If you work in retail, you will have heard about Zappos. The Zappos story is surely going down in history (and onto many business schools curriculums for years to come) as a great case study of designing exceptional customer experience.
Before it was sold to Amazon in 2009, Zappos was well known for it’s dedication to customers. In fact, some (in this Business Insider article), referred to their customer dedication as “insane“. According to their brand marketing manager at the time (Michelle Thomas):
The one constant is that we are a service company that happens to sell __________ (fill in the blank).
In Taxmatic, we take a similar approach. We are a technology company, but our focus is on solving tax challenges for our customers. We aim to personally solve the problems for each and every customer because they rely on our platform for all things tax compliance. We have a support team dedicated to helping customers and solving their tax compliance and VAT challenges. After all, that’s how Taxmatic, as a concept, was conceived: Our 3PL customers were struggling with all things VAT compliance. We wanted to delight our customers and so, we created a solution and the result was Taxmatic.
The power of customer service as a sales strategy should never be overlooked. Zappos reached over $1 billion in sales in the first 10 years of business was attributed to pure obsession with their customers.
Committed to Customers
Zappos wanted to retain staff who were dedicated to their customers. According to their website at the time, “We don’t want our people to be average. We expect every employee to deliver WOW”. If it creates a great customer experience, then the team member could make it happen. This is a key philosophy that Zappos embraced and management went to great lengths to ensure that each member of the call centre operation shared and was empowered to deliver.
It’s more important that we make an emotional connection with the customer, rather than just quickly getting them off the phone,” Derek Carder, customer loyalty operations manager for Zappos explained at the time.
This commitment to (and obsession with) customers made Zappos a brand worth talking about. Customers became fans and advocates of the brand and told their friends about the experience. Zappos growth became exponential…and caught the attention of Amazon who eventually purchased the brand for $1.2 billion in 2009.
More than the Bottom Line
Based on the success of Zappos and other companies who embraced this approach, it seems that every retailer should be focused on a bigger purpose than just profits. Some companies talk the talk but when it comes to delivery, they fall short. Zappos, on the other hand (and every staff member), lived and breathed exceptional customer experience.
In fact, at this years’ NRF “Big Show”, the incoming CEO of Levis (Michelle Gass), included it as one of the five key pillars in her learning strategy:
The power of branding, being hyper-focused on the consumer, brand innovation; thinking like an omnichannel retailer, and the importance of purpose and values.
The benefit of putting the customer at the centre of everything (including mission) is that it creates this dynamo effect. Delighted customers became repeat customers. Word of mouth reduced the need for large sales and marketing budgets for future customers acquisitions…leading to increased long-term profits, and thus, exponential growth.
Tony Hsieh, in his book, Delivering Happiness, states the following about the goal of his company culture:
What set us apart from our competitors was that we put company culture above all else. We bet that by being good to our employees we would be able to offer a better service than our competitors. Better service results in many recurring customers and this means low marketing expenses, long-term profits, and rapid growth.
Robert Richman, co-creator of Zappos Insights, says that culture is everything at Zappos. “Culture is made up of values, values determine behavior, behavior determines actions, and actions produce results.”
Taxmatic is focused on technology right?
Yes, we know. You’re wondering why we talk about customer obsession…but there’s a reason. Winning and retaining customers during times of volatility, starts with building deeper, more human relationships. With a focus on the word “human” here. A study by Deloitte in 2019 revealed that companies that prioritise human values are twice as likely to outperform their peers in revenue growth and have 17 times faster store growth than those who do not.
A human experience can be transformative; it takes on a life of its own, in the same way that a smile begets a smile. That’s a high bar for organizations—but one worth striving to achieve.
But how can you be “obsessed with customers” if you’re wrestling with Sales Tax or VAT compliance? That’s where Taxmatic enters the fray. Let us manage VAT compliance, while you focus on building a business built on authenticity with an obsession for your customers.
Focus on the Customer
We believe every ambitious retail organisation needs a partner who can manage all the sales tax compliance matters. Ambition requires time and focus – which should not be spent on complicated, time consuming and plain well distracting tax matters. While you obsess about your customer, let us focus on the “other” things!
Taxmatic automates VAT calculations, filings, and payments for eCommerce retailers selling in EU and UK markets. It integrates seamlessly with eCommerce selling platforms to access sales order data in real time. The process includes secure payments wallet technology to complete sales tax remittance and manage refunds. Our customers have the peace of mind that comes from full regulatory compliance. Plus, the benefits of eliminating manual processes. Gaining more time to expand their online business in new international markets.
