- How do you keep ZCLT representatives engaged?
- What metrics do you track in your call center?
- How many Leads, Supervisors, and Managers does Zappos CLT, Inc. have?
- What is your budget for sending customers flowers, creating coupons, etc? How do you know if an employee is giving too much?
- How do you empower Zappos CLT, Inc. team members to assist customers?
- What are some expamples of PEC (Personal Emotional Connection)?
- What is the conversion rate?
- How do you recruit?
- How do you handle employees that abuse the attendance policy?
- Why do most people leave Zappos?
- Who would one contact if they are interested in doing business with Zappos?
- Is Zappos taxed on serviced provided for the employees?
- How do the salaries for Zappos Family employees compare to other companies?
- What percentage of employees take "the offer"?
- What percentage of your employees are contractors?
- What is your retention rate?
- What is the average employee tenure?
- How has Amazon influenced your culture?
- How do you motivate your employees?
- How does Zappos reward employees?Ways to celebrate other than monetary…?
- What is the Trifecta award and what is the criteria for winning the award? (for Zappos Merchandising)
- What challenges are you encountering as you grow?
- How do we keep Core Values a focus without just saying them?
Answers
How do you keep ZCLT representatives engaged?
We want to ensure that all team members stay engaged and aren’t getting burnt out. To keep employees engaged we offer different skill sets they can apply for. The skill sets also come with pay bumps, since ZCLT does not give annual raises, so this is a good way for them to set goals and stay motivated.back to top
What metrics do you track in your call center?
Zappos CLT does not operate with the same metrics as most contact centers. There is no requirement to sell or up sell anything to customers, and there are no incentives (bonuses/spiffs) for sales. The company-wide focus is on the average speed of answer (ASA), which they work to keep fairly low. On the average day, 80% of calls are answered within 20 seconds or less.
Call-times are not enforced, but are tracked (to watch for trends). The average talk time is roughly 5 minutes.
ZCLT reps are 'scored' on their 'PSL' or Personal Service Level from the status buttons that are located on the telephone system. Team leads can discuss the amount of a rep's time that is customer-facing. The goal for ZCLT reps is to have 80% of their working time in customer-facing statuses. This leaves plenty of time to take care of their personal needs (going to get a drink/fresh air, other needs).back to top
How many Leads, Supervisors, and Managers does Zappos CLT, Inc. have?
As of August 2011, there are 43 leads, 12 supervisors and 5 managers. Of course as we continue to grow, so will the numbers of our management team.
Typically we try to keep the team counts to 9–13 ZCLT reps to 1 lead, and 3–6 leads to a supervisor, and 3–6 supervisors to a manager. The head count is dependent on the type of team they are managing.back to top
Zappos CLT does not have a budget per se for flowers and coupons. If a ZCLT rep chooses to send flowers or cookies, he simply e-mails a support team, and the items are sent. More often than not, ZCLT team members are reminded that it is a resource that they have available and are encouraged to use it. If it is the right decision for the customer, they do it!back to top
How do you empower Zappos CLT, Inc. team members to assist customers?
In the 4-week New Hire Training, a good bit of time is spent shadowing other experienced ZCLT reps to hear how they are WOWing our customers. Hearing people make their own decisions for customer resolutions is the best way to show new employees that they really are empowered to make decisions.
Much of the New Hire Training is processes in our back-end system, going over basic policies and procedures, and reviewing the information to ensure maximum retention.back to top
What are some expamples of PEC (Personal Emotional Connection)?
Zappos CLT Inc, team members are expected to make an attempt at connecting with customers. Whether that is talking to them about the products, asking how their day is going, or if they have any plans for holidays, etc. Each team member in ZCLT is given 15 minutes before their lunch to write thank you cards to customers they have interacted with that day.back to top
According to our management team for Zappos CLT, Inc, conversion rates are actually not tracked, but if they were able to give a ballpark figure of conversion, an estimated 4% of orders are placed by customers calling in to customer service (ZCLT). The other 97% of customers place their orders online.back to top
The main job in Recruiting is to bring people into the Zappos Family who are both technical fits and strong culture fits. And along the way, we aim to provide candidates with the same level of service that Zappos.com provides its customers. That means responding to all inquiries, getting back to candidates in a timely manner, and being sure to close the loop with all candidates, even if we don’t hire them. We have gotten so many thank yous from candidates we have rejected just because we actually took the time to send them sincere thanks and let them know we weren’t moving forward. Not many companies do this apparently.
The Recruiters will also try to make the experience personable and fun (come on, interviewing can be fun!) for all candidates. Our application includes the standard boring stuff you find on applications (and legal requires), but we mix it up with fun questions like, “If you could be any superhero who would you be and why?” Or, “If every time you walked into room your theme song played, what would it be and why?” We also, cheer them on along the way with text like, “Hang on, you’re almost done!” It helps break up the application, and I think, shows the candidates from the onset that we are not a typical corporate environment.back to top
How do you handle employees that abuse the attendance policy?
Zappos CLT, Inc uses a points system that allows team members to manage their attendance accordingly. For example, if a team member calls out sick, their accumulated sick time will be applied to their time card, and any unpaid hours will result in points being issued. The same goes for late arrivals, and early departures. Points that are given drop off six months after the occurrence. For the other Zappos Family companies, attendance is monitored by the individual team leads. Any pattern of abuse of the attendance policy is handled on a case by case basis.back to top
Why do most people leave Zappos?
The most common reason given for voluntary resignation is that the employee is moving out of the Las Vegas area. Because there is a very constant flow of people to Las Vegas from all over the country (world?), you get a lot of people who just decide that they need to get back to their families. Another, related reason is that an employee’s spouse has taken a job elsewhere.back to top
Who would one contact if they are interested in doing business with Zappos?
Potential business prospects can email their inquiries to interestinpartnership@zappos.com.back to top
Is Zappos taxed on serviced provided for the employees?
Our Zappos Concierge team (ZCon) advised us that since the onsite services being provided are individually paid for by the employees using the services, Zappos is not taxed.back to top
How do the salaries for Zappos Family employees compare to other companies?
While the Zappos Family tends to pay on the low-average to average side of the scale, the relaxed environment and potential for advancement both add value that cannot be counted on a paycheck. The benefits package is better than above average, which also adds a great deal of value beyond the dollars-and-cents that end up in the bank!back to top
What percentage of employees take "the offer"?
“The offer” is something that is presented in New Hire Training. Everyone going through training is offered $3,000.00 to leave. The catch is, if they take the money, they are not allowed to apply in the future. Roughly 2-3% of trainees have taken the offer since it was rolled out. back to top
What percentage of your employees are contractors?
2011 - 4.9% back to top
LV and KY – 70 %, LV – 91%, KY 53.6% back to top
What is the average employee tenure?
Currently less than a year. back to top
How has Amazon influenced your culture?
While the Zappos Family is wholly owned by Amazon, we are independently operated. This means that there is a new board of directors and new owners, but we are still very much doing our own thing.
We like to think that Amazon is “high tech,” and Zappos is “high touch.” It has been made very clear to Amazon employees that any attempt to force change in the Zappos Family culture or what we do will not be tolerated.back to top
How do you motivate your employees?
For the most part, the environment itself leads to motivated employees. Since we hire by our core values, team members know what to expect when coming into work. While motivating team members is an important factor in leadership, the Zappos Family really focuses on empowering and inspiring people to excel.back to top
How does Zappos reward employees? Ways to celebrate other than monetary…?
There are a few recognition programs that are used. Most of the programs involve peer-to-peer incentives like Zollars, or Zappos Dollars. Employees can give each other Zollars for any action that they feel is deserving of recognition (if someone helps them carry boxes to their car or holds the door while their hands are full, or helps them to learn something they were having a hard time with, etc...). Zollars can be collected to spend in the Zollar Store - a collection of useful items located by the front door of the 2280 building.
There is also an employee bonus program. This is also peer driven and culture based. For actions that deserve more recognition than Zollars, employees can award each other a $50 bonus.back to top
The Trifecta award is given to the Buyers from the Zappos Merchandising team who meet or exceed in the following areas: Sales, Inventory and Gross Margin.back to top
What challenges are you encountering as you grow?
Mostly keeping our focus on culture. With a set of core values that are defined and a statement of commitment to live those values, we need to make sure that we are using them as a filter for the hiring process, our daily decisions and are even willing to fire based on a violation of the core values/culture.back to top
How do we keep Core Values a focus without just saying them?
By making the decision to hire and fire by them. All of our decisions are made by them! All feedback is given on how an incident or situation relates to the core values and how we can make decisions better, accordingly.
Culture Lab Feature
Results Fitness
Letting Your Culture Manage
Making culture a priority paid off immensely, and quite literally, when her team pitched in personal money to buy equipment that was not in the company budget.