My memories of childhood shoe-shopping trips remain strong to this day. The crushing boredom. The dull product. The sales assistants looking over my head at my mum, while sizing my feet with that tickly contraption. The knowledge that yet again I wasn't going to get the pair with the compass in the heels, or that left pawprints when you walked in sand.
Of course, I know I'm not in great company - half the planet seems to obsess about shoes. Nevertheless, this is an area where, to my mind, there has never been a close association with great customer service. Yet, it is precisely in this sector that one of the most exciting customer service businesses in the world has made its name on the web.
Most of the businesses I've worked with agonise over the number of people calling customer services. For many of them, one of the web's principal benefits is that they can divert expensive call-handling to a cheaper channel. It's not enough that they've shaved costs off the call centre by moving it to India, and managed it to the bone through incentivising the reduction of average handling time, now they don't even need to speak to their customers at all.
This is odd, because they'd be the first to complain if the account director at their agency didn't call regularly.
For Zappos chief executive, Tony Hsieh, it couldn't be more different. 'The telephone is one of the best branding devices there is,' he says. 'You've got their undivided attention for several minutes.' Far from discouraging them from calling, Hsieh adds: 'We want to talk to our customers.'
Zappos is no tiny start-up. This 1800-employee, $1bn-plus turnover business puts every recruit through a month in customer services. It has no scripts in the call centre or average handling time, and encourages employees' creativity in helping customers with their enquiries; even directing them to competitors when they're out of stock.
Contrast it with M&S or Next, where customers visiting the homepage need two clicks from a tiny link on the bottom of the homepage to get to a phone number. Zappos puts its number at the top of the home page, with a separate line for Hispanic customers.
Customer satisfaction is an obsession that runs right through the company, and derives Hsieh says, from its focus on culture. Its 10 core values start with 'Create WOW through service', and it provides a higher aim for staff - more than pay and bonuses, they're trying to inspire employees with a purpose.
Call centre staff are expected to form an emotional bond with customers while using initiative to solve problems. As Hsieh says, it's 'easier to ask for forgiveness than permission'.
Slightly obsessive, perhaps even a little culty, Zappos has been criticised for being unidimensional in its hiring policy, even admitting to firing people who were good at their job because they didn't fit culturally. However, even its harshest critics have to admit it works. Sales have grown exponentially and the brand's customers are evangelical about it.
Now, with books, company tours and even video training in production, the business is setting out to sell its approach to achieving customer service excellence to other firms, and it is finding a ready market.
For me, what's interesting about Zappos is that it is a retailer that has truly understood not just the value of brand, but how to make it resonate with consumers. From the website to the call centre, there's a consistent and engaging tone of voice. Its brand isn't a product of the window dressing - it's in the organisation's DNA - and I can be pretty sure the customer assistants aren't going to tickle my feet.
Andrew Walmsley is co-founder of i-level
30 SECONDS ON ... Zappos
- Zappos was founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn, following an unsuccessful attempt to find the pair of shoes he was looking for at a shopping mall or online. The name is derived from zapatos, the Spanish word for shoes.
- The business has grown rapidly and expanded into other areas such as clothing, accessories, homewares and beauty products.
- In 2008, Zappos recorded gross sales worth more than $1bn. However, it made a pre-tax profit of only $10.8m.
- Amazon bought Zappos in November 2009 for a reported $1.2bn.
- The company headquarters is in Henderson, Nevada, and its warehouse is located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
- As well as a 24-hour call centre, Zappos offers free postage (including for returns) and allows customers to send back items up to a year after purchase.
- When new employees complete their training they are offered $2000 to resign - this is to ensure that no one works for the company for purely mercenary reasons.