Zappos: Designed to Deliver Happiness
D ELIVERING HAPPINESS is the title of The New York Times bestseller by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, the online shoe and clothing store (w ww.zappos.com ). Delivering happiness is also Zappos’ mission. To make its customers, employees, and other stakeholders happy, Tony Hsieh and other Zappos leaders designed a unique organization. To live up to its mission, Zappos decided that exceptional customer service should be its core competency. They put several policies and procedures in place to “deliver WOW through service”—the first of its 10 core values (see Exhibit 11.1 ). For example, shipments to and from customers within the U.S. are free of charge, allowing customers to order several pairs of shoes and send back (within a liberal 365 days) those that don’t fit or are no longer wanted. Repeat customers are automatically upgraded to complimentary express shipping. One of the most important lessons Hsieh learned is “Never outsource your core competency!” 1 Customer service, therefore, is done exclusively in-house. Perhaps even more importantly, Zappos does not provide a script or measure customer service reps’ call times. Rather, the company leaves it up to the individual “Customer Loyalty Team” member to deliver exceptional customer service: “We want our reps to let their true personalities shine during each phone call so that they can develop a personal emotional connection with the customer.” 2 In fact, one customer service phone call lasted almost six hours! The same trust in the customer service reps applies to e-mail communication. Zappos’ official communication policy is to “be real and use your best judgment.” 3 Most of Zappos’ over 1,500 employees are in some type of sales function, to maintain constant contact with the customer. The customer call centers are staffed 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year. As Zappos grew, its managers realized that it was critical to explicitly define a set of core values from which to develop the company’s culture, brand, and strategy. It wanted to make sure that, in a time of fast growth, all employees understood the same set of