Phone Support as a Marketing Channel at Zappos

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh thinks customer service and support can be an excellent marketing channel. "We believe the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there," he says. "We have the customer’s undivided attention for five to 10 minutes."

"If we get the interaction right, what we’ve found is that customers remember that for a very long time and tell their friends and family about us," says Hsieh.

One of the reasons such customer contacts, not typically thought of as a marketing channel, can have so much impact on a brand is that opinions about firms travel much more quickly in a social media context, he argues.

Happiness 101: Q and A with Tony Hsieh : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum