The Last Word: Customer Solutions Profit Ideas

How fabulous are the online shoe retailers like Zappos! I have heard many women speak directly to the value and benefits of not having to deal with the negative aspects of brick and mortar shoe shopping.

This was driven home when I read the Forbes article interviewing Tony C. Hsiech, the 34-year-old CEO of Zappos.com. Yikes – only 34! With Zappos you go online, search by size/color/type/price/brand (from a huge inventory of options), order all that are of interest and wait for a rapid delivery. And, I do mean rapid.

You try them on in your home and return all that don’t work out – for free. Every step is tracked and communicated to the customer online – you never need to wonder where your order is or when it will arrive, or when your returns are received or will be processed. Talk about a great customer experience!

After all returns you get a simple survey that asks “why” and queries your overall satisfaction with Zappos and the process. It is wonderful to see retailers who understand the value of “customer service” and what is required for complete satisfaction.

Hsiech even employs a “cultural fit interview” for prospective hires. This all smacks of Nordstrom’s level customer service (the original Nordstrom). This is an example of a well conceived customer experience management approach – one that has every consumer touch point and interaction well thought through and competitively improved upon. Touché – well done.

(Note: In our most recent Exec Insights podcast – I interviewed Kelly Davis of The Strategy Tree, who gave us some ideas on how to hire great customer service employees. You might find some useful info there if you tune into it.)