Absurd service by Zappos

If you are in “Customer Success” team, I would advise you read this write up minimum twice. For all others, one reading will inspire you and bring you closer to our core value “Obsession to improve customer experience”.

Zappos doesn’t advertise much. Instead it invests in service. Since the main hurdles in buying shoes and clothes online are they might not fit or look the way you hope, Zappos provides free shipping and free returns. Often, customers find themselves upgraded for one- or two-day shipping for nothing.

The call centre and the website are the face of Zappos, the frontline of “wow”. The phone number is listed at the top of the website and answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 80% of the calls are answered within 20 seconds.That’s service! But it’s not absurd service.

For absurd service try this: Zappos customer, Wendy Finch had already bought a pair of heels from Zappos, asked for and received a credit when she found out that they were available more cheaply from another store, and blogged about it. A few weeks later, she went on a three-day breast cancer walk and set her email to automatically respond, “Thanks for your email. I am currently hitting the pavement in Denver, walking 60 miles in 3 days to put an end to breast cancer. I’ll respond to your email when I am back”.

A Zappos service staff noticed this auto response in Zappos inbox and sent the following note:

Thank you.

Hello Wendy,

While working through emails from our amazing customers, I came across your auto reply..I just wanted to let you know what an admirable thing you are doing! We at Zappos are proud to have you as a customer, and as a part of our family.

Thank you for being a wonderful person.

Ashlee - customer relations rep at Zappos.

Naturally Wendy blogged about Zappos again;

Zappos - you SERIOUSLY rock. I am in marketing / customer service shock. And if any of you have heard my recent complaints…you know I was starting to lose faith in customer service. I love that I can gloat about a company that has gone above and beyond. I’ve made one purchase from

zappos.com⁠

. One. And this is what I get. Unfreaking believable. Now I don’t have to feel guilty buying shoes. Cause I am gonna go hog wild at

zappos.com⁠

⁠

That’s what happens when you deliver absurd service. And this is no one-off. People at Zappos do stuff like this.

Source: The book Empowered by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler

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