“Customer service is part of the marketing budget”.
This quote is something I heard while taking a Zappo’s tour in Las Vegas.
A company that went from zero to over $1 billion in annual sales is a company to model. So I took the tour and read Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness – A Path to Profits, Passion, And Purpose. Tony sold his company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 billion in 1999. Soon after, he joined Zappos as an advisor, investor, and eventually, CEO. Zappos appeared on Fortune magazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list in 2009, and shortly thereafter, Zappos was acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion.
Most articles you read here are about marketing and business growth strategies. Well, if you take the Zappo’s tour and read Tony Hsieh’s book, you will understand that making customer service expenses a part of the marketing budget is a marketing and business growth strategy.
Many people who take the tour will tell you about the crazy decorations, rainbow of colors, and the overall atmosphere. Although all of that is something to talk about, the big takeaway for me was the outstanding attitudes of the employees. They were all helpful, fun, entertaining, informative, and happy to be at work. Every employee looked everyone in the eye and said “hello” with a big smile even if they were just passing by or on a phone call. The employees on the phone only lip synced the hello because they had a customer on the line, but the intent was there as was the smile and eye contact. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see us. Others in our tour group felt the same way.
In the economic climate live in today you would think all business owners and managers and employees would make it a priority to make guests and customers feel welcome. A smile is FREE and yet it goes a looooooong way. A great attitude is also FREE and goes a long way.
Apply to work at Zappos and if after a short time, they determine someone is not a fit to work there, they will offer $2,000 to quit! Yes I said, to QUIT! If this makes you shudder at the thought, consider this…
How much does an employee with a negative infectious attitude cost a business over a period of time? A negative employee
can bring down morale and infect everyone around them. This gets passed on to the customer. If you sell high priced items it may be easier to accept that a $2,000 payout to get rid of an employee is a deal. If you have profit margins that equate to $3,000 per sale then a sale earned that otherwise would have been lost due to negative employee attitudes equals a $1,000 gain.
Question – But what if you sell lower-priced items?
Answer – Zappos is known primarily as a shoe company.
I am not suggesting that simply paying to get rid of employees who are not a fit is the only answer. That is not the entire story of Zappos, but it’s a rare example to study. Zappos also offers continuous training to employees. They have an in-house Life Coach who works with employees on their goals — not just their goals within the Zappos family and culture.
A happy employee is more likely to give the type of customer service that will keep your customer coming back.
If you are consistently throwing money at marketing/advertising without great customer service and happy employees in place, take the Zappos tour and consider offering additional training. This way, the Marketing Consulting you invest in will lead to more sales as happy employees build relationships with newly introduced leads and customers.
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