Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, shares how their customer service culture generates hundreds of organic success stories daily through employee empowerment. Hsieh explains how Zappos is systematizing their cultural approach through Zappos Insights, a training program that provides other companies with their interview forms, processes, and cultural frameworks.
Eben Interviews Tony Hsieh
Tony Hsieh explains how Zappos has created a culture where exceptional customer service stories emerge naturally without management oversight. When employees deeply understand that the Zappos brand represents the very best customer service, they independently create hundreds or thousands of remarkable customer experiences daily across all communication channels.
Hsieh describes how Zappos is capturing and sharing their cultural knowledge through Zappos Insights, a training program that provides actual operational forms and video content. The program serves companies like Southwest Airlines and Lego who spend full days experiencing different departments firsthand, with ongoing content driven by subscriber questions and needs.
“A lot of it is self-generating now, and that goes back to our culture. You know, like our employees internally understand that long-term we really want the Zappos brand to just be about the very best customer service and the very best customer experience.”
— Tony Hsieh▶ 36:37
Focus on building a culture where employees deeply understand the company vision and brand direction. When people understand that your brand is about exceptional customer experience, they'll naturally create amazing service moments without management oversight.
“So we've decided to actually capture all of this information and share it with everyone on this program called Zappos Insights. And so it's going to be a combination of video interviews where we will answer the most common questions and then also actually provide the forms that we use.”
— Tony Hsieh▶ 39:06
Zappos Insights is a training system that captures Zappos' cultural and operational knowledge through video interviews answering common questions and actual forms used in their processes. The content is driven by subscriber questions and covers areas like interview processes, management training, and department-specific practices.
“And we actually have a lot of companies come through and take tours and some companies like Southwest Airlines or Lego have actually come through and spent an entire day with us where they'll spend a couple hours with our call center, a couple hours with HR and recruiting, and a couple hours with various other departments”
— Tony Hsieh▶ 38:32
Companies like Southwest Airlines and Lego spend full days at Zappos with dedicated time in different departments based on their needs. They might spend hours with call centers, HR and recruiting, and other departments to get hands-on exposure to how Zappos operates.
“there are literally hundreds or thousands of stories like that being created every single day, some by phone and some are by email, some are by live chat”
— Tony Hsieh▶ 36:43
According to Tony Hsieh, Zappos creates hundreds or thousands of customer service stories every single day across phone, email, and live chat interactions. These stories happen naturally as employees take initiative to create exceptional experiences.
“sometimes employees will take it upon themselves to send flowers to customers, for example, or write handwritten thank you cards to certain customers that they feel like they had a connection with”
— Tony Hsieh▶ 36:37
Zappos employees understand that the brand is fundamentally about delivering the best customer service and experience. When employees feel a genuine connection with customers, they naturally take initiatives like sending flowers or writing handwritten thank you notes without being asked.
Tony Hsieh's approach to building a culture where exceptional customer service happens naturally without management oversight
Establish clear brand vision
Ensure employees understand that your brand is fundamentally about delivering exceptional customer service and experience
Empower employee initiative
Give employees freedom to take personal initiative in customer interactions, like sending flowers or writing thank you cards when they feel connections
Document and systematize
Capture successful cultural practices through training programs that include actual forms, processes, and video content addressing real questions
Enable cross-departmental learning
Allow other companies or teams to spend dedicated time in different departments to experience your culture firsthand
Exceptional customer service becomes self-generating when employees understand the company vision and are empowered to act independently
Tony Hsieh explains that Zappos employees naturally send flowers to customers and write handwritten thank you cards without management direction, creating hundreds or thousands of stories daily across phone, email, and live chat
Cultural training can be systematized and shared through documented processes, forms, and ongoing video content based on subscriber questions
Tony Hsieh describes Zappos Insights as combining video interviews answering common questions with actual forms used in their processes, like interview questions, with content direction driven by subscriber inquiries
Companies learn best through immersive, department-specific experiences rather than generic training programs
Tony Hsieh mentions that companies like Southwest Airlines and Lego spend entire days at Zappos with dedicated hours in call centers, HR and recruiting, and other departments based on their specific needs
Service excellence stories multiply organically when employees have genuine connections with customers and freedom to express care
Tony Hsieh describes how Zappos employees independently send flowers and write handwritten thank you cards when they feel a connection with customers, creating stories that happen naturally without his awareness
Exceptional customer service becomes self-generating when employees understand the company vision and are empowered to act independently
▶ 36:37Cultural training can be systematized and shared through documented processes, forms, and ongoing video content based on subscriber questions
▶ 39:06Companies learn best through immersive, department-specific experiences rather than generic training programs
▶ 38:32Service excellence stories multiply organically when employees have genuine connections with customers and freedom to express care
▶ 36:37Claim: “Customer service requires constant management oversight and scripted responses to maintain quality”
Reframe: The best customer service becomes self-generating when employees understand company vision and culture deeply enough to act independently
“A lot of it is self-generating now, and that goes back to our culture.”
“there are literally hundreds or thousands of stories like that being created every single day”
“it's really an amazing thing when you have a culture where everyone understands the company vision and direction and kind of the details of how it's implemented”
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