Deliver the Wow.

For unrivaled customer service, look no further than Zappos, the Amazon-owned, independently operated online seller of footwear and other goods.

Heralded as “a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes,” Zappos has a rule-breaking culture that grants staff incredible latitude to resolve issues as they see fit.

No scripts. No time limits. Just empathy and sound judgment.

For one employee assisting a customer, that meant a call that lasted 10 hours and 51 minutes; when the pandemic hit, Zappos launched a “Customer Service for Anything” hotline to offer support on any matter—such as dining recommendations or just a chat for callers bored under quarantine or stressed by unrest.

“We don’t deter our employees from talking about what is happening in real life,” Rob Siefker, Zappos senior director of customer loyalty, tells EB.

Here, the 16-year Zappos veteran riffs on how to wow and amp up your own Service Quotient.

BE INQUISITIVE.

Find out what makes patients tick. Dig in deeper.

Asking only about computer screen time and eye strain is insufficient. “That doesn’t make me feel special. That’s not differentiating,” Siefker says.

ASK: Are you a golfer? Wear a hat? What time of day do you use contact lenses or eye drops?

THE TAKEAWAY: Thoughtful questions about lifestyle lead to personalized solutions to keep patients safe and more comfortable, he says.

DROP IVR. PICK UP THE PHONE.

Interactive voice response (“Press ‘1’ for business hours...”) stinks and everybody hates it.

At Zappos, callers can press “1” for the joke of the day, but all other inquiries are handled by humans.

Zappos did the math. IVR is an “astronomical” time waster that forces callers to wade through useless prerecorded options before they hang up frustrated. Not a good approach to up your Service Quotient.

“If you have any kind of a [recorded] greeting, make it quick so callers can connect with someone as quickly as possible,” Siefker says.

ELEVATE THE CONNECTION.

Answering the phone represents a “precious” and oft-overlooked opportunity.

Customers may call your shop only once a year. It’s special to them. The voice on the other end must rise to that special moment with a sincere, caring, professional manner. Vocal cadence and timbre matter.

Find staff with empathy who want to help others, as this front-line phone interaction wields great power to cement a first impression—good or bad—about your practice, ECPs, or the shop.

To guard against mediocrity, Zappos offers new hires a financial incentive—to quit—if they are not truly jazzed about their customer service role.

“Hire awesome people and make them more awesome,” Siefker says. “We are a company operated by human beings. We want our customer to realize that.”