The average customer service call lasts 5.97 minutes, according to Benchmark Portal.
That’s why when Zappos employee Steven Weinstein spent 10 hours and 43 minutes handling just one customer call, he set an internal company record. He most likely holds the national record for time spent helping a single shopper.
Zappos is is a clothing and shoe retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It began as an online operation in 1999. It only recently opened its first brink-n-mortar location, a 20,000 square foot space near company headquarters in Las Vegas. Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in 2009 for $1.2 billion.
Building a Special Culture
Over the past two decades, Zappos has gained widespread recognition for its unique company culture. The case of the 10-hour, 43-minute customer service call illustrates what sets this firm apart from others — a supreme value on customer service. The goal is to “create customers, not sell products.”
Tony Hsiesh is CMO for Zappos. He said when you create customers first, the selling and profits take care of themselves. When his service reps take time to develop relationships with customers one at a time, the payoff is long-term.
Even if several hours are spent helping a caller without making a sale, the benefit is significant. That person is likely to return soon as a bona fide customer and is likely to become a repeat buyer. Customers that are loyal have a “lifetime value” that can be calculated in monetary terms with a high degree of accuracy.
A Trusting, Caring Environment
The internal culture of Zappos is one that is based on trust, quality of personality and a laser-like focus on providing for the customer. Zappos evaluates each potential new employee intensely for such factors as friendliness, level of empathy, introverted/extroverted and warmth of personality. These traits are viewed as more important than raw intelligence, problem-solving skills and personal ambition. If you want to make it at Zappos, an employee should be less concerned about climbing the ladder for a higher position and more focused on being kind, friendly and helpful.
Zappos company leadership listens to the ideas of employees. They foster something they like to call “thought leadership” within a positive work environment. The latter includes a highly flexible dress code, flexible hours and strong two-way communications between managers and employees.
Warm and Fuzzy Pays Off
The Zappos corporate culture might seem a little warm and fuzzy for some, but there is no doubt it is paying off. One benefit is strong employee retention. Zappos workers tend to stick around for a long time. That means less money spent on finding new recruits and training. An even bigger benefit is that the internal happy environment of the company rubs off on the customers outside.
Studies show that an average customer is willing to pay more for a product if they like and trust the company they are buying from. Tony Hsiesh said that not everyone shops on price alone. More people prefer to buy from a company they believe values and cares about them.