How the CEO of Zappo's Gets It Done

Some interesting insight into Zappos and maximizing productivity.

The Yesterbox concept sounds interesting.

What I learned from studying Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's schedule for a year

Learn how Hsieh deals with a torrent of emails and maximizes his productivity.

Zappos new offices.

I haven't been back to visit Zappos since they were bought by Amazon a few years ago  and moved to their new offices in the old Vegas City Hall building. 

If you are in Vegas I highly suggest taking the free Zappos tour by calling them up. They will come pick you up from your hotel in a chauffeured Zappos car and drop you off after - all no charge. 

Zappos move from the industrial park setting in Henderson just outside Vegas to their new offices right in the heart of the city is another step to build an amazing culture. Although I can see the benefits of having the over 1000 staff in one office tower, it feels like something was lost in the excitement and energy of the old layout. 

Possibly it will just take some time to get settled and moved in ...... Possibly. But it also feels a bit more corporate and that is probably due to an Amazon influence. Still the tour was great and all the usual awesome Zappos stuff was present and accounted for like the VIP chair, the library, cool kitchens and decorations but I did miss anywhere I could write a comment on the wall with my trusty black sharpie. 

Cheers

Calvin

Zappos Tour Part 6 - Keeping Culture Alive

Even the mighty Zappos was not immune from the economic downturn and they laid off 8% of their workforce in October 2008.Since then, they have hired back and increased their head count to almost 1400.

Now in 2010, since Amazon has bought and owned Zappos for about a year, I have heard headcount is being tightened but that could just be due to the synergies with having Amazon as your big brother.

We had stopped in the cafeteria when this was filmed. Here Zappos employees are offered free snacks and drinks as well as basic sandwich fixings. After seeing this I immediately introduced this at Costless Express. We now offer all our staff free breakfast, lunch and dinner. The staff love it and it can save someone several hundred dollars a month.

Cheers,
Calvin

Zappos Tour Part 5 - Blog Bus and the HR of the Tiger

Donavon tours us past the very cool BLOG BUS. Who decorates this stuff?

Then it gets even more crazy when we walk past the HR department. Now remember there are 4-8 tours a day thru Zappos so imagine hearing Eye Of The Tiger that many times a day, every day, and still have a smile.

The people are genuinely happy and love being a bit weird. It is infused into them.

Have a look.
Calvin

Zappos Tour Part 4 - Heat Map and Monkey Row

Here is the epicenter of entreprenurialism - Monkey Row.

In true Zappos fashion, the offices are open concept even for the executive team.

Down Monkey Row is where Tony, Alfred and other key executives sit.

I had seen Monkey row in the pages of Fortune Magazine and on CNN business shows so to be here was like a sports fan standing on home plate at Yankee Stadium.

A highlight for me!

Cheers,
Calvin

Zappos Tour Part 3: The Buyers Floor

Donavon takes us for the first time into the call center. It's what I consider the nerve center of Zappos.

I was ready for crazy antics and a loud boisterous environment. But instead... everyone was heads down and working.

At Costless Express we are a pretty crazy and fun bunch at times, but other days you can hear a pin drop.

It was one of my best take-aways from the whole tour - that to have a great culture like Zappos, you don't need to be "Full On" all the time.

Enjoy Part 3.
Calvin

Zappos Tour Part 2: Culture Makes a $ Billion in Sales!

Here is part 2 from our August 16th tour of Zappos.

Donavon the Culture Evangelist and tour guide for the day takes us to a hallway at Zappos HQ to explain about their Growth Milestones and Culture.
Have a Watch!



Many more episodes to come.

Cheers,
Calvin

Zappos Tour Part 1: History

As promised, Here's Part 1 of the Zappos video! More to follow...

Visiting Zappos

At Costless Express we are obsessed with WOWing customers and offering the best customer service possible in an environment that breeds the best employee culture possible. So it would only make sense that we learn how to be the best by having close ties with one of the best companies in customer service.

For us, we feel Zappos.com exemplifies the culture and service ethics we strive for each day. If you are not aware of Zappos, then you only need to know that they went from zero sales to ONE Billion in sales in under 10 years, and the success can be directly attributed to WOWing customers with service. Check out http://www.zappos.com/ for starters and I'll fill in more about them later.

Over the past year we have had a close relationship with Zappos and the team there has answered any questions we threw at them from hiring practices to service statistics and even how they build their culture.

This weekend we were invited down to tour the Zappos headquarters in Las Vegas and then to attend a VIP party for their staff, vendors and close friends.

All I can say about the party at this point is it has something to do with a BUS and a BOOK.

There are so many stories to tell and video to share that I'll break it up over the next few weeks. I'll also post an 11 part video series of the main highlights of the tour onto our YouTube channel  and share some fun pictures on our Facebook gallery.

Cheers,
Calvin