If the Shoe Fits . . .

I’m going to be right up front and tell you that this post is not about shoes; so if anybody is looking for tips on what kind of shoes go with that black cocktail dress – sorry to disappoint.  I’ve never been mistaken for a fashion consultant anyway.  It’s about a shoe company – Zappos.com.  Zappos is an on-line retailer of shoes that was founded in 1999 and has grown over the past ten years into a business that does over $1 billion in sales.  Over the weekend I read an article about Zappos that blew me away so I thought I’d share the highlights.

In order to understand how Zappos has made such a giant splash in a short period of time, you first have to look at their published core values:

1. Deliver WOW through service.
2. Embrace and drive change.
3. Create fun and a little weirdness. (Imagine GM having this as one of their core values)
4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
5. Pursue growth and learning.
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication.
7. Build a positive team and family spirit.
8. Do more with less.
9. Be passionate and determined.
10. Be humble.

Now that you’ve read them, take a moment and find one that talks about the product that they sell – Shoes.  Go ahead – I’ll wait – tick – tock – tick – tock – time’s up.  I couldn’t find one either.

Tony Hsieh (pronounced ‘Shay’), the CEO of Zappos.com, figured out a long time ago that anyone can sell shoes; they’re a commodity.  What makes the difference in selling a product or service is how it’s delivered and the customer experience.  REALTORS® sell homes – a commodity.  I can sell a $200,000 home just as easily as the next REALTOR®.  At the end of the day, a seller moves on and a buyer moves in.  Pretty cut and dried.  The difference in any transaction (and what will generate future referrals) is not what was sold, but how it was sold.

The following are selected excerpts from the article that I read:

“What he (Hsieh) really cares about is making Zappos’s employees and customers feel really, really good.  This is not because Hsieh is a nice guy (though he is a very nice guy), but because he has decided that his entire business revolves around one thing: happiness.  Everything at Zappos serves that single end. Other business innovators work with software code or circuit boards or molecular formulas.  Hsieh prefers to work with something altogether more complex and volatile: human beings themselves.”¹

Interesting concept, this “happiness” thing.

“The defining aspect of the Zappos customer experience — free shipping and free returns — was concocted out of necessity.  Hsieh figured that there was no other way to get people to try the site.  He also added a prominently displayed toll-free customer support number, a personal buying service, free socks — anything to help put skeptical customers at ease.  Because the company could not afford to spend money on marketing, the sales strategy involved making customers so happy that they bought again or told their friends or both.”¹

No advertising?  Really?

“I spent a few minutes sitting in the Zappos call center with Grace Hale, a bubbly young woman with dyed black hair and a lip piercing.  Unlike most call center operators, Zappos does not keep track of call times or require operators to read from scripts.  Hale has a penchant for offering unsolicited commentary on customers’ shoe selections — “They are beautiful,” she coos during one call, as she pulls up a picture of a pair of Dr. Scholl’s Asana heels that a customer found uncomfortable.  Not only are reps encouraged to make decisions on their own — for instance, offering a refund on a defective item — they are supposed to send a dozen or so personal notes to customers every day.  ”It’s all about P-E-C,” Hale explains to me.  ”Personal Emotional Connection with the customer.”"¹

Enpowering employees to make decisions on their own without getting permission to act?  Hmmm.  Sending out personal notes?  But that takes a lot of time.

“During Zappos’s early days, long workdays would often spill into late-night socializing.  Hsieh enjoyed this so much that he formalized it at Zappos: Managers are now required to spend 10 percent to 20 percent of their time goofing off with the people they manage.  “It’s just kind of a random number we made up,” Hsieh concedes.  “But part of the way you build company culture is hanging out outside of the office.”"¹

Goofing off or team-building?

Whether you’re a customer, manager, owner or REALTOR®, hopefully this post will make you think.  Have a great weekend!

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¹ Chafkin, Max. “The Zappos Way of Managing.” Inc. – The Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs. May 2009. 29 May 2009 <http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090501/the-zappos-way-of-managing.html>.