Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, a billion dollar internet company, in creating a world class company. Today, I wanted to follow up with the other 4 steps he outlined, because I think this is truly business-building gold that he shared with us. Step #4: Create a Powerful Vision This is something you hear a lot of business coaches talk about, but it was interesting to hear this from a guy who has created literally hundreds of millions of dollars of profits and billions of dollars of sales. Tony commented that “whatever you’re thinking .. THINK BIGGER“. This is powerful advice, because a critical problem most people have is that they never start thinking big enough to begin with. They set low standards, they set low goals, and they never achieve anywhere near their personal potential. Tony’s attitude is somewhat like Donald Trump‘s in this respect, who likes to say, “you’re going to think anyway .. so you might as well think big“. No matter how you look at it, creating and holding a MASSIVE, exciting vision leads you to take more significant, committed steps, because we all want to be a part of something significant. So how do you create a vision that’s compelling? Tony suggested asking the following question to help uncover what you are really trying to do .. “What will you be passionate about in 10 years from now, even if you never made a dime doing it?” When you have a powerful, inspiring vision that connects to your passion, it’s incredible what happens – and such a vision rarely, if ever, has anything to do with money. As Tony commented, “chase the vision, not the money“. If you find yourself doing something because your primary goal is money, that’s a big sign that you’re headed in the wrong direction. Step #5: Build Relationships – Not Networks This was great insight, because so many people focus on how many business cards they collect at a networking meeting, or how many contacts they have in their Outlook or contact database. Tony’s view is that it doesn’t matter how many people you know or that you’ve met .. what matters most is how many people you connect with. He disagrees with the idea of “networking” as he thinks of that as a superficial process that doesn’t really bring you close to anyone. Instead, he emphasized how important it is not to focus on quantity of relationships, but on the quality of the relationships you have. And one of his greatest insights was “be interested instead of interesting.” Step #6: Build A World Class Team As with most entrepreneurs who are successful, Tony acknowledged that the most important thing he’s done is set the culture of his company, and then brought in the right people to manage and grow the culture and vision. He agreed with the classic thought of “hire slowly, fire quickly“, saying that one of the most damaging things you can have happen to a company is an employee who doesn’t fit, or is damanging to the culture. He outlined the Zappos.com recruitment and training programs for new employees, which includes significant training time spent on culture and brand. He also mentioned a wild concept — during the training, they offer $2,000 to anyone who is willing to quit on the spot! They’re looking for someone who’s not really committed and they know if someone’s willing to quit for $2,000, they’re not going to be around very long anyway.. best to flush them out at the beginning that find out later, after they’ve spent a bunch of money training them! This is a great example of how differently Tony thinks in his business, and why he is so wildly successful with it. Step #7: Think Long Term This was one of the themes of everything that Tony talked about. He thinks about the long-term in his business, and specifically, what the lifetime value of a customer is. He outlined numerous stories of how they went so far above and beyond to make a customer happy, because they focus on doing whatever it takes to make a customer happy. He details examples where customers have spent more than $60,000 with them online, and that everything that matters in a business that keeps customers is about the service. You can’t just say you have good service, you literally have to show it and prove it every single day. He emphasized there is “no get rich quick” out there, and that success takes time to achieve. Of course, I agree wholeheartedly with this premise, and this is exactly what I teach — there are no short cuts to success. He then proceeded to tell us more about his company, which is headquartered in Las Vegas. He described how they offer free company tours to anyone that is in Las Vegas, and they even have a shuttle that will come and pick you up from your hotel for free to bring you to their offices so you can see what they’re about! To say that Tony operates differently than almost EVERYONE out there is an understatement! If you want to read more about Tony and Zappos.com, Fortune Magazine recently did a great article on him that you can see here. Tony was the first speaker at the SANG event, and it was 3 days full of this kind of talent and insight. I’ll be sharing more of my notes with you over the next several days, so look for more to come soon!]]>
One Response
Thank you for sharing Tony’s attitude and beliefs regarding relationships, his passion (service) and business. I found every point very interesting. Non-conventional and innovative way of conducting business and developing the culture, specifically finding the right people. Wow, really makes one think how we can do things differently to work around future problems. And thank you for your insights!