LW blog

I recently ordered some new Reef sandals from Zappos.com. In fact, I order almost ALL of my shoes from Zappos.com. Sure I also buy locally, but usually I can’t because:

• The store doesn’t have my size (11-12 is very common, popular shoes sell out fast).
• Driving to the store, trying on the shoes, while facing a 50% chance of being disappointed for one reason or another is not how I spend my precious time.

Zappos knows this. They “get it”

Let’s say I want a style of shoe…2-3 clicks and I’m looking at the most popular styles. Or the newest styles. I can dig as deeply into the list as I need, or just do a quick search and find the shoe I want to buy now. I add it to my cart. I check out in two steps. It takes me all of 5 minutes, at the most.

What happens if they are out of stock? Do I wait while they call another store so I can drive over there? What if the other store has my shoe. I almost hope they don’t. I will probably need to wait 5 days to get the shoes. There’s also a 50/50 chance that one of the underpaid and undermotivated clerks forgot to pack and send it.

Here’s what Zappos does - they give me a little popup window that asks for size, email (or not if I’m not already logged in), and if it’s ok to contact me later when the size comes in. Finito. I can wait. Really. It’s less painful when I don’t have to count on flaky people or systems.

Now shoe-buying in a physical store may be a different experience for men than for women. I don’t enjoy it. I want to take minimal steps to my destination. Zappos knows this.

This doesn’t keep my wife from buying from Zappos however. She knows about their return policy and likes getting packages in the mail as much as I do. Especially when they arrive within 2-3 days of the order. Free shipping on almost every order.

I mean to say CONSISTENTLY only 2-3 days after the order, which I find amazing. It’s as if they get most orders out the same day. They UNDERPROMISE and OVERDELIVER. On purpose. They don’t tell me they’ll ship free the same day, the way Amazon does, and then I get it in a week. They tell me it will be a few days, and then I get it in two. Sometimes three but they make it feel like two. This Tom Peters concept is so simple, but so many fail to use it as a way to engage and impress customers.

Zappos knows customer engagement. It’s the core of who they are.

Look at their slogan;

“We are a service company that happens to sell”

Brilliant.

Most companies are a selling company that happen to serve. Or a company with a really lazy slogan made up by people who are suppose to be the lazy slogan expert people. It’s all nonsense. You either are or you aren’t engaged and passionate and want to win over customers.

It doesn’t matter what kind of widget or service you’re providing, there will always be a buyer who has been mistreated or has no time, or just doesn’t know what they want.

When it comes to online shopping, the formula should be clear. Unfortunately for most sites, it’s not. They spend 5 minutes looking at their return/RMA system. Or to prevent the 1% theft that might cause a chargeback or two, they alienate 20% of their future customer base. Not Zappos. If I want to return something I login (or call), find my order, click a button and print and RMA# AND POSTAGE PAID RETURN LABEL.

It’s not rocket science. But it is attention to detail. Most importantly, it’s blowing the minds and winning the hearts of the people who make it happen. If you own a store: Do your homework. Pay attention to every detail, no matter how small. Build customer profiles and use cases until you intellectually understand your customers, and then throw those profiles out the window and ask yourself why you should fire yourself for making things harder than they are. You’re here to serve, and to make your customers passionate, not bored or crazy or angry.

Look, it’s ok to throw away work/research/meeting notes/various hyperbole. It’s a great way to remain creative and engaged and passionate about the core reason why you wake up and tend the store each day.

Then, if you’re lucky, your customers will write blog posts about how great you are.

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