When it comes to customer service and Australian businesses, often we find ourselves comparing the customer service experience in Australia to that which we experience when travelling to or dealing with US merchants. I know I do it. Obviously there are exceptions. And, I won’t go for the ‘well, they’re being nice cause they want a bit tip’ argument when it comes to US customer service. Nobody HAS to provide good service. I find that in the US, there seems to be more attention on training staff to manage customers and, especially in restaurants, the service is umpteen times better than in Australia. The name Zappos has come to stand for a new standard of customer service, an amazing online shopping experience, a great place to work and the most impressive transformational business success story of recent years. Simply put, Zappos is revolutionising business and changing lives.
When it comes to customer service, I’ve experienced Zappos’ first hand and it WAS impressive.
Zappos customer service and their business success has become such a benchmark that one man, Joseph Michelli, has written a book about it: The Zappos Experience. I finished the book last night and, while I’ve heard the Zappos story a few times, including LIVE at SXSW a couple of years ago when co-founder Tony Hsieh presented a keynote, the book was a great thought-starter for me because:
- Small businesses can often underestimate the power of values and culture, thinking these are things reserved for big businesses, when in fact, they are an important part of small business success too. When I had a team of 25, we had our vision up on the wall and getting to know these was part of staff induction. Now that I head up a small team, we don’t visit the company values or talk about our culture much. We have values and we do have a way of doing business and rituals that are uniquely ours, but we don’t explore them. This is something I want to change.
- Having a focus that incorporates love and generosity is not a normal idea. Zappos does it AND earns very handsome profits. The Zappos Experience made me question what the feeling is that we want customers to leave with after they interact with us. This will be a question I’ll ask our team and we’ll come up with an answer and direction.
- Customer experience and the speed with which their needs are met are paramount to business success. From page load time to the time it takes to answer a call, Zappos measures velocity as a way that satisfies customers. When was the last time you measured what it takes to make a purchase on your site or to get back to a customer inquiry?
- Learning and development are a high value and part of doing business. As an educational organisation, this one is a little easier for us because we’re delivering education and the team, me included, get to hear/see and read a lot. We are always learning new and wonderful things from our guest authors and subject matter experts. Sometimes what we’re learning, e.g., how to have a profitable website is directly relevant to someone’s responsibility. Other times, e.g., How to be more courageous (the subject of a recent herBusiness podcast) lends access to a more personal level of development. Could team learning be a part of your culture?
Today at 12.00pm, I’ll interview the author of “The Zappos Experience”, Joseph Michelli. Joseph had access to the inside workings of Zappos and we’ll discuss just HOW it is that they have built an enviable business – and how you too can build business success in your industry. I’d love you to join me if you’re available. The session is free and you can register here. Alternatively, pick up a copy of The Zappos Experience book. It’s a great read.
