The culture secret: how to empower people and companies no matter what you sell

Abstract

As the Coach at Zappos, isaw an opportunity to help create the best Culture on the planet. Why was that important? Well, for starters, sell-ing shoes isn’t really new or unique, and selling them online where you couldn’t see, feel, or touch them was probably not the best business model in the world . . . at least when the company began. Because custom-ers requested many sizes, we needed to have 20 pairs in stock just to sell one, and shoes went out of style relatively quickly. To be successful, we had to differentiate ourselves immediately. We chose Service and experi-ence to be our North Star. We were set on delivering “WOW,” which was the expression our customers used when they received Zappos products or interacted with Zappos employees.