p. xi “[E]ach book is a journey, an adventure, a hunt, a detective case, an experience, like setting foot in another continent in which you’ve never traveled. That’s the joy of it.”: David McCollough as quoted by Scott R. Lloyd, “A Celebration of Family History,” Church News, May 8, 2010; http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/59322/A-celebration-of-family-history.html.
p. 4 “Cultures are maps of meaning through which the world is intelligible.”: Peter Jackson, Maps of Meaning: An Introduction to Cultural Geography (Routledge, 1989).
p. 15 “The quality of customer service has been on a serious decline for years. Research from TARP Worldwide and the American Customer Satisfaction Index both agree.”: Sherrie Mersdorf, Whose Responsibility Is Customer Service? (2010); http://survey.cvent.com/blog/cvent-web-surveys-blog/whos-responsibility-is-customer-service.
p. 17 “[A] commitment to someone else’s growth and development.”: Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline (New York, NY: Currency Doubleday, 1990).
p. 53 “[T]he process of acquiring, accommodating, assimilating and accelerating new team members, whether they come from outside or inside the organization.”: George Bradt and Mary Vonnegut, Onboarding: How to Get Your New Employees Up to Speed in Half the Time (New York, NY: John Wiley, 2009).
p. 60 “[O]ne of the best things about differentiation is that people in the bottom 10 percent… very often go on to successful careers at companies and in pursuits where they truly belong and where they can excel.”: Jack Welch and Suzy Welch, The Welch Way (website), based on material from Winning (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2005); www.welchway.com/Principles/Differentiation.aspx.
p. 63 “What gets measured gets done; what gets measured and fed back gets done well; what gets rewarded gets repeated.”: John E. Jones, Ph.D., and William E. Bearley, Ed.D., 360° Feedback: Strategies, Tactics, and Techniques for Developing Leaders (HRD Press, 1996).
p. 70 Information about eliminating annual performance reviews obtained from a study by the business publication Workforce Management; www.workforce.com.
p. 81 “Conventional wisdom holds that to increase loyalty, companies must ‘delight’ customers by exceeding service expectations…”: Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman, and Nicholas Toman, “Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers,” Harvard Business Review (2010); http://hbr.org/2010/07/stop-trying-to-delight-your-customers/ar/1.
p. 82 “[D]elivering wow through service.”: Tony Hsieh, “How I Did It: Zappos’s CEO on Going to Extremes for Customers,” Harvard Business Review (2010); http://hbr.org/2010/07/how-i-did-it-zapposs-ceo-on-going-to-extremes-for-customers/ar/1.
p. 104 “Zappos customer experience is seamless and integrated. Amazon would never upgrade shipping to overnight, for example …” : Jason Busch of Spend-Matters, as quoted by Marshall Kirkpatrick, “Getting the Goods: The New Amazon/Zappos Supply Chain Story,” ReadWriteWeb (July 22, 2009); http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/getting_the_goods_the_new_amazonzappos_supply_chai.php.
p. 104 “Amazon is a master of the supply chain. It’s got so much capacity,… and Zappos is no slouch at rushing goods to your house…”: Marshall Kirkpatrick, loc. cit.
p. 107 “If an eCommerce site is slow in loading a page, they are risking losing a potential sale. In an age where consumers have more and more options…”: Joseph Yi, Turn Your eCommerce Site Page Load Speeds into Speed Racer (2010); http://viralogy.com/blog/ecommerce/turn-your-ecommerce-site-page-load-speeds-into-speed-racer/.
p. 110 “[M]oments of truth”: Jan Carlzon, Moments of Truth (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 1989).
p. 110 “[W]here people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free.”: Peter Senge, op. cit.
p. 114 Research on service breakdowns: Amy K. Smith and Ruth N. Bolton, “An Experimental Investigation of Service Failure and Recovery: Paradox or Peril?” Journal of Service Research, 1 (1), 1998, pp. 65-81.
p. 116 “Last week I ordered 2 pairs of black cargo shorts by Jag for the summer that’s finally coming to Michigan. I’ve ordered from Zappos before…”: “My Un-complaint against Zappos,” Karen, Midlife’s a Trip (blog), May 26, 2009; www.midlifesatrip.com/my-un-complaint-against-zappos/.
p. 121 “My experience went off without a hitch through every moment of truth. The registration-through-purchase experience on the site, the in-process updates…”: Chris Raeburn, “Zappos Is Just Okay, Service Encounters Onstage” (blog), July 10, 2010; www.servicemarketer.blogspot.com/2010/07/zappos-is-just-okay.html.
p. 123 “In language used by many Zapponians…”: “Building Your Company’s Vision,” Harvard Business Review, 1996.
p. 128 “Legendary brands forge deep bonds with consumers through narrative devices. They are storytellers, drawing from a library of timeless narratives…”: Laurence Vincent, Legendary Brands: Unleashing the Power of Storytelling to Create a Winning Market Strategy (Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade, 2002).
p. 128 “The customer wanted to return a tire. Never mind that the Nordstrom department-store chain sells upscale clothing, not automotive parts. According to company lore, the clerk accepted the tire because that’s what the customer wanted.”: Pamela Abramson, “Nordstrom’s High Style,” Newsweek, January 5, 1987, p. 43.
p. 129 “This is possibly the greatest consumer relations story of modern times—it’s certainly pointed to as such in a multitude of business articles…”: “Snopes.com Rumor Has It,” www.snopes.com/business/consumer/nordstrom.asp.
p. 130 “[T]he second time we got married, and the third time—we’re expecting her to be pregnant.”: Greg and Tamara, YouTube video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rrc4c-wLZg.
p. 132 “They e-mailed me back that they had…. I am a sucker for kindness.”: Lamarr Zaz as quoted by Meg Marco, The Consumerist (blog), October 16, 2007; www.consumerist.com/2007/10/zappos-sends-you-flowers.html.
p. 134 “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”: Lawrence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle (New York: William Morrow, 1969).
p. 139 Information about allowing staff to take care of the best interest of customers: Steve Downton, Hilbrand Rustema, and Jan Van Veen, Service Economics: Profitable Growth with a Brand Driven Service Strategy (Seattle, WA: On-Demand Publishing, 2010).
p. 141 “Happiness’s best friend is kindness. And passion’s best friend is generosity. Going forward, I think it’s very hard to be passionate unless you’re willing to be generous…”: Seth Godin, YouTube video on Delivering Happiness page, Happiness’ Best Friend is Kindness, 2010; www.delivering happinessbook.com/seth-godin-happiness-best-friend-is-kindness.
p. 141 “There’s no better way for a brand … to put its money where its mouth (or heart) is than engaging in Random Acts of Kindness…”: Alejandro Saavedra, 11 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2011, December 19, 2010; www.alesaavedra.com/11-crucial-consumer-trends-for-2011.
p. 155 “[R]ecommends that you use a 10-point response scale and ask customers how likely they are to refer your company to a friend or colleague.”: Fred Reich-held, The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, 2006).
p. 181 “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”: Jack Welch, as quoted on multiple Internet sites, including www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jackwelch173305.html.
p. 181 “Contrary to the opinion of many, leaders are not born; they are made…”: Vince Lombardi, What It Takes to Be #1: Vince Lombardi on Leadership (New York, NY: R.R. Donnelly, 2001).
p. 183 “Companies often misjudge the true motivations of their employees, imagining that compensation is their primary aspiration…”: Chip Conley, Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007).
p. 186 Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0 (New York, NY: Gallup Press, 2007).
p. 189 Matthew Kelly, The Dream Manager (New York, NY: Beacon, 2007).
p. 190 “self-efficacy”: A. Bandura, “Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change,” Psychological Review, 84, 1977, pp. 191-215; www.psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/self_efficacy.htm.
p. 201 “While the value delivered by the airlines continues to diminish, Zappos is always striving to incrementally improve itself…”: Tim Sanchez, “Zappos Airlines: A First Class Ticket to Customer Experience,” Deliver Bliss: The Business of Customer Experience (blog), 2010; www.deliverbliss.com/2010/11/zappos-airlines-a-first-class-ticket-to-customer-experience.
p. 212 “Hundreds of ‘social media experts’ cite the company in their books, blogs, speeches, Webinars and the like…”: David Meerman Scott, “The Trouble with Zappos,” Web Ink Now (blog), 2010; www.webinknow.com/2010/12/the-trouble-with-zappos.html.
p. 213 “Rather than using social media tools to sell products, Zappos deliberately uses them to … connect on a more personal level with both employees and customers…”: C. B. Whittemore, “Zappos Uses Social to Share Culture,” Flooring the Customer (blog), 2010; www.flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2010/11/zappos-uses-social-to-share-culture.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Flooring TheConsumer+%28Flooring+The+Consumer%29.
p. 214 “Zappos has set the bar for social media customer service. Its approach focuses on making authentic connections via social networks rather than selling or promoting products….”: Meghan Peters, “3 Examples of Stellar Social Media Customer Service [MASHABLE AWARDS],” Mashable (blog), November 23, 2010; www.mashable.com/2010/11/23/customer-service-award.
p. 215 “‘Wal-Marting Across America’ fake blog…”: Pallavi Gogoi, “Wal-Mart’s Jim and Laura: The Real Story,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, October 9, 2006; www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061009_579137.htm.
p. 216 “Social media is ingrained into the Zappos culture. Zappos believes they don’t even need a social media strategy—after the employees constantly post videos, tweet, and blog about their culture—they don’t direct sell or market…”: Bernie Brennan and Lori Schafer, “Putting the ‘Zap’ into Zocial Media,” Open Mic: The SAS Publishing Blog, December 2, 2010; www.blogs.sas.com/publishing/index.php?/plugin/tag/bernie+brennan.
p. 219 “What has proven most interesting is the fact that even those shoppers who do not watch the video are converting…”: Mark R. Robertson, “Videos Sell Products—Even If Users Don’t Actually Watch Them,” ReelSEO (blog), 2010; www.deliverbliss.com/2010/11/zappos-airlines-a-first-class-ticket-to-customer-experience.
p. 220 “Zappos knows what you did last summer. Or maybe what you did last time you were on the Zappos website…”: Meghan Keane, “Behavioral Targeters Need to Find a Balance between Helpful and Creepy,” Econsultancy: Digital Marketers United (blog), August 3, 2010; www.econsultancy.com/us/blog/6372-behavioral-targeting-needs-to-find-a-happy-medium-between-helpful-and-creepy.
p. 222 “I abandoned [a Zappos] search [for a pair of shorts] and did something else….”: Michael Learmonth, “The Pants That Stalked Me on the Web,” Ad Age Digital (blog), August 2, 2010; www.adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=145204.
p. 227 Information about Dr. David Abramis and others in regard to workplace fun: Mary Rau-Foster, “Humor and Fun in the Workplace,” workplaceissues.com (blog), 2000; www.workplaceissues.com/arhumor.htm.
p. 228 “The extra effort companies put forth in difficult times makes a difference in how successful they are at boosting morale and retaining top talent in a strong economy.”: Ted Marusarz, as quoted in “Hewitt Analysis Shows Steady Decline in Global Employee Engagement Levels,” Hewitt online, July 29, 2010; http://origin-www.hewittassociates.com/Intl/NA/en-US/AboutHewitt/Newsroom/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?cid=8775.
p. 230 “Whoa! I bet the fire marshal loves that place!”: Stephen Searer, “Office Snapshots Tours Zappos HQ,” OfficeSnapshots.com, April 4, 2008; www.officesnapshots.com/2008/04/04/office-snapshots-tours-zappos-hq.
p. 232 “The office used to be imagined as a place where employees punch clocks and bosses roam the halls like high-school principals, looking for miscreants….”: Malcolm Gladwell, “Designs for Working: Articles from The New Yorker, December 11, 2000”; www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_12_11_a_working.html.
p. 238 “The consequences of boredom for businesses and organizations include higher employment costs, … performance problems, … and reduced organizational effectiveness….”: Information contributed by William Bazler, Patricia Smith, and Jennifer Burnfield in Charles Spielberger, ed., Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2004).
p. 246 “flow”: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1990).
p. 253 “[T]he ways in which work is organized—its pace and intensity, degree of control over the work process, sense of justice, and employment security, among other things—can be as toxic to the health of workers as the chemicals in the air….”: Peter Schnall, Marnie Dobson, and Ellen Rosskam, eds., Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences, Cures (Critical Approaches in the Health, Social Sciences) (Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing, 2009).
p. 255 “For now, workplace naps remain the exception, rather than the rule.”: Angela Haupt, “Why Power Naps at Work are Catching On,” Yahoo! Health (Internet site), November 15, 2010; www.health.yahoo.net/articles/sleep/why-power-naps-work-are-catching.
p. 261 “The tendency among humans is that we want to give back to those who have given to us….”: Robert Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New York, NY: William Morrow, 1993).
p. 267 “Companies with great word of mouth tend to operate by a simple, yet inspiring purpose and well-defined values….”; Ben McConnell, “The Roots of Word of Mouth,” Church of the Customer.com, June 10, 2009; www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/word_of_mouth/page/3/.
p. 273 “The culture and the Zappos brand are such assets.…”: Jeff Bezos, “Video from Jeff Bezos about Amazon and Zappos,” YouTube video, July 22, 2009; www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hxX_Q5CnaA.
p. 273 “Hubris Born of Success”: Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In (New York, NY: Harper Business, 2009).
p. 277 “[O]ne big thing and stick with it. Leaders who had one very big idea and one big commitment are the ones who leave a legacy.”: Irving Kristol, as quoted on multiple Internet sites, including www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/i/irving_kristol.html.
p. 277 “People will summarize your life in one sentence. Pick it now.”: John C. Maxwell, Go for Gold: Inspiration to Increase Your Leadership Impact (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008).
Much of the content of this book emerged from face-to-face meetings, telephone interviews, and other forms of support from Zappos employees and other stakeholders. These include, but are not limited to:
Aaron Magness, Abbie Morris, Alesha Giles, Alfred Lin, Alicia Jackson (AJ), Andi Root, Andrew Kovacs, Angie Holt, Annette M. Smith, Anthony Vicars, Ashley Perry, Augusta Scott, Austin Blair, Brandis Paden, Bridget Dorsey, Bryce Murry, Butch Hazlett, Chad A. Boehne, Chris Judd, Chris Nielsen, Chris Peake, Chris Winfield, Christa Foley, Christina Colligan, Christina Kim, Christina Mulholland, Cody Britton, Courtney Bareman, Craig Adkins, Crystal Reid, Dan Campbell, Daniel Muskat, Dave Brautigan, David Hinden, David Tyler, Denise Reynolds, Dennis Wegenast, Derek Carder, Deryl Sweeney, Devlyn Torres, Donavan Roberson, Doug Meenach, Dylan Morris, Eileen Tetreault, Erica Weil, Erin Ryan, Faby Guido, Fred Mossler, Galen Hardy, Grace Kee, Graham Kahr, Greg Bowen, Greg Richards, Jamie Naughton, Jason Lee Menard, Jason Whittle, Jeanne Markel, Jeff Lewis, Jenn Lim, Jennifer Van Orman, Jerald Tidmore, Jesse Cabaniss, Jim Rowland, Jon Wolske, Josh Schlekewy, Josie Del Rio, Justin Williams, Karen Sue Miller, Kaycee Crow, Kayla Cline, Keith Glynn, Kristen Kaelin, Lacy Goodlett, Laura A. Miller, Laura Slaughter, Lauren Spenser, Leah Morris, Lianna Shen, Linda Utley, Lindsay Roberts, Lisanna Lawson, Liz Gregersen, Loren Becker, Mark Madej, Mary Falter, Mary Johnson, Mary Teitsma, Matt Wong, Matthew Dunaway, Miles Olson, Nicole Smith, Noel Cusimano, Pamela Cinko, Pamela Griggs, Phillip So, Rachael Brown, Rachel Cosgrove, Rafael Mojica, Rebecca Henry, Rhonda Ford, Rob Siefker, Robert Avila, Robert Richman, Roz Searcy, Sarah House, Sarah Johnson, Shannon Roy, Shawna Macias, Sheila Clinard, Sidnee Shaefer, Stacey Eddy, Stefanie Walls, Steve Hill, Steven Trentham, Sue Maurer, Susan Disbrow, Tami Lemke, Tammy Johns, Thomas Knoll, Timothy Clemons, Sr., Tom Austin, Tony Hsieh, Vanessa Lawson, Zack Davis