The Virtual Gardener
The place where I explore online community cultivation, propagation and harvesting techniques.
I've been working as head of consultancy at Sift for the last four years. The business supports all organisations looking to respond to a Web 2.0 world and truly engage with their audience - and has been doing so for the past 10 years.
This blog originally started out as a comment on a conference I attended about online communities. I'm now using it as a thought-bin for related stuff. Any gaps in posting doesn't mean I've stopped thinking ...
A cultural revolution instigated by a Chinese american
This was amazing - Tony Hseih talked about his company Zappos and his one and only focus on company culture. In the context of Web 2.0 being transformational, here is a guy who’s company from day one was designed to be transformational and not replicate business norms.
He started the business to sell shoes online in 1999. In 2007 it grossed over $800 million and is projecting over $1 billion this year. His differentiator is service and quality. As he puts, it you can only run a business based on 2 out of 3 possibilities: Great service, great product or low price. His great service is based on conversations between his customer service people, who are available 24/7/365, and costumers. Customer service do not have a script, conversations are not timed and they are not goaled on up-selling. If the conversation ends with a recommendation to a competitor, so be it.
In other words, the customer is genuinely at the heart of the business and Zappos has a relationship with its customers that pushes repeat business up year-on-year, currently running at 52%. For me, this is the feminine way of doing business (how can we both win), characterised in Scandinavia, and not the macho way, as in the US, UK and Germany (how do I get one over you).
The reason Hseih’s focus is on getting the culture right is that the behaviour of his employees is based on a complete understanding of the business and its objectives, so each person can take initiatives that should always be right for the business without the need to reference a ‘higher authority’. Every manager is encouraged to spend 20% of their time outside the office with other employees. You get more productivity working with a friend than working with a co-worker. If you want to be a Zappos employee you have to sign up to the culture as defined in the culture book. Failure to comply, for example, behaving arrogantly, is a fireable offence.
