“Our business is based on repeat customers and word of mouth. There’s a lot of value in building up our brand name and what it stands for. We view the money that we spend on customer service as marketing money that improves our brand.”
This quote by Tony Hsieh to Chief Marketer speaks to the importance that Zappos places on service.
There are legendary stories of customers calling Zappos to ask for random things… like help in ordering a pizza. During the pandemic, Zappos decided to lopside their customer service. Back in April they quadruple-downed and created, “Customer Service for Anything.” You could call, chat, text, or tweet for help with anything.
Adrian Swinscoe wrote about how it potentially saved lives (link to Forbes post in the comments) in NYC. Zappos helped Dr. Putrino of Mt. Sinai Medical Center source 300 pulse oximeters for COVID patients.
[The service is now in “hibernation” after running for months]
Effort matters. To quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” No sh*t, Sherlock.
Takeaway – How are you doing the little things like Zappos to honor your customers and become talk-able? How are you investing in added service to signal you care?