Rocket by Michael J. Silverstein

Author:Michael J. Silverstein
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2016-01-31T23:00:00+00:00

*****

One Conclusion

Zappos and Four Seasons are very different companies. Zappos serves mostly younger consumers with younger service people. It is low touch, but high service. Few customers ever come on campus. It invented a new way for consumers to access an almost unlimited inventory of shoes. Tony Hsieh is messianic in his desire to provide happy employees with a satisfied work life. The central service site in an isolated part of Las Vegas allows total control of the work environment and the delivery interface with consumers. A lot of this is electronic—but the pizzazz is voice to voice.

By contrast, Isadore Sharp’s Four Seasons is all about high-touch, in-person service, exceeding expectations every day and all around the world. He has created a brand model that can be comfortably re-created in his hotels, whether they are in Prague, Moscow, Bangkok, or New York.

Yet, despite their differences, the Zappos creed and the Four Seasons mission are very similar. Their culture drives their brand. Happy employees will take a bullet for their company. Little things make a big difference, and there is a particular emphasis on physical nourishment, encouragement, and safety. Transparency makes people feel safe. Every day on the job can be a celebration.

Both leaders take the view that if you can transform a job into a calling, and if you can enable those on the front line to make decisions on the spot, you can and will win the hearts and minds of the consumers for life. Both companies are dependent on these consumers becoming repeat customers and, most of all, spreading the good word to their friends.

In their different ways, Four Seasons and Zappos have found employee-based models that work to turn consumers into converts and thereby deliver brand apostles. The front line of contact with the consumer is so well trained, so memorable, and so service-oriented that it is impossible to not say, “Wow.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.