SMART Leadership

Two Internet Companies, Two Opposite Approaches to Customer Interaction

I’m old enough to remember the days when the phone company would charge extra for customers who wanted unpublished phone numbers. That was when people actually used phone books. I also remember when businesses would NEVER have unpublished phone numbers.  Then came the internet where some companies have grown mightily despite not publishing their phone numbers.

I recently completed studying two very successful Internet companies with two vastly different approaches to customer interaction. As part of my self directed curriculum at the Automobile University, I recently listened to the audio books that detail the internal workings and cultures at…

Google

The book: I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards

vs.

Zappos

The Book: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

All Calls Barred

If you have ever interacted with Google as a customer, it is unlikely that you have ever had a live conversation with a real person. From the book, it is clear that Google’s founders believe in that line from Field of Dreams; If you build it, they will come. Through their technical superiority they’ve succeeded in becoming a verb in the search world and monetizing their free search service with ads and other services.  But they’ve always had unpublished phone numbers and still do. Here’s their contact page, sans phone numbers.  They have an unwritten contract with their customers: Don’t call us. We won’t call you.

As a consumer of both their Adwords and Checkout payment services, I’ve painfully experienced their cumbersome troubleshooting systems that arrogantly ignore the possibility that my problems could exist or that I would want them resolved in less than 48 hours.  So much for either instant gratification or crisis remediation.

If you consider the tortuous path of today’s corporate phone menu systems (dial 1 for English) perhaps we’re better off without trying to use the phone.

In contrast, Zappos, the on-line footwear retailer, is not your ordinary internet company. Not only can you call them, they actually call their customers to gain insight and rapport.  Superior Customer relations is a Zappos differentiator.

Based on the success of both Google and Zappos, it’s fair to say that either approach can work.  That is, if you choose your approach and assure that it works for your customers.

In addition to being web based businesses, the two have one other common trait.  Both made the top 20 of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.  Google is #1, Zappos is #11. Happy employees remain a key to delighting customers whether you can have a phone conversation or not.

Editorial

In Google’s case, they transitioned from solely providing free search to the world to having paying customers for advertising and financial services.  But their unpublished phone numbers prevailed. To add to customer frustration, Google takes pride in hiring students with no less than 4.0 grade point averages.  The result is their virtual communication is haunted by The Curse of Knowledge. Their non-wiz-kid paying customers are often tortured by confusing menus and limited feedback forms that make us long for Zappos-like telephone support.  Is it possible to maintain customer loyalty without really trying?  Stay tuned.