Zappos has excellent customer service due to their careful training process, which involves three key steps: 1) Building a pipeline of employees from entry-level to senior leadership so replacements are available when needed, 2) Taking four to seven weeks to thoroughly train all new hires, with a focus on customer service, and 3) Choosing training content wisely to ensure employees learn the most important concepts like company culture and customer happiness.

1. How to Build a Customer
Service Training Engine
like Zappos

2. It’s simple math…
Good customer service = Zappos
Zappos = Good customer service

3. How do they do it?

4. Step One:
A pipeline
of people.

5. “Our philosophy at Zappos is
different. Rather than focusing
on individuals as assets, we
instead focus on building as
our asset a pipeline of people
in every single department
with varying levels of skills
and experience, ranging from
entry level all the way up
through senior management
and leadership positions…

6. …Our vision is for almost all
of our hires to be entry level,
but for the company to
provide all the training and
mentorship necessary so that
any employee has the
opportunity to become a
senior leader within the
company within five
to seven years.”
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

7. go build a pipeline of people
over time, so that your hires
are mostly entry level, and
when someone leaves – you’ve
got a backlog of really
qualified/trained leaders to
fill their shoes.
So…

8. Step One:
A pipeline
of people.
Step Two:
Take it
slow.

9. “All new hires in Las Vegas go
through four weeks of initial
training. This is for everyone,
no matter what job they will
actually do after the four
weeks. It incorporates a lot of
things, and includes a big focus
on helping our customers. We
do this because we want
everyone to have the
experience of talking
with our customers…

10. …and it also helps us during
the holidays when we need
everyone to put in hours to
help our customers. Contact
center employees have an
additional three weeks of
training after the first four
weeks, so for them it’s a total
of seven weeks before
it’s full speed ahead in
the call center.”
Jim Edwards, Business Insider

11. Don’t be afraid to take it slow
when training. That’s 7 whole
weeks Zappos spends getting a
customer service rep up to
speed! It’s a long time and a
big investment, but getting it
right is crucial.
So…

12. Step One:
A pipeline
of people.
Step Two:
Take it
slow.
Step Three:
Choose training
content wisely.

13. Here’s an overview of the key concepts
Zappos teaches new employees…
Zappos History
Zappos Culture
Science of Happiness 101
1-Week Kentucky Boot Camp (the shipping process)
Public Speaking
Delivering Happiness
Intermediate-Level Microsoft Office

14. Sit down and brainstorm the
content you want each employee
to understand and internalize.
Choose training content wisely so
that all employees are learning
what they need to know, and not
wasting time with what they
don’t need to know.
So…

15. Step One:
A pipeline
of people.
Step Two:
Take it
slow.
Step Three:
Choose training
content wisely.
To recap...

16. When done right, work becomes your
calling, not your career. And who
doesn’t want that?
There is genius in Zappos’
culture and training process.

17. Training a customer service team?
Download a free
Customer Service
Training Manual