It’s a rare thing in an age of corpratocracy to come across a company that will go out of it’s way (6000 miles!) to REALLY mean what they say when they talk about customer service. My expectations were exceeded, and then some, when I challenged Zappos.com, an online shopping site based in the USA.
Zappos original idea was to create an online destination that offered the absolute best selection in shoes and over the past 9 years this has expanded into clothing and accessories. What makes Zappos stand out from the myriads of companies that offer similar products is their dedication to customer service and I don’t mean the ‘cheesy ‘ sort; you know, the ones who mention your name in every sentence and end up with “have a nice day!”.
So what was my challenge and how was it met?
I was reading an interview with Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, in which he was telling the story of how Zappos started and at the end of the interview he states:
“Oh, actually one more thing, if any of your readers want a copy of our culture book we’re happy to send that out for free. It’s a physical book, so just send an email with your physical mailing address to CEO@Zappos.com.”
So I thought, right Tony, I’ll send you an email with my details and let’s just see what happens. I didn’t have to wait long. 24 hours later I had a return email from Jessica at Zappos (she describes herself as a member of Tony’s Team – Operation Tony Clone). The email was friendly and fun and more to the point, told me to expect my Zappos book in a few days. Ok, I’ve still to receive the book but this was a good start and to be honest, not what I had come to expect from online shopping sites.
These guys are serious about customer service. They give their employees three months training in all aspects of customer service. This does not mean that they all end up sounding like pre-programmed robots, it just gives them the confidence to be themselves and deal with any customer needs in a way that exceeds expectations. Tony doesn’t employ ‘staff’ he’s built a ‘family’ and to do this he makes sure he gets the right people by telling new members that he will give them $2000 to leave the company at any time during the three month training. This way he guarantees that nobody is simply working at Zappos for a pay cheque. (smart and generous).
Zappos is a Billion Dollar plus business run by an inspired CEO and a team of believers who walk-the-talk and know, without doubt, that success is about building a reputation through communication and a great product offering. Reputation is today’s currency. 86% of young adults don’t trust brands to deliver on their promises but in this case I think they could count on Zappos.
In September of last year, Tony locked himself in a cabin at Lake Tahoe (not a bad place to be locked away as long as it’s not with Kathy Bates). He was working on a book titled “Delivering Happiness” (not “Misery”, sorry Kathy!) that’s due to be published on June 7, you can pre-order it from Amazon.com. I’m hoping he’ll send me a signed copy to keep up the momentum he’s built with me. (Tony, if you read this, I’m Scottish by birth and I don’t do subtle.)