Greetings from FL350, somewhere west of Chicago. I'm winging my way home from Washington, D.C. where Yanik's 5th Underground Seminar wrapped up yesterday.

Because we sign NDA's (nondisclosure agreements) prior to entering the conference hall, I can't really say too much about exactly what information was shared by this year's speakers. Actually, I think I'm probably breaking Yanik's rules by including the picture of him onstage – but what the heck, we all know that HE was there.

Because Yanik also went public about the fact that Bob Parsons, CEO of GoDaddy and Tony Hsieh (sounds like ‘Shea') CEO of Zappos.com were the keynote speakers, I'll say that I attended both their presentations and was very glad I did.

Tony's presentation in particular resonated with me.

Here's a guy whose company did over 1 billion dollars in 2008 and he talks about how he'd rather spend money on things that improve the customer experience (what he calls the “WOW” factor) than on marketing. For example, Zappos runs a very expensive 24-7, 77,000 square foot warehouse so they can ship directly to their customers – rather than relying on manufacturers to ship their products.

Does that feel counter-intuitive or run contrary to the ‘outsource everything' business advice you'd typically hear from the ‘Internet marketing gurus'? Now ask yourself — are they running billion-dollar companies?

Tony understands that people are his business' most valuable asset and attributes Zappos' success to the huge emphasis Zappos places on providing the best possible customer service – NOT the bottom line.

For example, Tony shared the story of a woman who bought a pair of boots for her husband at Zappos. Sadly, her husband never received the gift as he was killed in a car accident on his way home from work. When the customer called to inquire about the return policy and told the Zappos representative what happened, the Zappos clerk ordered flowers to be sent to her in condolence.

WOW!

The woman shared her Zappos story at her husband's funeral and you can bet that the 30 friends who heard it are all now Zappos customers.

Here's another example.

Zappos only lists products on the site that are actually in stock. If a customer calls to ask about a product not currently available, Zappos' staff will search their competitors' websites and will then refer the caller to the site that has the requested product readily available.

WOW!

Very few salespeople in brick and mortar stores will refer to their competitors even when you specifically ask where else they think the product might be available. More often than not, they'll shrug their shoulders, give you a blank look and say “I dunno” while turning their back to resume chatting with their cute co-worker.

What the misguided clerk (or owner) fails to appreciate is that they're NOT losing a sale — they don't have the product to sell anyway — but that they just lost a potential future customer, because after thinking “If I were your boss, I'd SO fire your ass“, I make a mental note NOT to darken their doorway again until they hold their going-out-of-business sale.

On the other hand, I'm so WOW-ed when a salesperson does make a referal, that I make a mental note to visit that store first when I'm looking for something in their niche again.

Both situations are memorable, but the latter is positive and powerful from a branding perspective — and 10 times moreso when it happens in the too-often nameless and faceless world of ecommerce.

So, how can you make your online business more memorable than your closest competition?

Put yourself in your customers' shoes and ask yourself how you'd feel to be on the receiving end of your customer service process.

Should you cut back on the pitches? Share more valuable information upfront? Respond to your customers sooner? Allow your site visitors to contact you – period?

Perhaps you should ASK your site visitors to tell you what they like, don't like and what services they would like to see offered on your site.

Test your competitor's sites. What do they do that you don't do? How can you improve on what they offer?

Or, you could go buy something at Zappos and see what the “WOW!” factor is really all about. 🙂