[Image via Flickr]

I had always been hesitant to try out online shoe retailer zappos.com and when I first did a few days ago, this is what happened:

Dear Juan Lopez-Valcarcel,

Good news! Although you originally ordered Standard (4 to 5 business days) shipping and handling, we have given your order special priority processing in our warehouse and are upgrading the shipping and delivery time frame for your order.

Your order will ship out today and be given a special priority shipping status so that you can receive your order even faster than we originally promised! Please note that this is being done at no additional cost to you. It is simply our way of saying thank you for being our customer.

[...] We are constantly striving to improve our service. If there is anything that we can do to help improve your experience, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We like to think of ourselves as a service company that happens to sell shoes, clothing, and a whole bunch of other stuff! If you’ve enjoyed your experience with us, please tell your friends and family about Zappos.com! Thank you!

In the online world, the same rule applies as in the offline:
Happiness = Reality - Expectations.

So there is nothing like it to build customer loyalty than to underpromise and overdeliver.

I am now a happy Zappos customer and (guess what) I am telling you all about it… how’s that for word of mouth driven by top notch service