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- Early Zappos investor and former CEO Tony Hsih died on Friday.
- Hussey, who runs an online shoe seller, set up a bar for customer service, helping his employees send flowers and cards to customers, call with them for hours, help order pizza, and especially deliver expensive packages by hand.
- Zappos chief company sold 1.2 billion shares of stock to Amazon in 2009, after the deal ensured the company’s culture would be rewarded and its relationships with customers secured.
- Scroll down for the six best quotes from Hsih’s memo announcing the deal to the Zappos staff.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Tony Hsih, an early Zappos investor and former CEO of the Shline online shoe seller, died Friday. He set a new standard for customer service, and his memo to staff announcing Zeppoz’s ૨ 9 billion all-stock sale in 2009 is a reminder of his extraordinary company culture.
Hisey famously pushed his employees to go up and down to please customers. Zappos employees sent flowers and handwritten cards, spent 10 hours chatting to a caller, researched nearby pizza joints for hungry customers, and even boarded flights to deliver individual packages with valuables placed in the wrong place.
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recognized the value of Zappos in its customer relationships and culture, so they agreed to create its takeover to keep it intact. This transaction echoed War Run Buffett’s approach to acquiring companies with solid management quality and trusting them with minimal intervention.
The billionaire investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway wrote in his 2009 letter to shareholders that “we allow our subsidiaries to operate on their own without any degree of oversight and monitoring.” “
Hsieh and his team insisted on equal freedom to preserve Zappos’ “special sauce” and continue to build the company.
Here are the 6 best quotes from Zappos staff from Hsieh’s memo, lightly edited and condensed for clarity:
1. “I personally prefer the title ‘Zapoz and Amazon sitting in the trees …’ – the creation of a deal closer to a romantic partnership than a sale. Hsih likened the deal to a marriage, and the stock exchange began with the couple in 2010 in Inc. magazine jointly. Bank account.
2. “We learned that they really wanted us to continue creating the Zappos brand and continue to create the Zappos culture in our own unique way. I think the way to say ‘unique’ was to say ‘fun and a little weird.’ 🙂 ”
“Our culture is a platform that enables us to deliver a zappos experience to our customers.”
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“They want us to continue to grow and develop our culture (and maybe even a small part of our culture can go to them.”)
“We’re both very customer-centric companies – we just focus on different ways to make our customers happy.” Amazon focuses on low prices, wide selection and convenience to make their customers happy, while Zappos builds it by developing relationships. Deliver personal emotional connections and high contact (‘WOW’) customer service.
“We will not give Zappos discounts to Amazon employees unless they make cookies for us and deliver them in person.”
