Customer Service Truths from Zappos

I loved the recent post from Mug Clubber, Maria Palma, about Zappos. Maria shared this quote from an article about the company:

“We’ve just always believed that investing resources and money in improving customer service would eventually yield greater reach than an advertisement in a fashion magazine,” Hsieh says. “We didn’t build this business overnight, and there were times early on where we thought about going under every day. Yet slowly but surely our investment in a culture of service began paying dividends.”

Three vitally important truths are found in this quote:

1. Customer Service is an Investment. Many companies throw tons of money into sales, marketing and branding and while too often ignoring the fact that...
2. ... quality customer service is sales, marketing and brand identity. Your company's purple cow could be standing right in your pasture disguised in black and white. Customer Service isn't always glitzy and glamorous, but it can be the most powerful differentiator you've got.
3. Creating a service culture doesn't happen overnight. One of the major reasons owners and managers don't invest time, money and energy into their customer service performance is because it's not a quick fix. We have witnessed companies who pay lip-service to Customer Service and have a Customer Service "Event" only so they could tell their stock holders they were "doing something" about customer service. A quick survey of their customers reveals that they never had the guts to make a lasting, long-term commitment to changing their corporate customer service culture. When it comes to being a World-class Customer Service leader, "slow and steady wins the race".

Related Posts:
Lower Prices Isn't Always What Customer's Want
Your Calls Can Be Monitored to Ensure Quality Service

Comments

[Starbucker]

Tom, great link to Maria's post - it just so happened that we bought our first two pairs of shoes from Zappos last week. You are SO right - anybody expecting a company to go from "OK" to "World Class" customer service overnight just isn't being realistic. All the best!