The Philosophy of a Billion

This is Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos - an online retailer that mostly sells shoes but has also branched out into apparel, etc. They do over one billion in revenue a year.

Golly gee wilikers - that's a lot of shoes!

Eh, who cares, they sell a lot of shoes. But what is absolutely fascinating is WHY they sell that many feet enclosures. Their philosophy. I'll bullet point a few key points so you can see what I'm talking about. Then I'd encourage you to check out the link below to see the CEO talk about his company.

• they spend most of the money they would normally spend on marketing to instead to improve the customer experience.
• because of this, 75% of their sales are from repeat customers.
• rather than burying their 800 number (like most companies websites), they put it at the top of every page because they want to talk to their customers.
• they encourage their phone reps to spend as much time as they think necessary talking to each customer to make sure they have a "Wow!" experience.
• they frequently do surprise shipping upgrades to delight their customers (I ordered a pair of shoes and they arrived the next day - even though I hadn't chosen that option!)
• if they don't have the size that you need in stock, they will research at least 3 different competitor's sites for you and then direct you to them if they have what you need.

Here's what Tony said regarding sending those customers somewhere else to buy their shoes. 

"Yes, we lose that transaction. But we're not trying to maximize every transaction. We're trying to build a lifelong relationship with each of our customers one call at a time."

"Wow!" Surprise, Awe and Delight.

 Tony speaking at SXSW