What Would Zappos™ Do? (WWZD?)
Posted: July 15, 2010 by Nate Bagley - Social Media Strategist
Tags: Customer Service, Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh, Zappos
“We’re a service company that just happens to sell shoes.” (Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos)
This statement says volumes about why the Zappos brand has become synonymous with customer service. Hsieh says that the main focus of Zappos is not to sell shoes to make a profit, but to make every experience with a customer a “WOW” experience.
I recently read Delivering Happiness, A Path To Profits, Passion, And Purpose by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos (the largest shoe store on the web). This book provides incredible insight on why Zappos is such a successful service-oriented company.
The success of Zappos can be attributed, in large part, to the unique service-oriented culture lived every day by the employees. Hsieh knows that a company that provides excellent service, and builds undying customer loyalty needs an incredible culture. That culture cannot be driven from the bottom up! Amazing company culture that breeds employee and customer satisfaction must be a decision made at the executive level, then, facilitated and encouraged throughout the company in its entirety.
Here’s an example given by Tony of how Zappos approaches leadership:
“The best leaders are those that lead by example and are both team followers as well as team leaders. We believe that in general, the best ideas and decisions are made from the bottom up, meaning by those on the front lines that are closest to the issues and/or the customers. The role of a manager is to remove obstacles and enable his/her direct reports to succeed. This means the best leaders are servant-leaders. They serve those they lead.”
Customers are yearning for, and seeking out transparency in companies they do business with. They crave human interaction, not scripted dialogue. They want to be treated as special guests, not as tally-marks on a revenue spreadsheet. They need to understand their importance to your business – that without them, you are nothing.
It is obvious that Zappos places a high value on enabling their employees to make customers happy. Leadership is encouraged to “remove obstacles” and “enable” employees to provide memorable service experiences that “WOW” their customers.
“…Remember that at the end of the day it’s not what you say or what you do, but how you make people feel that matters most. In order for someone to feel good about a relationship, they must know that the other person truly cares about them, both personally and professionally.” (Tony Hsieh)
Read Delivering Happiness. It will transform and invigorate the way you approach your job, and your life.
(Zappos is a registered trademark of Zappos.com, Inc.)
Tags: Customer Service > Delivering Happiness > Tony Hsieh > Zappos
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July 16th, 2010 @ 4:44 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tim Sanchez and Tim Sanchez, Nate Bagley. Nate Bagley said: What would Zappos do? A post on servant leadership and how it affects customer service! http://ow.ly/2bYpb [blogged] [...]