If you’ve heard of the online shoe store, Zappos, then you’re probably aware of the company’s highly regarded reputation of providing excellent customer service.  In his book, Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay), the CEO of Zappos at the time, offers a view of how a company can instill the philosophy of its leader and not only survive, but excel.  Hsieh eventually sold Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion, but not before he transformed the shoe store into a worldwide example of how customer service should be ingrained in everyone to be implemented flawlessly.

In Delivering Happiness, Hsieh provides an easy-to-read guide of digestible nuggets that any business leader can begin implementing immediately.  The overarching theme is how Hsieh developed an extraordinary relationship with his employees, treating them with respect and freedom.  This management philosophy served him well as his employees in turn treated Zappos’ customers with the utmost of respect, even going so far as to dote on them.

A book like Delivering Happiness is one that should be purchased so you can highlight key points for future reference and for sharing with your other company leaders.  Some of those key points include:

I. Give Employees a Reason to Quit

This is not your average customer service building advice, but it does work.  At Zappos, Hsieh offered a week’s pay plus a $2,000 sign off bonus.  In other words, he would pay employees to quit if they feel they couldn’t adopt the CEO’s philosophy after the four-week training program.  Hsieh states that only about 2% to 3% ever take the offer.  That leaves 97% willing to stay for the long term rather than go for the quick cash. 

The belief for Hsieh and Zappos was that if the employee couldn’t or didn’t want to adapt to the culture, which is the lifeblood of its customer service, then they were better off paying their employees to leave.

Key Point: Make sure that the people you are hiring are a good fit and not just a warm body with particular skills.  Even if it takes longer to find, hiring the right person that will mold into the “family” culture is worth more in the long run.

II. Customer Service is Not a Department

At Zappos, there is no customer service department.  Everyone at the company is empowered to handle customer service.  In Delivering Happiness, Hsieh tells the story of the time he took a trip with another couple to Hawaii.  Hsieh had boasted to his friend about the great customer service that Zappos provides.  The friend decided to put the company to a test. 

He called Zappos and order a pepperoni pizza (Hsieh said he was hesitant about putting this story in the book for obvious reasons).  The Zappos employee explained that the man had reached a shoe store, but took down some information from the man and put him on hold.  When she came back on the line, she explained that she found a pizza place near his hotel and ordered the pizza for him.  She in fact, ordered it using her personal credit card.  The friend was shocked and became a loyal Zappos customer on the spot.

Key Point: Obviously, not every business would want to go to such extremes, but the point is that the employee was empowered to do what it takes to make the customer happy and she did it.  Creating a culture at your business that empowers your customers to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy boosts more than damages the bottom line.

III. Make the Core Become the Brand

At Zappos, the culture is enforced and reinforced at every turn stressing the value of great customer service.  However, that does not become something that the employees reach out to use as if it is some outside force or service.  The core culture becomes the brand.  Customers recognize, (and because of Delivering Happiness, the public knows), that Zappos doesn’t stand for an online shoe store, but it stands for outstanding customer service.  Its shoe sales have soared because of the service.

The same shoes found at Zappos can be bought elsewhere, but when the core competence of the company became the brand, that is what set Zappos apart from other shoe stores. 

Key Point: Your company’s culture is what is seen by the customer.  The customer may be able to find your products and service at other places, but you are selling your core values of the business to the customer.  Make the core become the brand and your profits will soar.

Delivering Happiness is a great read with employee management and customer relation stories interwoven throughout the book.  This is not an accident.  The entire concept of the book is that you cannot deliver happiness to your customers unless those doing the delivering are happy.  Treating your employees well reflects on how they will treat your customers.

Johnny Duncan, President of Duncan Consulting, Inc., is a business writer and consultant partnering with business leaders to provide workforce management solutions including leadership coaching, customer service training, people-to-job matches, copywriting, and conflict resolution.  He can be reached at johnny@duncanconsult.com or by calling 407-739-0718.