Thank You Zappos - A Great Company
26 April 2008
No CommentCustomer service, more often than not, is seen as an expense rather than an opportunity. Cutbacks are talk of the town, not investment. Yet, this is probably one of the most, if not the most important areas of a company which can provide a competitive advantage.
I’ve been playing with this thought in my head for a while and was looking for a way to turn it into a blog post. Funnily enough, Matt Dickman of Techno//Marketer recently wrote a post conveying similar thoughts.
More and more marketing is shifting from helping to sell products and services to creating an experience. Products are bought less and less for their utility, but because of the way they make the buyer feel.
“Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable”
This brings me to Zappos, a online shoe and accessories retailer from the United States. Founded in 1999 and currently grossing almost $600m a year. How did they get this big? Not through marketing, or at least not through the old school of marketing. Excellent customer service as their unique selling point pushed the company to their current heights. You can order shoes and shipping is free. Don’t like the shoes? You just send them back and guess what, they’ll pay for that as well!
I came across the company online several times already. Not through looking for a new pair of shoes, but because other people were talking about them. And not just talking, they were singing their praises - every single one of them. And seeing as I’m a big believer of the importance of great customer service I started dinging for more information and found a presentation created by company owner Tony Hsieh. At the end of the presentation they offer to send anyone a copy of their culture book. Already being impressed with the rave reviews and the manner they have joined the conversation with their customers, I decided to email and ask for a copy.
They responded only a few hours later asking for my contact details! Even when I informed them of the fact I am based in Holland they persisted and promised me a copy. Two days later, yes just TWO!! days later the book was on my doormat. In all honestly I wouldn’t have blamed them if they told me they couldn’t send me a copy. But they didn’t only go out of their way making sure I got a copy, but they also send it off immediately making sure I would get it as soon as possible.
I’ve got feet like Donald Duck so I’ll never buy shoes online, but I’ll make sure I recommend Zappos to anyone who will !
It may not sell any shoes for them, but it does generate publicity. And more importantly, I’ll happily recommend them to any of my friends and that is something far more valuable than any marketing campaign can buy you!
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