In some of my previous epistolary attempt I talked about my experiences at Walt Disney World.

One of the things I did not mention was that while there I was able to interview a number of cast members working in different roles throughout the Magic Kingdom. These interviews will be added to the 17 interviews I did with Disney cast members back in May. Together, these interviews will be compiled into a work I am currently referring to as The Disney Chronicles.

What I want to do is share the marketing and systems insights I took away from my visits to Walt Disney World and my interaction with the different cast members.

One subject I want to briefly discuss with you today is what I call the "attractive character."

You may be thinking, “How in the world does this apply to me and my business?”

Well, first and foremost - attraction is attraction, no matter if you're attracting money or clients.

One of the very important things I remembered from working at Disney which was seriously reinforced by my recent visits and interviews has to do with being who you appear to be. The only time I got into trouble as a Disney cast member was one day I decided that as the resident magician at the House of Magic, I needed to dress differently than the retail cast members. Hey, I was 21 and full of myself.

I talked the young lady downstairs in wardrobe into letting me have a different costume - tux and tails. I was working for about four hours when a senior supervisor came through the shop. He immediately called me over and very politely asked why I was dressed that way. After my answer, he most courteously informed me that I was not appropriately dressed for my role and that I needed to go down stairs during my lunch break and get a new, appropriate costume. At Disney, you are cast for a role and you play that role.

When your clients or customers meet you face to face, you need to act like they expect you to act. n otherwords, you stay in the role as an authority on your subject matter. If you come across as a pushover, or someone who appears indecisive, or show you don't have what it takes,  they will not respect and do business with you no matter how much of an expert you really are.

This whole concept hit me over the head really hard at dinner Saturday Evening.

I had made reservations for us to dine in Cinderella’s Castle in The Magic Kingdom.

This is what they refer to as character dining, meaning Disney Characters appear throughout dinner for pictures and autographs.

At this location, Cinderella (or a cast member acting as such) was announces and made her appearance. Everyone lined up to have their picture taken with the character. Once that was done, we were waiting around to be called up to our table. The Cinderella Character was standing with her Character Assistant waiting on the next group of guests. I walked over and casually asked her how long she’d been a “principal character.” Her answer was not what I expected but was certainly the right answer. She said, “Oh, well I’ve been married to Prince Charming for a very long time.”

I said, “no what I’m curious is how you’ve worked for Disney?”

She looked at me a bit funny and said, “I’ve had my castle here since 1971.”

I then apologized and told her that I had been a principal character there way back in 1973 and was just curious. Fortunately, before she could answer, the next group of diners came in to have their picture taken.

Shortly after that, her Character Assistant came over and apologized for the character’s response. In the meantime I came to fully realize exactly what she had done – she had stayed “in character.” For that short time and in that one place she WAS for all intents and purposes, for the success of the show, Cinderella. And to answer any way that was out of character would have been inappropriate. She was a character playing a role and at the moment, she was on stage.

A lot of business people miss this very crucial point, and act differently than their customer or client expects them to act. If a prospect responds to your message from say your internet site the

internet, or in person after seeing you in front of a group, or even after you answer the question – “What do you do for a living?” they have a certain expectation that you will act in a certain attractive manner.

If you don't, they immediately pick up on the incongruence, and you're done. So, there are two things to keep in mind.

The first is this: don't build yourself up to be something you cannot possibly deliver on.

Secondly, act around your clients in a manner that meets (or better yet, exceeds) the expectations you've set for them.

Just like the cast member who was at that moment playing the role of Cinderella, she kept her role in tack and kept doing exactly what the part required.

Do this with your prospects and clients. Then the attraction will flourish instead of dying a miserable, sudden death.

Until next time, this is Doug – Dr Doug – Huggins reminding you…

“If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, the I must warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your lives.”

­- Abraham Maslow