For those of you who don’t know about Zappos,…well, first lift up the rock and come out into the sunshine. JK, Zappos is one of the big success web retail success stories. They sell shoes.
Take Nordstroms, blend in Southwest Airlines‘ flight attendant pitter-patter, free delivery and free returns and you can begin to understand how they sell nearly $1 Billion worth of shoes per year. Billion, with a B. It is a lot of shoes. Thinking about the details of a business that sells this many pairs of shoes reminded me of the turkey grower who was asked by the city reporter what the most difficult thing was in raising his 50,000 turkeys per year. Pulling the reporter’s leg, the grower said, “Raising them is easy, it’s naming all the young turkeys that’s hard.” Most of us can’t quite imagine running a business like Zappos.
Even so, their business model is pretty simple: give the customers what they want, make things that don’t work out, right…and do it all with a certain amount of fun and flair. Their CEO, Tony Hsieh, blogs and tweets, and encourages his employees to do the same—customers follow their favorite phone rep. It sounds like a great company.
Zappos was written up recently in Harvard Business Review, FastCompany and elsewhere. Tony was interviewed…seems like a good guy, focused on his business, excited even.
He did share one “secret” that stimulated some people who know me, to ask ME what I thought about one of his business practices. Evidently, Zappos’ culture is so critical that after a four-week long customer service training program, they actually offer these new, freshly trained employees $1,000 to quit. So what do I think about this practice and would I consider doing it here?
The short answer? No, I wouldn’t. Here is why and it has nothing to do with how effective it must be for Zappos. If it works for them, great.
At my most cynical (unnatural) level, it strikes me as an insecure training concept. No doubt the training program is awesome; heck, I would love to hire some ex-Zappos people. But imagine the situation, after four weeks of training and rah-rah about your company, you have pretty much not only drunk the Kool-Aide, you are mixing it up yourself. You have never been so excited. Think what Zig Ziglar can do it two hours and you have been through four weeks! You don’t need a doorway to get to your cube, you are blowing through walls you are so excited. So, now the head of training stands up and offers you $1,000 to quit now. Who is going to do that? It strikes me a bit of “I am so good at getting you all pumped up, you’d never quit.”
If someone does quit, the company reaction is predictable…”lucky us, we got rid of them before we had an issue anyway.” It is certainly a different way of making sure everyone who wants to be there stays there.
What’s the problem they are trying to solve? Is it that they have a hard time identifying long-term believers? Is it developing a retention program? Is it getting rid of non-believers before they infect the entire group, the “bad apple in the barrel” analogy?
What happens later? After the customer service rep realizes that she is stuck in windowless cube for hour after hour? Does she get $1,000 after two months of reality? Mmmmm. How about the rep who has been there for five years and is now burned out…does she get a bonus for quitting? Mmmmmm. How about the shipping guy who hears about the ‘deal’ those customer service people get , does he get it too? Mmmmm.
I think it is great that this obviously works well for Tony and his team at Zappos. Earlier in my career as a new company leader, chances were frankly good that I would have read this story, raced back to my company and implemented something similar.
Then one day I overheard someone say, “I wonder what article or book GL read this weekend.” Ouch.
What I learned is that wh
at works for one company might not work well for yours. Timing is different, your existing culture is different, so many things…one can’t implement every good idea. The trick, it seems to me, is to learn constantly, and get good at sifting, changing and adapting ideas that work in your own business. The more authentic you are, the more in tune with your business, your customers and other stake-holders, the more your own ideas will be as effective as the”Pay $1,000 to Quit” idea.
In closing, let me just add: Way to go, Tony!
5 users commented in " What You Can Learn From Zappos. "
[...] recruited people to take their first week’s salary plus a cool $1,000 and run (hat tip to What Would Dad Say although it seems like he got a few things wrong judging from the Harvard Business Review article [...]
Nice to know that I have helped contribute to making someone else count their coin in billions
That said and while I think there is much to learn from Zappos’ model, for sure, the questions you raise merit more than passing thought as well.
It reminds me of the line I think I saw in a Peanuts strip at some point: “Happiness is different things for different people.”
I have no idea what Tony might or might not do for the shipping clerk or even the burned out customer service person but my hope and expectation would be that there are other things going on there that deliver the message that Zappos cares and values what everyone contributes to the well deserved success that the company enjoys.
As I think we all know, a company’s culture is really an accumulation of words and actions that deliver and reinforce what the relationship is between our employer and ourselves.
Dave, perfectly said! Your definition of a company’s culture is spot on. Don’t be surprised if I use that line in a future post…I promise to try to remember where I picked it up, too. No promises…half-zeimers here at times…
Funny you should mention Zappo’s. I found that site a couple years ago and was blown away. It gives the impression that every shoe on earth is available, and you can see them all (top, bottom, side, front, and back view in every color) if you have the time. Or, you can narrow it down to women’s aqua dress sandals with a mid-height heel in a C width, and see just a few options.
Their prices are no bargain, but they make it so easy to rationalize that with their Free shipping! and Free Returns!
Whether their personnel practices stand the test of time is one thing, but they can definitely teach us all about giving customers what they want and making it super-easy to buy from you.
Never heard of this Zappo’s before, my rock is an pretty pink granite thanks.
Will have to check it out.
I’ve never heard of such a strange employment practice before!
It WOULD create a buzz within potential employees, I’d be interested in getting a job there. If they’re that confident you’re going to love it, it would be like a guarantee you’re going to love coming to work, and who doesn’t want that?
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