Zappos: How To Build A Brand That Matters.

Tony, baby. You had me at overnight shipping.

When I need my Naughty Monkeys, I need them now. I wore my favorites when Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh spoke at the recent WOMMA Summit and I will admit to flashing my stilettos at him as he walked by my table. I wanted him to see customer delight in action.

For Tony Hsieh, it’s all about owning Z. Over the years, the brand has done a masterful job of appropriating Z’s, from engaging dubious celebs in creating Z comic book characters on The Apprentice to pioneering a new Customer Service phenomenon to boldly revolutionizing employee training.

While the rest of the world is trapped on hold with some call center in the Philippines or scouring Help pages for signs of humanity, Zappos‘ 9-million happy customers find an 1-800 number on every single page. Along with this 24/7 real living-breathing person access, they get free shipping, free return shipping and a 365-day return policy.

But Zappos doesn’t stop there. In its mission to build a brand that matters, the company tapped into a customer-centric toolkit of social media tools, transforming the customer service industry forever. From the 440+ Zappos employees who tweet (lead by @Zappos, CEO Tony Hsieh) to blogs to innovative rep training plus a corporate culture book that sets the tone, the thriving retailer is authentically a service company that happens to sell shoes.

To build a brand that matters, Tony outlines these key things:

• Vision: Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger. Chase the vision not the money.
• Repeat customers: Great product, great service or low prices. Choose and focus on two of the three.
• Transparency: Be real and you have nothing to fear.Zappos is real everywhere, from its blogs to Twitter to ZapposTV to its real human being customer service agents. (Click here for an amazing story.) Tony even blogged when the company sadly had to reduce its workforce.

Zappos mandates that all employees be a good fit with core values and company culture. Interviews and performance reviews are in fact 50% based on this blend — and Tony has actually fired C-level executives who while talented and experienced, did not fit the culture. Here are some Zappos’ values to live by:

Committable Core Values

• Deliver WOW through service
• Embrace and drive change
• Create fun and a little weirdness
• Be adventurous creative and openminded
• Pursue growth and learning
• Build open and honest relationships with communication
• Build a positive team and family spirit
• Do more with less
• Be passionate and determined
• Be humble.

Guru’s Note: Having been inside countless corporations over the years, I’ve been privy to numerous positioning statements, rules to live by, business mantras and the like. Some of these do become deeply embedded in corporate culture (I can pick out an Ogilvy alum the moment they utter ‘Where’s the Big Idea?) others are merely the latest blather from On High. (You know who you are) What makes Zappos’ Core Values meaningful is the link between the ‘emotional’ and ‘functional.’ If the customer service agent hadn’t been able to act on her instinct to send flowers (see Amazing Story link above), then all the WOWS and DELIGHTS mean nada.

Study Reveals 93% of Americans Expect Companies To Have A Social Media Presence.

It’s one of the first questions I get when I’m speaking at an event, no matter what topic’s on the program. Whether it’s mom marketing, green products, new trends, or travel/tourism, the question is always the same: Should my company have a social media presence?

Before this new social media study, I had a pat answer. You already have a social media presence online. Your customers are already talking about you. Tweaking your brand. Kvetching about your customer service. Tagging you. Whether you like it or not.

You’re simply not participating in the conversation. Yet. Then I usually wrap up my spiel with a plea to jump on board to join the party in progress.

But now I’ve got some powerful new ammunition on my side, thanks to the 2008 Business in Social Media Study, conducted by Cone. According to the research, if your company does not have a social media presence online, you are missing out on the 93% of Americans who believe you should, and the 85% of Americans who are expecting to interact with your company through social media.

This study should crush any remaining questions about whether corporate social media interaction is necessary. A solid 60% of Americans are now interacting with companies using social media –and one in four are interacting more than once a week.

Customer satisfaction, always at the top of every company’s To Do List, is also now proven to be higher for businesses with a social media presence. 56% of consumers feel a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they interact through social media.

This encouraging stat strongly jibes with one of the emerging themes from various Social Media Competitive Landscape research studies I’ve conducted for some of the major online players. As they say, ‘the Internet changed everything’ — and seldom is this more true than with customer care. When “Tom” posted his white T-shirted self on every new MySpace page and used the site’s pioneering social media tools to invite millions to IM, email and be his new bff, it made other customer care strategies feel stale and corporate. The majority of his MySpace friends likely have no idea that their own personal Go-To-Geek “Tom” is actually the gazillion dollar co-founder of the empire. Not since Steve Case’s weekly letter to AOL members has a Founder been so sociable. 

This is clearly promising news for brands looking to build or deepen relationships. Rather than view a company’s social media efforts as an intrusion, Americans are welcoming the open door to discussion.

More numbers from the Cone study reveal that Consumers believe:

• Companies should use social networks to solve their problems (43%).
• Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%) via social media.
• Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%) through social media.
• Companies should market to consumers (25%) using social media.

And lest you think that social media only attracts the collegiate Facebook crowd, the study also showed that the most lucrative higher-income households are expecting social media interaction with companies they do business with. Households with incomes of $75K+ believe that companies should seek to reach them via social media and two-thirds of the wealthiest households say they feel a stronger connection to brands they can interact with online.  This bodes very well for categories such as travel and leisure and technology.

What does this mean for your business?  Do you still need convincing?

Social media has rapidly gone from a Maybe to a Must-Have in your marketing plan. Your customers are expecting you to be present in social networking communities, to provide social networking features on your own sites,  to interact with, listen to and engage them in authentic and meaningful conversation. 

Are you going to say “no” to the 93% of consumers expecting you to join the conversation?

This study was conducted online September 11-12 2008 and surveyed 1,092 adults.

Thanks to Erika Preuss at Business Social Networking.”