Customer Bliss

"We are clear about the purpose we serve in our customers' lives." Beloved companies take the time to be clear about their unique promise for their customer's lives. Beloved companies realize that clarity of purpose guides choices and unites the organization. It elevates people's work from merely executing tasks to delivering experiences that customers will want to repeat and share with others. Business for Zappos.com, an Internet clothing and shoe retailer known for its superior customer service and quirky company culture, exploded in 2008, reaching over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales. In the face of rapid growth and increased demand, Zappos decided that their customer service culture was essential to their success and must be preserved. To ensure their company culture would not be lost, they decided that only the most passionate employees should stick around, offering $2,000 for new-hires to leave the company if they didn't feel like they could uphold and live by the core values of their business. Fewer than 1 percent of new-hires take Zappos up on their offer, meaning that those who stay are committed and passionate employees, ready to fully embrace Zappos culture. Businesses across every industry prosper when they decide with clarity of purpose and spread that clarity across the entire organization. Decide to be real. "We are genuine, passionate and take the best version of ourselves to work." Beloved companies break down barriers between customer and company, creating a relationship between people and revel in one another's foibles, quirks and spirit. It draws them to one another. Their humanity and authenticity is what sets beloved companies apart from all the others. They allow room for people to blend their personal instincts with their business decisions. The Container Store encourages employees to be like "Gumby", an animated clay figure made popular by stop motion animation. The connection is that folks at The Container Store should not create boundary lines between what each person does; that bending over backwards for customers and each other is a necessity for growth and prosperity. With this notion, founders Garrett Boone and Kip Tindell wanted to ensure they didn't deliver forced customer service or teamwork. They simply want everyone to be flexible and find the right solution for each situation, without imposing a fake or forced reaction. This decision by The Container Store to ask employees to be like Gumby contributes to their achievement of only 15 percent employee turnover, compared to the average turnover of 50 percent or higher in retail. Creating an environment where people find joy in working with each other has also earned them nine years on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Customers and employees gravitate to companies who decide to be real, who decide to drop the "corporate veneer" and to those that nurture the personality and spirit of their customers and employees. Decide to be there. "We are in the scrimmage every day to build our operation from our customers' perspective." Beloved companies devote more resources and more plain old work to be there for their customers. They're in it every day to earn the right to a continued relationship with their customers, and the first decision they make is to be there when the customer needs them, on the customer's terms. Aware of the frustration customers felt from waiting in long lines only to find out that the banker was unable to help them and that they had to move to the end of another line to get help, Portland-based Umpqua Bank decided to be there for customers by creating the position of Universal Associate; training every employee in every banking task. Umpqua Bank's Associates can take a mortgage application and a loan officer is more than happy to help with a safety deposit box. Further, the bank made its mission to provide customizable banking, allowing the managers in each community bank to customize their offering based on their customers' interests - from yoga classes in one store location to knitting classes in another. This advanced employee training and customized banking has allowed Umpqua Bank to be there for customers and has led to exponential growth. Decide to say sorry.