10qin2m slides tony hsieh - zappos october 2009
DESCRIPTION
This is the two-minute slideshow version of my ten-question interview with Tony Hsieh of Zappos, which is now a part of Amazon.TRANSCRIPT
TEN-QUESTION INTERVIEWS WITH TOP TECHNOLOGY LEADERS
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(*the 2-minute slideshow version)
*
DELIVERING HAPPINESS
Ten questions with Zappos CEO
After Tony Hsieh finished at Harvard with a computer science degree, he sold his online advertising company, LinkExchange, to Microsoft for $265 million. That was in 1998, when he was 24. Zappos was just one of several online projects he helped bankroll through his next company, Venture Frogs. Now with 1,600 employees, 500 of whom are in the call center, Zappos is unlike a lot of companies in this economy – they are hiring.
TonyHsieh
10QatAtimeINTERVIEWS
Q1) When you talk about Zappos long-term philosophy, how long is “really long-term?”
“…we like to think about what we want our brand and culture to be like 10 or even 20 years down the line… relationships are much more important...”
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Q2) Why doyour competitors believe a 24/7 toll-free number, free return shipping and other Zappos policies won’t work for them?
“I don’t really pay attention to what our competitors are saying. We just listen to our customers. But I’m sure they are paying attention to our competitors…”
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Q3) With 11 million customers, and 75% return customers, where do you see the biggest room for improvement?
“Our goal is for Zappos to eventually become a household name, so the greatest opportunity is from increasing our total number of purchasing customers… ”
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Q4) Part of the corporate culture at Zappos includes “a little weirdness.” What does that look like?
“…Our belief is that everyone is a little weird. This is more a fun way of saying that we recognize and celebrate everyone’s individuality, and we want people’s true personalities to shine.”
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Q5) What makes the “science of happiness” at the core of your business philosophy a science?
“…When I refer to the science of happiness, I’m referring to actual research… People are very bad at predicting what will actually make them happy in the long term.”
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Q6) Why do you think that is? Are they just overly optimistic, short-sighted or superficial?
“I think it’s because people don’t realize that our brains are designed to detect what’s different, as in positive or negative . … at some point, what’s changed becomes the new norm…”
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Q7) How have social networks like twitter translated to the bottom line, and how do you quantify the impact?
“We don’t really look at twitter as a marketing vehicle … What we care about is being able to connect with our customers on a more personal level...”
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Q8) Where have you found the tools that allow you to scale your technology and other resources?
“We’ve generally developed our own tools internally.”
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Q9) Are there any habits you have to break when you’re creating or delivering a presentation?
“The most important lessons I’ve learned from public speaking are to only speak about topics you are passionate about and to tell personal stories. Those two things are more important than anything else...”
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Q10) If you were to write a book about Zappos, is there a theme that comes to mind?
“Actually, I am currently working on a book, and the working title is Delivering Happiness. I’m thinking about (a subtitle) along the lines of How to combine profits, passion, and purpose.” * (update: “Delivering Happiness” debuted at #1 on the NYT bestseller list, and stayed on the list for 27 weeks. ) www.10QatAtime.com
Ten question interviews with top technology
leaders
These slides are excerpted from the full interview with Tony Hsieh in my regular 10Q column. The complete article is available as a PDF download
http://www.techrepublic.com/downloads/10-questions-on-customer-service-and-delivering-happiness-an-interview-with-zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh/1153539
JeffCerny
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DELIVERING HAPPINESS