Zappos.com: Positive Power of Principled Profit Spotlight, June 2007
Here’s a 10-point program for greatness:
1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble
These are the core values of Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, “a customer service company that happens to sell shoes.” Lots of shoes, at that: 1,080 brands, 155,725 styles, and 2,885,850 separate products–including, for instance, 15 pages of vegetarian-friendly shoes containing no leather! And it’s easy to navigate the site, drilling down for example from shoes to men’s dress shoes for wide feet in just a couple of clicks.
Add to this huge selection a low-price guarantee, free shipping on both purchases (overnight, at that) and returns, a one-year return policy
Zappos is a powerful example of delivering such a good experience that people have to tell their friends (something I discuss extensively in my award-winning sixth book, <a href=”https://www.principledprofit.com”>Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First</a>).
In fact, I learned about the company because of a post in the LED discussion list (highly recommended) by listowner Adam Audette, who happens to manage the Zappos discussion list. Thousands of people learned about the company from that post, or from a blog post on voodoventures.com about touring the company and discovering such perks as a blow-off-steam room, a substantial lending library, as well as extremely accessible senior management (often another hallmark of successful ethical companies.
Does it work? The company expects to break $1 billion next year. I’d say that’s pretty good!
