…Oh, And We Also Sell Shoes…

Zappos is not an on-line shoe store at all, just ask Tony Hsieh and he will tell you the same. Zappos is a customer service industry that just happens to currently sell shoes and a lot of shoes. Building an on-line shoe store empire was never a dream of his as a child and yet it happened to this tech-savvy internet mogul. Actually, he never dreamed about building a multi-million-dollar internet based companies, yet he did it multiple times.

Stories like Tony Hsieh’s millionaire successes are not everyday occurrences for entrepreneurs. What the story does demonstrate is what can happen if the entrepreneur understands the customers’ needs, knows how to build on or create a lasting and sustainable desire for the product, and understands how to utilize customer service as the business model. We can think of experiences where one, or all, of these criteria have not been met when we were shopping. Do not try to sell me something I do not need and do not provide poor customer service.

Understanding current needs and projecting future perceived needs of the customer is essential to be a successful entrepreneur. I often have ideas that develop from a need that I have or that I see others needing. I then wonder if it is a need shared by enough consumers to build it into a successful business. Though it has not yet paid off for me, I continue to learn how to make an idea become a success and one day I will create a customer desire.

Creating a lasting and sustainable desire is necessary to keep a company growing. The consumer should perceive a desire for your product or they will not have any reason to initially utilize your company and most likely will not return. As an entrepreneur, you need to fill that desire and provide the customer with a reason for repeat business. Customer service that is truly customer oriented is the way to lead to success.

Seeing beyond the immediate sudden success of your business may have and realizing that when customer service needs are the focus, you have potentially created a self-sustaining business. Sometimes the up-front investment costs are difficult with a struggling new business and the payoff is built from the trust established by fulfilling the customers’ needs. Zappos understood that if they provide superior customer service it was going to cost them a lot of money up front and the long-term investment payed off as a billion-dollar business.

Understanding the customers’ needs, creating and maintaining their desire for a service, and great customer service are key to being an entrepreneur. Understanding needs and creating desires for a product are important though you need to begin the planning with customer service in mind. Build on customer service to make it better so that the customer has no reason to go elsewhere for the service. Finally, maintain and improve the customer service to keep current customer and earn the trust of new customers. As Tony Hsieh says, he has a customer service industry that happens to sell shoes.