Week 1: EOC

I've had this for a few days, but I just figured out how to use labels.

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The online shoe company, Zappos, believes that  great customer service is  essential to their success. That’s why the one of the fastest growing web retailers has got as big as it did. While other companies pour money into advertising, trying to get new customers to shop from them, Zappos puts the  money that could be used for commercials or magazine ads back into the customer experience. Tony Hiesh, CEO of Zappos,  says that “It’s a lot cheaper to get existing customers to buy from you than it is to try to convince someone [new]. “ (Pg. 1)

Zappos isn’t doesn’t carry special shoes or merchandise that’s exclusive to their company, it’s just that people keep coming back because of the customer experience. If they don’t have an item, they’ll find it with another store even if it means they will lose the sale. The company culture revolves around 10 core values including “Build open and honest relationships  with communication” and “Deliever WOW through service!” (Pg. 4) But this doesn’t only keep the customers coming back, but the employees as well. New hires were given the opportunity to take $2000 to quit the company during their 4 week customer service training but only a few were willing to take the money  and leave.  In our class book, it was said that “Hsieh says that originally the incentive was $100, but the amount keeps rising because not enough people take it.” (Pg.4) . Employees are told to “check their competitiveness and egos at the door” and by doing this they’re able to provide a good experience for everyone involved.

Building better customer relations mean everything to the Zappos. Keeping touch through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, Hsieh and other employees are able to guage how they rate with their customers and gather any feedback they might have. They share the good and bad and keep the customers aware of what’s going on within the company.  

The business model adopted by Zappos should be adopted by more companies during this economic downturn. By keeping your employees happy, they’ll in turn keep the customers happy. By doing this, they’ll keep them coming back and word will spread about how this company is.

References

Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing