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Shh!

I’m sharing a secret this week! Can you keep it?

Remember our friend, Jesse Cole, of the Savannah Bananas? Yes, the man who wears a yellow tuxedo for attention, owns seven of them, and even wore one when he proposed to his wife, Emily, at a baseball game back in 2014.

Guess what?

You won’t believe this, but it turns out Jesse doesn’t wear a yellow tuxedo everywhere, all the time. Oddly enough, he will usually leave it at home when attending…a Savannah Bananas Baseball game!

What?

Put yourself in Jesse’s shiny shoes. The tuxedo is part of his show. Putting on a show and entertaining people is his product, and his vehicle is baseball. But there is something Jesse loves even more than attention, a good show, his product, or even baseball.

Jesse loves his fans.

Jesse loves his fans so much he will sometimes show up for games in Savannah, sans tuxedo, so he can experience everything his fans experience exactly like a fan. He’s checking on his team’s ability to consistently exceed expectations and deliver what he calls “You Wouldn’t Believe” experiences. It’s a mindset that matters more than marketing and creates wonderful word-of-mouth advertising:

You wouldn’t believe what happened at the stadium today!

You wouldn’t believe the dancing players!

You wouldn’t believe how we were greeted when we walked into the stadium!

You wouldn’t believe the food we were served!

You wouldn’t believe! You wouldn’t believe!! You wouldn’t believe!!!

Does any of this sound familiar? As a Disney fan, it should. Walt did the same thing. Granted, he never wore a yellow tux (I don’t think), but he might well have been the world’s first “Undercover Boss” by showing up at Disneyland in disguise and touring the park the way a guest would. With Walt Disney being one of Jesse’s entertainment heroes and mentors, it’s no surprise he is simply following in the boss’s footsteps.

We would all be wise to follow suit.

You don’t necessarily need a yellow tuxedo to be successful in your business or a theme park to change your world. Simply challenge yourself to love your customers more than your product by finding out what your customers hate and then do the exact opposite.

Walt knew people associated amusement parks with dirt and filth, so he promised his would be clean. History classes are dull, and the teachers only ever test you on a bunch of stupid dates. Guess what? I told stories and I never tested students on a single date. Ever!

Doing the exact opposite of what is expected is how you exceed expectations. I went to Disneyland, and you wouldn’t believe how clean it was! I went to a Savannah Bananas baseball game, and it was so much fun! I took a history class, and you wouldn’t believe how much I learned!

Try loving your customers this week. You won’t believe the results!