Page 109 - The Apple Experience

Zappos is another company considered the gold standard when it comes
to customer service. When I visited Zappos headquarters in Henderson,

Nevada, I was hit with a wave of fun, enthusiasm, and employee engagement

the likes of which I’ve rarely seen in corporate America. Trust and

empowerment is the name of the game. Every employee I met was happy—

really happy. It starts during the hiring process. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh

told me that one of the questions he asks of new recruits is, “On a scale of 1

to 10, how weird are you?” Someone who answers 1 might be too uptight for
the Zappos culture. Someone who answers 10 might be too nutty!

Just as Walt Disney believed every cast member should reflect the brand,

so too do Zappos employees reinforce the brand’s culture. My first taste of

the culture started with the driver who picked me up from my hotel. The

driver said she shared time as one of the receptionists. When I asked why she

picked me up when I could have taken a cab, she said, “We do this for all our

guests. We treat you as family. If your family is in town, you’d pick them up,
wouldn’t you?” I was beginning to understand how Zappos grew from a

start-up in Tony Hsieh’s apartment to a billion-dollar-a-year customer

service champion. During the Zappos tour I noticed the office of the Zappos

“goal coach.”

“What’s a goal coach?” I asked a lady sitting in the office.

“We help people reach their goals,” she responded.

“Oh, you mean teach them leadership skills or other skills related to their

work?”

“Leadership is part of it, but we literally help people achieve their dreams,
regardless of whether those aspirations are work-related or not. For example,

one person came in this week and wanted to learn to play guitar. So we

helped him find lessons. Another woman was procrastinating on the book

that she wants to write, so we sat down and developed a schedule together.”