within two years, Snow was promoted into management and given a series of assignments supervising aspects of the park, including the Character Department, Epcot Center’s Guest Services, the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street USA, and Fantasyland.
In1986, he transferred to Disney University, where he began teaching a training curriculum for management and coordinated the Disney Traditions program, which is widely regarded as a standard in benchmark corporate training. Two years later, Snow was put in charge of Disney University Cast Training, the headquarters for schooling over 30,000 employees, including 14,000 new hires, each year.
In 1993, he assumed command of the Disney Institute’s ground-breaking new Customized Programs division, set up to meet a growing demand for private training in the “Disney Way” by outside corporations such as ExxonMobil, AT&T and CocaCola. During the next six years, he travelled the world as a presenter to companies in places like South Africa, Australia, Mexico, England and Argentina – while leading the development on new training approaches. The division was so successful that it became the Institute’s fastest-growing venture with nearly 100% repeat business.
In 1999, Snow launched the consulting firm, Snow & Associates, to guide organizations to world-class customer service in such industries as banking, health care, manufacturing, telecommunications, retail, food service, and the legal profession. Among those to adopt a company-wide initiative with his guidance have been Cummins, an Indiana-based global leader in manufacturing and servicing engines, with 30,000 employees in 500 locations.
Snow speaks to over 35,000 professionals each year, and is frequently interviewed by the media as a customer service expert. He is also the author of Lessons from the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life (2008, DC Press). Designed around the ten primary principles he learned from his early days as a front-line cast member to the business imperatives he lived as a member of the management team, Lessons from the Mouse is an essential guide to applying excellence for small businesses, consultants, and individuals.
For more information: www.SnowAssociates.com