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Zappos’ Secret To Customer Loyalty

 

I’m quite fascinated with Zappos (if you can’t already tell); they seem to have their act together when it comes to business – they have created a business model that really works.

 

I recently came across an article that talks about customer loyalty and how Zappos nurtures that in their company. Rob Siefker, Directory of the Customer Loyalty Team at Zappos, was interviewed by 1 to 1 Media and the concept of customer loyalty was discussed. There were several takeaways that were enlightening and fairly simple concepts:

 

1. Start with employee engagement: Rob states that the company culture dictates the success of the business. Working in a call center, where complaints and issues are coming at a constant rate, it’s important to create an environment that is supportive for the staff on the team. By creating a positive and support culture, the employees are more successful, in turn creating a positive customer experience.

 

2. Be transparent: Rob shares that the company is quite transparent and listens to both customers and employees, always working to better the customer journey and the corporate culture. Employees are on the front lines, and continually talking with them, learning what makes their job easy and difficult, and asking for ways to better the experience can go a long way in both customer facing and employee facing aspects of the business.

 

3. Do something with the data: it’s one thing to have feedback programs in place; it’s another to really look at the data and make good use of it. For Zappos, this means taking the data and providing additional training and coaching for their staff, looking at “make or break” factors in the customer journey and continuing to make improvements, and evaluating the company as a whole based on feedback data from employees and customers.

 

4. Never stay stagnant: that’s the one underlying theme through all of the articles I’ve ever researched on Zappos. Continually measure, change, and improve. That seems to be the way Zappos handles business. In the article, Rob states that “We have to prioritize what’s most important and has the biggest customer impact. We have to continue to be smart about that and test some things in small ways. We go big if it has a positive impact on the customer experience. And we test a lot. Our philosophy is to fire some bullets around before you fire a big cannon ball.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Author: Ann Michaels & Associates

Ann Michaels & Associates has been providing customer experience measurement services since 1998. We provide a full range of services to meet the needs of all industries and company sizes, including mystery shopping, customer and employee feedback services, and social media management.

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