“Make ‘wow’ a verb,” urged Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO, during a recent visit to the UPS Corporate Office.  

Hsieh (pronounced shay) is the CEO of the wildly successful online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos, which has been “wowing” customers and employees for years as he’s helped transform the company from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross revenue annually — all while making Fortune magazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list.

Hsieh’s appearance was presented by the UPS Diversity Leadership Development (DLD) Committee — formed as part of an initiative to help UPS attract, retain and develop diverse employees in all levels of management. His message of how to create value for customers offers something everyone can learn from.

The 37-year-old says he’s not in the online retail business but rather the business of delivering happiness.

“Customer service shouldn’t just be the responsibility of the department — it should be the entire company’s responsibility,” said Hsieh, whose company has a 365-day return policy for “those who have trouble committing.”

Testing an employee’s loyalty from Day One, the company also pays new hires $4,000. To quit.

Aligning the stars

Hsieh said he’s learned that successful companies have two things in common: a strong culture and a vision with a higher purpose beyond profits.

“If you can align an entire organization around your core values, and then inspire employees who have personal values like that of the company’s, the profits will come.”

His bestselling book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, shows how a very different kind of corporate culture is a powerful model for achieving success and happiness.

In the book, Hsieh talks about how UPS helps Zappos wow customers.

“Having our warehouse located just 15 minutes away from the UPS Worldport hub means that a lot of customers order as late as midnight in the eastern United States, and are surprised when their orders show up on their doorstep eight hours later. This creates a wow experience, which our customers remember for a very long time – and tell their friends and family.”

The value of values

Hsieh also discussed Zappos’ 10 core values, which are explained in detail on the company’s website.

1. Deliver wow through service
2. Embrace and drive change
3. Create fun and a little weirdness
4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded
5. Pursue growth and learning
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication
7. Build a positive team and family spirit
8. Do more with less
9. Be passionate and determined
10. Be humble

“In the end, we’re a service company that just happens to sell shoes,” concluded Hsieh. “We are not an average company, our service is not average, and we don’t want our people to be average. We expect every employee to deliver wow.”