While at the annual WOMMA conference in Vegas I had the pleasure of attending the first of two WOMMA keynote speeches given by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (the other will be given by Nielsen Online’s own Pete Blackshaw). Hsieh discussed in depth the importance of having a strong, rewarding company culture, and how Zappos has created just that.

Hsieh told the audience about the company’s philosophy of truly empowering the Zappos “customer loyalty reps” by asking them to: be themselves, take the initiative to go above and beyond their normal job duties, and do whatever they can to satisfy customers. And Zappos does not limit them with formalized scripts. Strong customer service reaps rewards for Zappos - 75% of Zappos customers are repeat buyers, and this winning strategy generates tons of positive word of mouth buzz for the company.

A Few Highlights from Hsieh’s Keynote:

• Culture is Branding: Company culture and branding are in fact one in the same. A strong company culture in turn provides strong branding, which creates positive word of mouth buzz.
• Strong Culture Starts With Hiring: Zappos won’t just hire new employees for having relevant experience or great technical skills - they need to pass the “culture test” and be a good fit for the company’s culture.
• If You Aren’t Good for the Culture, They’ll Fire You: Come review time if you aren’t helping build a strong culture, Zappos will send you packing. It seems a bit extreme, but Hsieh contends that the more exceptions that are made, the more it tarnishes company culture.
• Training: All new employees, even C-level ones, go through customer service and warehouse training, and all employees must have a passion for excellent customer service, no matter what their position.
• 10 Core Values: Zappos has 10 core values (one is “Create fun and a little weirdness”) all of which received considerable employee input before they were finalized.
• Ask Us Anything: A Zappos “Ask Us Anything” email newsletter encourages employees to ask management anything, no matter how threatening or silly (”Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?”). Zappos management tries to answer all questions.

Hsieh’s take on building a strong company culture which in turns builds positive word of mouth buzz is an interesting one, and a philosophy that all brands should be aware of.