Bernie Goldbach reading Fortune | Image from book promotion
TONY HSIEH, CEO OF ZAPPOS, has advice I respect about treating people right.
He shares a story with Ellen Florian in Fortune Magazine about joining Zappos with Fred Mossler in 1999, relating how hard it was to get brands to sign up with Zappos. Tony thought he should ruthlessly negotiate. Fred offered other advice--to build relationships.
Tony remembers going to dinner with a rep for a small brand six years ago. "The brand's contribution to our sales was insignificant, so going to dinner with him during a shoe show, when there were hundreds of other brands there, didn't make a lot of sense. But it was something Fred prioritized, based on the friendship. A week after the dinner, Fred's friend became president of a major brand we had been trying to get."
Tony thinks, "If you're focussed on the frieff hndshp as its own reward, serendiptious stuff just happens. I know that sounds weird, but I can tell you from our 12 years of existence, it's actually how a lot of stuff happens."
Tony Hseih -- Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, ISBN 978-0446576222.
Filed with Bernie Goldbach's best practise links.
