3. Zappos at a Glance – Provider of Choice
What is a Zappos anyway?
Found in 1999
A variation of the Spanish word Zapotas which means “shoes.”
Zappos is a service company that happens to sell shoes, clothing, handbags, eyewear, watches and a bunch of other stuff.
Zappos is powered by service
Provide the best service and online shopping experience possible.
Free shipping and return policy.
365-day return policy.
Fast fulfillment .
Expedited delivery.
Free referral service to competitor sites.
Best selection
Over 1200 brands.
Over 160,000 styles.
Over 850,000 unique UPCs.
Over 3 million pairs of shoes.
Products are photographed in multiple angles.
All products inventoried.

4. Zappos – Employer of Choice
If you treat your employees well they treat your customers well….
Fun, happy atmosphere.
Life coach.
Free vending machine and dining facility.
Attract and retain top employees.
Ranked No. 6 CNN Money places to work.

5. Zappos – Investment of Choice
Believe in me and my business model.
1999.
Founder Nick Swinmum raised $150,000 for start up.
CEO Tony Hsieh invested $500,000.
Sequoia capital $48Mil.
100mil line of credit.
2009.
Sold to Amazon.com for $1.2Bil

6. Power of a Vision Zappos Vision Three Part Vision
To be the company that provides the absolute best service online.
Three Part Vision
One day, 30% of all retail transactions in the US will be online.
People will buy from the company with the best service and the best selection.
Zappos.com will be that online store.
A Shared Vision Equals Power
The vision must be incorporated into every aspect of the organization.
The Zappos vision is adhered to at all levels.
Guaranteed 100% customer satisfaction with every purchase.
Core concept is Legendary Service.

7. Importance of a Vision Shared Vision is Key
Centers on collective direction.
Accomplished through empowerment, motivation and accountability.
Maintain a proactive stance and adapt to changing situations.
Fundamentals of Zappos Shared Vision
Mutual respect and admiration .
Employees are an integral part of the corporate culture.
Commitment to legendary service.
Remaining customer driven.

8. Zappos Core Values Deliver WOW Through Service
Embrace and Drive Change
Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
Pursue Growth and Learning
Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
Do More With Less
Be Passionate and Determined
Be Humble

9. Vision and Leadership Tony Hsieh: The Visionary Leader
Build a brand focused on customer service.
Created a higher purpose for employees.
Encouraged employees to become more engaged.
Enhanced customer service and satisfaction with happy people.
Company culture is priority #1.
Customer service High-Touch approach.
Zappos is delivering happiness.

10. Zappos Legendary Service
Customer Service
Zappos Legendary Service
1-800 number on every Web page
24/7 life customer service representative
Free shipping both ways
365 day return policy

11. Relentless Focus on Customer Results
Blanchard
Ideal Service
Culture of Service
Attentiveness
Responsiveness
Empowerment
Zappos
Handwritten “Thank you” cards
Customer Loyalty Training
24/7 Customer Service – Blogs, Facebook, Twitter
“We serve therefore we are.” Christina C.
$2000 Customer Rep allowance
I C A R E

12. Serving Customers at a higher Level
Potential Customers
Internal
External
Vendors
Investors
Customer Experience
Fast, Accurate Fulfillment
Friendly, helpful “above and beyond” customer service
Refer customers to competitors’ web sites
Customer Reaction
New Customers through word of mouth
Customers come back
Repeating Customers order more

13. Serving Customers: Empower People
Zappos approaches to empower their Employees
No call time limits
No sales-based performance goals for reps
5 weeks of culture, core values, customer service, and warehouse training for everyone in Las Vegas
Zappos Culture book
Interviews and performance reviews are 50% based on core values and culture fit

14. Self Leadership
“ If we get the culture right . Then everything else falls into place” Tony Hsieh
Blanchard
ZAPPOS Focus on the value & identity of individual employee Self-awareness and Innovation Enhance scope of creativity without reserve Cohesive work-groups
Increase Individual Self- Awareness Improve Behavioral Management & Cues Self - Goal Setting: Personal Values & Priorities Self Reward & Self – Discipline

15. Self Leadership: Strategies
Behavior Focused
Natural Reward
Constructive Thought
Open Mindedness
Every one’s actions impact another
Self-confidence
Conviction
Organizational Pride
Innovative Ideas & Solutions
Create opportunities
Positive beliefs & ways of thinking

16. Self Leadership at Zappos
Sustaining the Self-leadership Culture at Zappos
Challenge Assumed Constraints
Focus leadership training systems towards a deeper awareness of individual personal constraints
Celebrate Your Power Points
A deeper understanding of power provides breadth to expand its value
Collaborate for Success
Engage in Supportive Leadership Training which
concentrates on emotional & behavioral elements self-leadership

17. Coaching: Pursue Growth & Learning
Hires the right people
Entry level with mindset of training to eventually take on leadership position
“On a scale of 1-10, how lucky are you?”
$4000 offer to leave after training if fit is not right
Pipeline & Culture
4 week new hire training
Answering phones
Zappos History
Zappos Culture
Science of Happiness 101
Tribal Leadership
Public Speaking
Delivering Happiness
Intermediate Microsoft Office

18. Coaching Continued Zappos Insight Team
Designed to bring out best in employees and business
Mage of Mayhem
Goals Coach
Culture Evangelist
Top 3 Goals by Zappos Employees:
Career Development
Weight Loss
Personal Finance/ Budgeting
The only way to get a raise at Zappos is to engage in continuous learning and gain new skill sets.

19. Coaching: Outside Current Employee Base
Training for college students beginning freshman year, through internships and special workshops, so that they are ready for Zappos when they graduate.
Zappos Insights consulting to other businesses, including:
2 day quarterly boot camp, including:
Developing Core Values
Hiring and Firing
Training for Leaders and Longevity
Customer Service
Empowerment and Engagement/Inspiring Purpose
Leadership
Meetings with Zappos Top Management
Use of templates
Online subscription to Insights Core Curriculum and blog

20. Zappos Compared to 5 Applications of Coaching
Blanchard:
Zappos:
Performance Coaching
Development Coaching
Career Coaching
Coaching to Support Learning
Creating an Internal Coaching Culture
Unknown
Goals Coach
Goals Coach; Philosophy of entry level to senior leadership
Raises tied to mastering new skill sets
Insight Team

21. Zappos Leadership: Developing a Point of View
Main Elements
Think About your life’s purpose, why are you here, what do you wish to accomplish?
What are your core values that will guide your behavior as you attempt to live life “on purpose”?
What can people expect from you?
What do you expect from your people?

22. Zappos Leadership: Developing a Point of View
Suggestions:
Provide everyone with a copy of your mission, vision and values. Adopt the mindset that these guidelines are as important as your work values – and treat them accordingly.
Adopt the mindset that your employees don’t work for you – you work for them. Refer to your team members as: the people I work for.

23. Zappos Leadership: Point of View
Tony Hsieh describes his purpose as “ Generally, I associate drama with negative emotions, and I want to experience positive emotions.” His purpose is to deliver positive emotions to others.
Hsieh has outlined his values in the 10 Core Values for Zappos.
Those who work for Zappos can expect from the company “ an environment of fun, creativity, and the ability to be a little “weird”.
Hsieh expects from his employees continuous efforts to learn and improve their performance, especially under less than ideal situations, to “do more with less”, and importantly, humility towards customers.

24. “Your culture is your brand!”
Zappos’ Culture
Zappos’ culture is centered on its ten core values
All core values are measured against the CRUD test:
Credible
Relevant
Unique
Durable
Values are both explicitly stated and implicitly present in action
Culture happens by default or by design. Great leaders design their culture, set values in motion, and stir up the culture regularly.
“Your culture is your brand!”

25. Zappos’ Culture
Zappos relocated to Las Vegas in order to obtain a workforce that was accustomed to working 24 hours per day to deliver the standards it held itself to.
Zappos seeks culture fit before skills fit when hiring new employees
Zappos uses interview questions that get at the applicant’s own core values
Applicants are evaluated in formal and casual settings such as happy hour with the prospective team

26. Zappos’ Culture
Zappos leaders asked these four questions in order to stay on track to culture identification:
Do you have explicit corporate values? If so, do those values reflect a blend of your founding principles and the evolving demands of the marketplace? Or are they static and immutable?
What do your customers value? How do your corporate values match up with the wants, needs, and desires of your customers?
Since values can be both explicit (stated) and implicit (unstated), do your corporate actions align with your stated values? If not, what do the major decisions of your business suggest about your company's real values?
How willing are you to consider revising your stated values to match your demonstrated actions or revising your actions to match your stated values? What might those revisions look like?

27. Zappos’ Culture
The following is a Tweet on Twitter from CEO Tony Hsieh regarding culture:
“Breathtaking video of birds flocking - (same principle can be used to scale culture)”
The flocking birds are truly representative of the Zappos culture…organized chaos creating patterns of smooth flowing processes!

28. Conclusion – Is Zappos a High Performance Organization?
Zappos is a company like no other. Having explored their corporate structure, values, leadership attributes, and pipeline strategy, it is clear their unique corporate culture is what drives their success.
With low turnover and a stringent hiring policy, they create loyalty among their employees through rigorous training.
With a firm commitment to their team, Zappos has consistently hit their goals and lives their ten core values with fervor and passion.

29. Never stop improving customer service
Could it be done better?
Our Suggestions:
Never stop improving customer service
Managers identify gaps and help employees improve
Create “Supportive Leadership” program
Don’t get spread too thin so that customers don’t recognize the core business

30. Or do you still have questions?
Did we convince you?
Or do you still have questions?