We’re so excited to have Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh keynoting our upcoming Word of Mouth Supergenius event on July 20th in New York, we’re making this week a special Zappos week. We’ve got a few special newsletters lined up, a live interview with Tony and our Andy Sernovitz, and a few posts looking at some simple ways Zappos creates amazing word of mouth.
And first up, we’re taking a peek at Tony’s new book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. It’s a fantastic look at how a brand was founded on delivering “wow” experiences.
Zappos is a brand built on referrals and recommendations — and they had to be. Before Zappos, shoes were something you touched, tried on, and walked around in before buying. Nobody was comfortable with the idea of buying shoes online.
When they had a customer willing to take a chance on them, they knew they had to make the most of it. And that’s where the wow comes in — the free shipping both ways, the year-long return policy, the amazing upgrades. It’s this investment in word of mouth that’s earned them the loyal fans that are recommending them for free, forever.
Tony’s book is an amazing behind-the-scenes look at how this company and its culture was created. He talks about the ups, the downs, the rough starts, the stress, and the tough decisions. He talks about how they created their culture, how their staff stays motivated to deliver “wow” experiences, and offers a few hints at where they might go in the future.
And perhaps the biggest, billion dollar lesson in the book: You no longer have to choose between amazing profits or happy customers and employees. Rather, today, the best way to make money is to make people happy.
For entrepreneurs, for established brands, for marketers, for human resource pros — and for anyone at all interested in word of mouth, you’ll love Tony’s book.
Stay tuned for more great lessons from Zappos this week, and meet Tony (and 30 other amazing marketers) live at Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on July 20th in New York.
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