Breaking my month-and-a-half post hiatus to give my praises to Zappos – y’know, that online shoe store – for their awesome customer service.
By my reckoning I’m only about two years late to their site, yet I was still struck by their service-first business model that strives to do the right thing for the customer yet somehow lets them remain profitable. Sure, my “shoes are too small, need to exchange for something slightly bigger” story isn’t much compared to the heartwarming tales floating around, but it was enough to prompt some research into what lets them get away with pampering the customer.
Lesson learned: dedicated people + efficient processes are a viable alternative to the bureaucratic, overhead-laden, penny-pinching customer “care” that most companies employ. Just wonder how much it takes for a company to maintain this ideal, especially in light of these economic conditions.