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| mini case study: customer service as PR |
mini case study: customer service as PR
Zappos (www.zappos.com), a US online shoe retailer, bases much of its success on its customer service. It offers free shipping on all its purchases, as well as free returns. In fact, goods are shipped with a pre-printed return label, making the process straightforward for customers. Zappos also invests heavily in its customer service team, empowering each member of the team to do what they need to do to delight customers.
For example, Zaz LaMarr blogged about her experience with Zappos. Have some tissues handy, because it’s heartwarming stuff, and read her post “I heart Zappos” at http://www.zazlamarr.com/blog/?p=240. She had meant to return some shoes to Zappos, but her mother passed away and, naturally, she just didn’t have time.
Zappos arranged to have UPS come pick up the shoes. And then sent her flowers. Yahoo! shows nearly 2,000 links to her blog post, which has generated comments such as:
“Zappos is the best company in America.”
“Zappos is pretty amazing...you can sometimes find better prices at other stores for the same shoes, but their customer service is worth a few extra dollars.”
“Wow, customer service still exists. This company will get my business.”
There is no doubt that Zappos customer service costs are high. Not only is shipping free, but their customer service team has been given the authority to make gestures like the one above. The return to Zappos in terms of goodwill is almost immeasurable (although, their online reputation is excellent), but no doubt leads to increased referrals and sales and customer loyalty.
Zappos (www.zappos.com), a US online shoe retailer, bases much of its success on its customer service. It offers free shipping on all its purchases, as well as free returns. In fact, goods are shipped with a pre-printed return label, making the process straightforward for customers. Zappos also invests heavily in its customer service team, empowering each member of the team to do what they need to do to delight customers.
For example, Zaz LaMarr blogged about her experience with Zappos. Have some tissues handy, because it’s heartwarming stuff, and read her post “I heart Zappos” at http://www.zazlamarr.com/blog/?p=240. She had meant to return some shoes to Zappos, but her mother passed away and, naturally, she just didn’t have time.
Zappos arranged to have UPS come pick up the shoes. And then sent her flowers. Yahoo! shows nearly 2,000 links to her blog post, which has generated comments such as:
“Zappos is the best company in America.”
“Zappos is pretty amazing...you can sometimes find better prices at other stores for the same shoes, but their customer service is worth a few extra dollars.”
“Wow, customer service still exists. This company will get my business.”
There is no doubt that Zappos customer service costs are high. Not only is shipping free, but their customer service team has been given the authority to make gestures like the one above. The return to Zappos in terms of goodwill is almost immeasurable (although, their online reputation is excellent), but no doubt leads to increased referrals and sales and customer loyalty.
When it comes to the marketing channel, CRM initiatives can be used both in the acquisition of new customers and in the marketing to existing customers (which can be seen as acquiring new sales from existing customers).
