Culture and Customer Service
Published August 10th, 2019
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, write Shep Hyken was in Las Vegas for another CCW (Customer Contact Week) convention, and Tony Hsieh was one of the general session speakers. He’d seen Tony speak before, and he holds nothing back. He briefly told the Zappos story about why it has been so successful. That’s when he dropped the “bomb” on the audience—several thousand customer care professionals, all anxiously awaiting Tony’s comments. He informed them that the customer was no longer the first priority. Culture had replaced the customer as the top priority. Hsieh said, “Get the culture right, and we’ll deliver the customer experience we want our customers to have.”
Sounds simple enough, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Creating a culture that sticks—where everyone buys in—is a tough battle, but one worth fighting. The focus on culture is really a focus on people. Get the right people on the metaphorical bus, all happy to be going in the same direction, and you’re on the way to creating the culture you want.
Over sixty-two years ago, MMI's co-founders recognized that creating a certain environment based on defined values AND living them out honestly and openly would attract others who believed in their vision. Today's thousands of MMI-ers can take pride in the hospitality they share because of the confidence MMI provides in allowing them to thrive.