Fanatical Customer Service.

How three amigos sought to solve a simple problem that lead to a billion dollars and beyond!

Have you ever been out shopping and couldn't find what you wanted, and the thought crossed your mind that you'd sell it yourself if you could? That is exactly what happened for one young man who was out trying to find a particular pair of boots and couldn't find them.

Walking around shopping at a mall is not the kind of thing the average guy likes to do. But, Nick Swinmurn was determined to find the boots he needed. After checking every store, and even searching online, Nick finally concluded that if he was having this problem, a lot of other people were too.

Nick researched what it would take to start his own online shoe store and enlisted the help of, his two best friends, Tony Hsieh and Alfred Lin. At first there was skepticism, but when Nick showed them how his research found the U.S. has a $40 Billion per year shoe industry — and $2 Billion of that is done with snail-mail catalogs — Tony and Alfred started to pay attention.

That was the beginning of a new online shoe store called Zappos — founded way back in 1999. The word Zappos was invented out of the word zapatos, which means shoes in Spanish.

Their business vision was simple: find a way to offer every form of foot wear known to mankind, in every brand, style, color and size possible.

Initially they got started with a venture capital investment of $500,000 from a local firm called Venture Frogs. The next year, in 2000, Zappos brought in $1.6 million and quadrupled their sales up to $8.6 million in 2001. Over the next few years, Zappos continued to increase their sales on up to $840 million by 2007, and finally hit $1 Billion in 2008.

How do three average guys make something like that happen? Their business vision was nothing unusual. What did they DO that set them apart from other companies out there? The answer can be summarized in just two words.

Customer Service.

Everyone who is hired at Zappos must go through a four week customer loyalty training course. After a candidate finishes their training, they are offered $2,000.00 to quit. By doing this, Zappos can find out if the new hire is truly committed and wants to be there... or not. So far, 9 out of 10 people interviewed turned down the $2000 take-the-money-and-go-work-somewhere-else bribe!

Knowing only this much, what would you expect the working atmosphere in a serious money company like Zappos, to be? Rigid, disciplined and serious? The typical big corporation stereotype employee work place?

If so, you'd be wrong. The three amigos wanted the most enjoyable and most successful place where anyone had worked. They wanted the happiest people working for them so they would be successful in providing the best customer service ever — which is exactly what they did!

If you think Zappos does not exercise any direction or discipline at all, consider their ten core values which define their culture, brand, and business strategies. They are:

• Deliver WOW Through Service.
• Embrace and Drive Change.
• Create Fun and A Little Weirdness.
• Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded.
• Pursue Growth and Learning.
• Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication.
• Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit.
• Do More With Less.
• Be Passionate and Determined.
• Be Humble.

Apparently, when you have your values clearly in place, you don't need a lot of excessive rules to make you successful.

Amazon.com must have thought so too, because they purchased Zappos for over $1.2 Billion in 2010.

This decision was based in large part because Zappos has mastered getting their existing customers back. Some 40 percent come back to buy more because of Zappo's customer service, no-hassle return policy and overnight shipping. How many companies do you know avoid such policies because of the high expense? Not Zappos.

At the time of purchase, the original three amigos remained in control of the company operations to maintain their company culture. Their devotion to customer service extends to their own employees too. Over $40 million of that money was to be divided up amongst their existing employees. How much easier is it for an employee to give a company their all, when the company is giving all they can to them?

Today, Zappos is no longer just an online shoe, clothing and accessories store. They are a customer service organization, which happens to deliver shoes and other items to fit the needs of their customers. What they are all about is delivering HAPPINESS. Happiness for their employees, and their customers. There is even a book out now about their company's culture and why they are successful. It's called Delivering Happiness.

That is pretty cool! There is no other way to say it. It is just cool.

Solid Gold Performance...

It means focusing on KEEPING your customers coming back. Not because YOU want them too, but because THEY had a pleasing experience that THEY want to come back. Focus on your customers wants and needs and they will remain loyal to you, through good times and bad.

How Did Zappos Become a Gold Mine? By Superior:

Operations...     Talent...     Administrative Management...

Click on Function... Insert a Do It in your Strategic Plan... then Just DO IT!

Your Thoughts and Observations...

"Don't let your ego get in the way if something is working. Do whatever you need to do to keep moving the company forward and don't worry about who gets credit or who owns what. That's one of the reasons everything worked for us. No one at Zappos had a huge ego." ~ Nick Swinmurn