18 MAY 2011 Tony Hsieh is a pretty cool guy. He might not be the CEO of the hour thanks to that silly little social network film, but that doesn’t really matter to him –he loves his job. Not too bad when less than a decade ago Zappos was pinching pennies every few months, and Mr. Hsieh was investing everything he had in the brand.
The fast growing start up began focusing on one thing: customer care. Today, after moving from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, Zappos is known for their dedicated and enthusiasticcustomer support. Exec Digital recently sat down with Tony Hsieh during his “Delivery Happiness” tour to find out what inspires this Harvard grad.
For three months this past summer, Tony Hsieh toured the country promoting the “WOW” theme in his book “Delivering Happiness,” his first forte into the entrepreneurial world. The laid back guy wasn’t too animated when talking about his passions, indulgences and favorite food, but when the conversation turned to Zappos, his love for the company became evident.
Favorite Restaurant: Simon at Palms Place
Favorite Thing about Vegas: “Outside the strip, you wouldn’t even know you were in Vegas, but it’s nice that it’s always there. I love that it’s always changing. In some ways it captures the spirit of life.”
Longest Customer Service Phone Call: 8 hours, 3 minutes
On Being Humble: “Being humble isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s about thinking of yourself less”
Biggest indulgences: “I’m willing to pay extra for experiences, anything that saves me time, frustration, etc; so if I go watch a show, I’ll always try to buy the best seats possible”
Drives: ‘Mazda6’ worth around $20,000
Guilty pleasure: Points to his vodka: “shots? Vodka?”
How weird are you on a scale of 1 to 10? 8 ½
How happy are you? Ranges 7 ½ 8 ½
Favorite Thing about Vegas: “Outside the strip, you wouldn’t even know you were in Vegas, but it’s nice that it’s always there. I love that it’s always changing. In some ways it captures the spirit of life.”
Longest Customer Service Phone Call: 8 hours, 3 minutes
On Being Humble: “Being humble isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s about thinking of yourself less”
Biggest indulgences: “I’m willing to pay extra for experiences, anything that saves me time, frustration, etc; so if I go watch a show, I’ll always try to buy the best seats possible”
Drives: ‘Mazda6’ worth around $20,000
Guilty pleasure: Points to his vodka: “shots? Vodka?”
How weird are you on a scale of 1 to 10? 8 ½
How happy are you? Ranges 7 ½ 8 ½
“We just want to build the Zappos brand to be about the very best customer service and customer experience, and hopefully ten years from now people won’t realize that we started out selling shoes.”
More exec interviews at:
No comments:
Post a Comment