Hill+Knowlton Strategies

I always enjoy seeing Tony Hsieh on stage. Zappos.com is an inspirational e-commerce success story, and Tony is an inspired storyteller. This year at the Web 2 Summit, he parked his Happiness Bus outside the conference and gave away his bestselling book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.

For anyone in the agency business, the famous service culture of Zappos makes this a book well worth reading.

Rather than just cliché talk about people as the most important assets, Tony describes how Zappos builds a pipeline of people in every department. Every new hire, regardless of department or level, goes through the same Customer Loyalty Team (call center) four week training program. Then, they work the phones for two weeks to instill the Zappos core belief that customer service isn’t just one department, but is the culture of the entire company. During the training, Zappos offers everyone $2,000 to quit on the spot.

In an age where any employee can be a brand ambassador, the story of the twin strands of Zappos growth and culture is a lesson worth reading.