Xie Jiahua, Founder Of Zappos, On The Secret Of Success

Zappos founder Xie Jiahua (left) on the secret of success

At the age of 24, Xie Jiahua sold the LinkExchange company he co founded with others to Microsoft for 265 million dollars.

Shortly thereafter, he became a former CEO of a small online shoe selling company, Zappos, which was only $1 million 600 thousand a year, and later became CEO of the website.

Zappos is developing at an amazing speed, thanks mainly to its unparalleled attention to customers.

In fact, in less than 10 years, the year of Zappos

What is the reason for the rapid development of Zappos?

Zappos pursue the best customer service.

We started selling shoes online, but now it has been extended to household items such as handbags, clothing, and even pots and pans.

We hope that 10 years later, Zappos will not leave the impression of selling shoes, but the best customer service representatives.

How do you achieve this goal for an online store?

95% of our orders come from Zappos website.

It's hard for people to contact the customer service staff of most websites, but we are just the opposite, because we want to communicate with our customers from the bottom of our hearts.

Our 1-800 customer service line is displayed on the top left corner of each web page, and 7 hours a day, 24 hours a day.

We find that on average, every customer will contact us at a certain time, and we attach great importance to such interaction.

When people call our sales center telephone, our sales representatives will not read the book or try to promote it. The criteria for their work depends on whether they have done their best to serve the customers, whether they have provided personalized service and established emotional connections with their customers.

For example, if we do not have the products that customers need, we will recommend at least three rival websites wholeheartedly, and guide our customers to these websites to find the shoes they need.

Although this practice seems to be against the rule in the short run, it fully reflects our loyalty to win the praises of customer service.

For most people, buying shoes online is pretty scary, because they are not sure whether the shoes fit well, and whether they match the clothes that they plan to match.

In response to these two concerns, we provide free delivery and return service.

Customers can return to us on any day of the 365 day. Our sales center does not shut down for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This is also true of our warehouses. Although this is not the most efficient way to manage warehouses, we can deliver them as quickly as possible to customers.

All of these practices will bring high costs, but we regard them as marketing inputs.

We put most of the advertising input to improve customer experience, and then let customers advertise for us.

Historically speaking, our biggest growth force came from our customers' oral propaganda.

As chief executive officer, what are your main concerns?

Enterprise culture.

We are committed to ensuring corporate culture that focuses on customer service.

If corporate culture is correct, many real surprises will happen.

Our recruitment process is different from most companies.

We have two different interview methods. First, we should conduct a standard test on the candidates' skills, experience and teamwork spirit, and then the HR department will conduct individual interviews to see if they are suitable for the corporate culture.

Applicants can only be employed through these two tests.

We have rejected many talented people, even though we know that if they are hired, they will have an immediate effect on the company's revenues.

Because corporate culture is our top priority, we prefer to give up short-term earnings or revenue growth to ensure that we have the best corporate culture.

In fact, after the entry training, we will give some $2000 to some of the new employees who choose to leave Zappos, while those left behind will be in line with our corporate culture.

We have ten core values. When recruiting employees, we will ensure that they have similar values.

For example, one of our values is modesty.

If a candidate is very conceited, even if he can be outstanding and contribute greatly to the company's revenue growth, we will not hire him because he is not suitable for our corporate culture.

Fundamentally speaking, I think no matter what company culture is, what is not important. What is really important is that this culture should be firm enough to be followed by the whole company.

What is the secret of success for entrepreneurs?

First, there is a sense of insight that is meaningful to both employees and customers.

For Zappos, this is customer service.

You must also be enthusiastic about your career.

I think the goal should not be just to make money, but also to figure out what you want to do, even if you do not profit from it.

Companies will always encounter tough times, but if you are passionate about your company, this will help you through the tough times.

Employees, customers and others can truly feel your enthusiasm.

Your first goal should not be money, but what you are passionate about and meaningful, and then money.

I always like to say that pursuing ideals instead of money is the reason why I wrote "Delivering Happiness:A Path to Profits Passion" (and Purpose).

In this book, I share many of my lessons, hoping that everyone can make the workplace more enjoyable and thus generate economic benefits.

What will you do when you run into a wall?

In retrospect, many setbacks are actually good things.

If you can't get financing, it will force you to earn your own living and find a creative way to keep the company alive.

At first, we spent a lot of money advertising, trying to make the company famous. But later when we could not get financing, we realized that the company could not afford the cost. So we concentrated on thinking of a better way to generate more repeat customers, not by advertising.

This enables us to provide the best customer service.