I’m a nerd, a huge nerd and it’s a source of pride. One of my favorite things to discuss in great detail is Batman. When I was working as a Guest Service Manager in Tomorrowland stores at Disneyland, one of the biggest perks was the opportunity to geek out with my Cast daily.

The Leads in particular were enthusiastically invested in debating characters, movies, etc. Discussions during down times were enjoyably contentious but the common threads we developed through shared passions created a tight crew. This led to amazing Guest service and Cast moral.

Late one evening while working in the office the phone rang. My coworker picked it up.  Not giving it much thought, I overheard him say “mm hmm, …who?…Ok I’ll tell him.”

Silence for about 10 seconds. Then he said to me “ohh…yeah…the Lead at the Space Mountain Photo location told me to tell you that…Chris..Chis Walken…no..Christian Bale and his family were there waiting for a picture”.

In my 15 years working at the park I’ve never been star-struck but…

As if seeing the Bat Signal I jumped out of my chair, and rushed out to the floor (I think a couple of kids wanted to pin trade who knows). I bolted behind the counter at the photo location and immediately stood behind my Cast to “supervise” the editing.

There he was – Christian Bale – Batman! And fresh off of filming “The Dark Knight Rises.” He could not be more chill.

I on the other hand – in rapid fire and clearly committed: “would you like a birthday button? Is it anyone’s birthday? What are we celebrating? Is this your family? Wow what a beautiful family, are we having fun today? What are we celebrating? Is it your birthday?

Mr Bale: (English accent) – “No it’s cool. No we’re having a great time, thanks a lot”

Anyway I composed myself, wished the Bales a good evening and have never spoken of this incident since. But I’ve given it a lot of thought which resulted in a question. One that creates a unique filter on how I could create happiness for my Guests going forward.

What would happen if I were as geeky about every Guest I ever met?

Obviously not being frantic about it, but deliberately greeting them with a level of sincere enthusiasm and curiosity that made for more unique experiences for everyone involved.

How would I get to know them differently?
How would I solve their problems differently?
How would I share park knowledge differently?
How different would my level of empathy be?

Are you trying to figure out how to connect with your customers on a deeper level? – try being a geeky, unabashed fan of them.

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me” – Batman