Customer Service May Not Be Your First Priority, and That’s Okay

Tony Hsieh is the CEO of the online shoe and clothing company, Zappos. The company’s reputation for amazing customer service is almost a cliché in the customer service world. Zappos stories have become customer service legends. The Zappos phone call that lasted 10 hours and 43 minutes is one such legend. There are many others, and this is just one of the reasons Zappos is recognized as one of the top customer service companies on the planet. Their secret to success? Contrary to what you might think…
Customer service is not the first priority.
WHAT?! How can that be? This is what Zappos is known for. Well, hold on! We’ll get to the reason in a moment.
Recently I was in Las Vegas for another CCW (Customer Contact Week) convention, and Tony Hsieh was one of the general session speakers. I’d seen Tony speak before, and he holds nothing back. He briefly told