In eight years Zappos grew their business from $1.6M to over $ 1 billion. They did this by making customer services their number 1 goal. Their motto is “Powered by Service” and they aim to provide the top online service there is. CEO Tony Hsieh attributes their substantial growth to word of mouth and repeat customers.
A quick look at their website reveals that they are certainly different to any online retailer I have used here in the UK. They have free shipping both ways and 365 days to return items. Their phone number available 24/7 is listed up front on every page and they even have a line in Spanish. This is a very different experience to many online retailers who tend to hide their phone number deep in their websites.
Despite this 95% of their orders are online. However they have found that nearly all their customers contact them at least once by phone. Customers experience fast, accurate fulfilment and state that they have “above and beyond” customer service.
Zappos also invest heavily in their staff. Staff have five weeks of training when they start at the company. Customer service is seen as everybody’s business. There are no call times for reps and no sales based performance. They believe that building a positive culture amongst employees is the best way to do business. That culture is slightly zany but that personality fits with their customers and the fashion business.
To promote the business benefits of their culture Zappos have run a series of insights workshops where business people can come and view the culture for themselves. I watched a few of the feedback videos from participants and it was clear that there were some very impressed business owners. What an excellent way to build word of mouth and buzz around a brand!
Zappos make full use of social media, twitter and blogs. But somehow it is the culture and the personality that make this work so incredibly well for them. This is an example where the word of mouth strategy is very well baked in to the brand.
Amazon have recently acquired Zappos so it will be interesting to see if there is any shift of culture or whether the customer service ethic can transfer across to Amazon. Amazon have just launched a new online shop in the uk called “Javari” which does have the free shipping and up front phone line. The website is still in beta so clearly this will be one to watch!
