Ep7: Zappos’ Customer Service for Anything | Brian Kalma, Entrepreneur in Residence
In the midst of a pandemic that impacts just about every single one of us, Zappos decided to create a hotline for anyone looking for help with just about anything. Zappos still sell shoes, of course, but now their customer service team is also pitching in to offer all kinds of support at a time when most of us could use an extra hand. And it’s free.
Examples: Math homework. Tech help. A personal protective equipment search. Or simply a pleasant conversation during this isolating time. Zappos’ “Customer Service for Anything” team has it covered. Call, text, email.
Sanity spoke with Brian Kalma, the Entrepreneur in Residence at Zappos and the brainchild behind the idea. He shares how the Zappos team got this idea up and running in less than a week flat, offers advice for organizations looking to use their unique skillsets to help in this unprecedented time, and of course, shares his favorite shoe brand!
You know when you meet one of those people who just makes you feel comforted and good? Chloe Groth is definitively one of them.
Normally a Suzuki violin teacher, as Covid-19 hit New Orleans, Chloe took to NextDoor to offer her gift of music to those who need it most right now. She now volunteers four days a week to perform (from a distance) for elderly individuals across New Orleans. She brings along her two small sons, who sit by her feet as she unpacks her violin and performs the most special private concerts from front yards and sidewalks. Chloe kindly played for the 93-year-old grandmother of Sanity’s host and the neighborhood listened in. She began with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” There wasn’t a dry eye on the block.
Later in the episode, hear from Hadley Heath Manning from the Independent Women’s Forum. She discusses their #InThisTogether campaign and shares about what it is like to be raising a young family with a spouse who is working on the front lines.
There are over 750 distilleries across all 50 states that are now producing hand sanitizer. On this episode, hear from one of them. Troy Downing is the co-owner of Wildrye Distilling in Bozeman, Montana. From working with the highway patrol to relay sanitizer across the state to fielding requests from EMTs as far as New York to loading hand sanitizer onto planes operated by volunteer pilots, the past month and a half has been a whirlwind for Troy and his team. On this episode, Troy shares how his family has pitched in to help, how he worked to cut through red tape via the CARES Act, and his favorite spirit (or two!).
Later in the episode, we’re joined by Clay Nutting, the owner of the Michelin-rated restaurant Canon in Sacramento, California. Clay is behind Family Meal Sacramento, an effort made up of a number of restaurants in his city that creates meal kits for at-risk members of the community. They have supplied over 50,000 meals and raised over $90,000.
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