My New BFF

When it comes to online auctions, I immediately think: Ebay. When it comes to books, dvds, music, and home goods, I think: Amazon. And when it comes to shoes? It's all about ZAPPOS, baby!!!!

I have been a looooooong time customer of theirs and have remained loyal initially because of their unprecedented shoe return policy. Free shipping to AND fro for 365 days after purchase. Wow! Whoever heard of being able to return a pair of SHOES one year after you've purchased them?

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to listen to the Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh speak about Zappos' "Path to $1 Billion". In 1999, Zappos began as a private company doing $8.6 million in 2000 and $32 million in 2001. Today, they have 1,600 employees, a 500 person call center, and are well on track to hit $1 billion in sales this year.

Tony emphasized that company culture was key and stressed the importance of achieving the best customer service. Zappos.com was not going to be just about shoes. It was going to be about great customer service- regardless of cost. This is hammered home in every aspect of their retail site and the overall experience.

In order to achieve this, a company culture book is provided to team members each year and every single employee writes a few sentences about what the culture means to him or her. They also send new team members to the company headquarters in Las Vegas for FOUR WEEKS of training just on culture, core values and customer loyalty, followed by a week of warehouse training in Kentucky! That's FIVE weeks of training before even touching a phone and speaking to a precious customer.

From free shipping and free 365-day return shipping, to fast, accurate fulfillment and surprise upgrades, the Zappos experience is like customer service on steroids. Tony shared a story of a customer declaring that what would really make him happy was a pizza but it was 3am. The customer rep searched and found the nearest pizza places in Santa Monica that were still open! WTF?!?

Hey, that's really cool. Today, I had to exchange a pair of shoes I bought for my son. Even though their return instructions are so easy, I called the 800 number just to hear the joke of the day :) To my pleasant surprise, Tony answered and had a guest speaker, Serena friggin' Williams helping him go through the menu options! Hilarious!!!

If you haven't shopped there yet. By all means, check it out. And the best part is, they're not even just shoes anymore. Clothing, bags, accessories... they're all at Zappos now, too.

Enjoy!!!
www.zappos.com