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0 to $1 billion: The New Think Big


Who hasn’t heard of thinking big? Big numbers of customers. A giant organization of hundreds and even thousands of networkers earning you income. Big lists. Big traffic. Big mansion on the hill. Big bank account.

Are you still chasing that concept of big?

A different way to think big was recently described by a humble guy whose company went from 0 sales in 1999 to to being on track to do $1 billion in sales this year (2009). Guess what they sell? Shoes. Online. (!)

His advice: if you want to be a billion dollar company, make sure you have a big enough vision. But the vision should not be monetary...(What?!)

“Think of a vision you’d be excited about even if it made no money at all. It’s not chasing the money. You want people to chase the vision, the money will come.” Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos

So here’s what they did. Instead of just being a company that sells shoes online they decided to be a company with remarkable and memorable customer service.

One way to test that is to measure the percent of repeat customers. They believed that customers who feel wowed by their experience with them – from shipping to the product to sales rep, come back.

And they learned, over the last 9 years, how to wow their customers.

75% of their orders today come from repeat customers (!)

Through achieving their customer service vision, they’ve reached $1 billion in sales in 9 years. (Where were we 9 years ago?)

What if you kept 75% of your customers and recruits? How many new ones would you need to keep looking for? That’s just part of their customer service vision.

A very different way of thinking big.

About the author

Kim Klaver

3 Comments

  • Most people in the MLM arena, focus on recruiting. Lets get the upfront bonus and move on for another quick HIT.

    I agree with this post. If a network marketer focused on keeping their existing customer base fulfilled, they wouldn't have to grow such a large team to make X amount of income.

    Of course, you have to personally enroll a few hundred people to hit a six figure income.

    Keep the great posts coming Kim!

    Jim Lupkin
    http://www.jimlupkin.com

  • Agreed! A company with a clear vision makes all the difference because it allows others to share in it and that creates real excitement that can grow and grow.

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