Understanding the qualities that make a company great involve more than a simple SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) – that’s business school 101 stuff. To evaluate a company’s intangibles, one must dig below the surface and beyond the 10-K. Satisfaction is the key here and successful businesses have it in abundance.
If a company fails to satisfy employees, suppliers and customers, in this order, it’s only a matter of time before its stock price implodes. Arguments exist for both sides of the discussion. Some academics believe that customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction aren’t mutually exclusive. Just because employees are happy doesn’t guarantee customer loyalty.
But Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, the world’s biggest online shoe retailer, and winner of countless customer service awards, said in a May 2010 article in SUCCESS magazine that “… Customer service is about making customers happy, and the culture is about making employees happy. So, really, we’re about trying to deliver happiness, whether it’s to customers or employees, and we apply that same philosophy to vendors as well.”
This winning attitude may have contributed to Amazon.com’s (Nasdaq:AMZN) acquisition of the business for $1.2 billion in 2009.