Here at Zappos.com, our new CLT reps have many hurdles to go through to becoming full time employees, and today we are going to discussing Incubation.

After leaving our fantastic CLT training course, they head to what we call "Incubation." I visualize it as a "training outside of training." It's purpose is to fine tune the skills that you have learned in training and also get you acclimated with the general "ways of the call center floor." They move to the call center building, focus more their acquired skills and work together as
a team. With that being said, here is an account of one of our new employees, Derek Flores, who is currently in Incubation. Take it away, Derek!

"Today is the seventh day in incubation, and let me tell you, we are getting the whole Zappos experience. Our leads are awesome and have done a lot in helping us understand and overcome the various challenges that we will face once we get out onto the floor. First, we
have Jim who is the lead of the morning shift, 6:00-3:00. Then we have Derek (D-Rock) and Abbie who have the later shift, 11-8. Overall, we are very impressed with their knowledge base regarding the questions we have for them. It's kind of hard to stump them, but I am waiting for that one question that will get Jim to say, "Wow, never heard that one before!" I feel that these guys, and girl, are a great fit for our group of unique individuals.

Each day has been very interesting and fun as we are introduced into the Zappos Culture. We are all embracing the core values and are doing so through Core Value Presentations. Each person is paired up with another person within Incubation and assigned a core value to present to the entire class. So far we have had some great presentations, but these couple have stood out in my mind.

Noelle and Liz's group were assigned, Creating Fun with a Little Weirdness and they brought in pipe cleaners and clay for us to make weird little objects. Some people made unique things out of the pipe cleaners and others made really weird objects out of the clay, but it showed each and every one of us that we all can create fun and a little weirdness.

One more presentation I have to write about is Randy and Greg's group. There core value presentation was on Building an Open and Honest Relationships with Communication. They brought in bread, peanut butter and jelly and wanted us to explain to Greg how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, as if he had never made one before. I will let you know that one of us did not tell Greg to use a knife and he stuffed his whole hand into the peanut butter....it was quite a sight. The presentations are good because each group has related the core value to something that we encounter everyday here at Zappos and how we can use them to either help better us or overcome challenges that accompany the job.

Well, so far, so good, with seven days under our belt. Tune in later for more from the wonderful world of Incubation."

Thanks Derek, hang in there!!

One of the ways we like to WOW our customers at Zappos is by having specially trained CLT members available to answer category-specific questions by dialing them direct between 6 am and 6 pm Monday through Friday. The CLT business unit teams sit on the Merchandising floor alongside our buyers so that they can get answers for customer inquiries directly from the source!



From the left: Heather, Priscilla, and Sarah

Since our CLT business unit teams are here to answer questions all day, I decided to turn the tables on them by asking them a few questions. Please find their candid responses below:

Question: If you
could be 5 years old again for 24 hours, and could do anything, what would you
do?

Priscilla: “I’d probably play with all 500 Barbies I had for the entire day. I miss those good ol’ days!”

Sarah: “I am going to have to be generic on this one and say go to Disneyland! I love that place!”

Heather: “Eat as much ice cream as I could!”

Question: Have you ever received a phone call to the Kids line from anyone under the age of 10 (approximately)? If yes, what were they trying to buy?

Priscilla: “Haha yes! It was really cute! She wanted these Roxy straight leg jeans and
just wanted to make sure they were long jeans and not capris!”

Heather: “Yes, Heelys.”

Question: What is the
most ridiculous question you have been asked by a customer?

Priscilla:“I’m 5 months pregnant and want shoes for him when he is 2 years old. What size should I get?"

Sarah: “I'm looking for a shoe. Do you have it? Ummm........ sure! We
have two million, which one would you like?!”

Heather: “Do you take cash?”

Question: What is the most common question asked by our customers?

Priscilla: “How do these shoes run, true to size?

Sarah:“How does this brand run and how do I figure out what size my child wears?”

Heather: “What size does my kid wear?”

Question: What activity do you do that makes you feel like a kid again?

Priscilla: “Hmm… I would say, using the ‘paint’ accessory on my laptop! I use to spend hours on that when I was younger, and still do!”

Sarah: “I feel like a kid every day! I like to jump on the trampoline!”

Heather: “*Bringing my son to the playground & playing with him.”

Question: I know a lot of customers call in asking what size of shoe their kids wear. Where did your clairvoyant powers originate from?

Priscilla: “WIKI is my best friend!”

Sarah: "In my past life, I was a child and I memorized every size, age, measurement of every child's foot that could possibly be. hahaha Well...... I have two kids, so it helps!”

Heather: “Being a mom.”

Question:If you had to pick one department in the company that acted most like kids, what would it be?

Priscilla: “CLT, all the way!”

Sarah: “CLT.”

Heather: “CLT.”

Question: What do you love most about your job?

Priscilla: “I love, love, love how amazing everything and everyone
is. I've been here for quite some time (my longest job ever) and look forward
to it everyday! The team I'm with is so awesome! It's a home away from home!”

Sarah: “It's ZAPPOS! ....One must experience it to truly understand. If I had to pin-point one thing, it would be the people and all of my awesome friends that I have made!”

Heather: “The fact that I can come here & be who I want & not be judged for it. Even though I
think I'm pretty normal...for the most part.”

When the going tough, the tough get snacking. At least, that's what Aria does. She reaches over to her drawer and looks for her favorite snack. There are many choices, but what would you choose?



This started as a prank where some fiendish fiends (great description, yeah?) went around the lunch room and collected every snack that was randomly on tables and elsewhere. They filled Aria's desk to the brim and now she has a veritable store house 2 feet away. Please be aware that by now, most, if not all, the food in this drawer has expired and may not be that good for you. Was it good for you to begin with? Mmmmmm.....I'm hungry either way ;)

The Wolf is a Production Assistant here in on our Creative Services team. He claims to be part tomato. We fear that he is lying to us. The Wolf actually came to us from our Customer Loyalty Department almost a year ago, many moons indeed. We chose him for his quick wit, archery skills and Photoshop mastery. Upstairs in our Vegas headquarters, adorned upon a wall, is a large graffiti Zappos logo that the Wolf spray painted for our CLT friends. He is a wild beast with a spray paint can, let me tell you.

The Wolf comes from the wilderness, and he shows not his face due to the poaching threat. (He also is just having a bad hair day and forgot to wear his hat, that might have something to do with it) Jenn B. stood up for an interview with this fine man-beast to ask him of his love of Zappos, Pigs and smooth 70's arena rock.

Wolf: We salute you.

Today we handed out our 2008 Zappos.com Print Ad Creative postcards
to Vegas employees! They are a sampling of some of the visuals being
used in our print ad campaign, which hit the newsstands this week!

All employees received five cards to send anywhere to anyone in the world! (I suggested we send them all to Val Kilmer. I don't really know why. First person that popped in my head.)In true creative service/marketing style, we just wheeled them around the office in a wagon and dove headlong into the seas of madness that are the CLT and Merchandising Floors.

Our Creative Service and Marketing crazies filled the aisles in a very non-disruptive.....well, ok, rather disruptive manner to hand bundles of postcards to the un-suspecting masses. Every employee has been given free reign to do what they want with them...who knows, you may be receiving one yourself!
These cards are a part of the 2008 Zappos.com Print Ad Creative, which is also coming along the same time as our brand spankin' new television commercial that began airing a few weeks ago. It is airing on multiple networks throughout the U.S. T.V.-O-Sphere, maybe you've seen one....if not, and if you're nice, I'll post it right below. I'm considering it......I'm considering it.....alright, you won me over. But barely. : )
It's a great new direction for us and we are very excited about it!
Anyway, back to filling out postcards, I'm sending one to my favorite
New Kid on the Block! (I won't say who)

I've never personally been one of those butterflies-in-the-stomach, cuddle-loving, super mushy romantic types. I've had great loves, to be sure, but some aspects of love have always been beyond my comprehension. For example- having never experienced it first hand, I've always viewed such concepts as "love at first sight" with a somewhat skeptical eye.

Not to mention, I'm a creature of habit. It's not that I'm afraid to try new things, I'm just stubborn in my tastes and don't often venture outside of my box. Basic observation of the world around me, and the people therein, has lead me to the belief that when it comes to fashion, I'm a far cry from the minority in that respect. I know the brands I like, and tend to loyally stand by their side through thick and thin.

Although I don't think these are inherently bad traits, they're not exactly things to brag about. I've been working on the self improvement section of my brain. I'm trying to open myself up to new and exciting possibilities on all fronts, and working at Zappos has certainly helped in that regard (see Core Values 2, Embrace and Drive Change, 4, Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded, and 5, Pursue Growth and Learning). Since Zappos.com carries so many brands (1,175 and growing!), we will occasionally have brand representatives come in to familiarize us with their products- supplying information about any new merchandise, new styles, new avenues into which they may be venturing.

Yesterday, I met our Camper representative. Admittedly, I didn't know too much about the brand going into the meeting, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

How do I explain what I saw, what I experienced? I'm still trying to process it, to be honest. They say a picture is worth a thousand words...



I never thought I'd say it, but it was love at first sight. I fell hard and I fell fast. It was my first time experiencing the sentiment, and I wasn't sure how to respond... and with Camper the hits just kept on coming.



It was unnerving at first, but it didn't take long for me to give in to the wanton, uncontrollable, fantastic, wonderful, all-consuming enthusiasm that filled my heart. And it took even less time for my favorites page to grow exponentially.

What I've come to realize is that although loyalty and caution are certainly valuable sentiments, it is worthwhile on occasion to break out of routine and try new things. Have you looked through our brands list lately? You may be surprised by how quickly the love bug can come up and bite you!

I suppose some introductions are in order. My name is Nikki W., and I'm the latest (greatest? Time will tell!) blogger on the Zappos block. In addition to blogs, we've got some really exciting balls rolling in the way of video content- known around the interweb as ZapposTV- that I'm super thrilled to be a part of as well. Feel free to check out the new channel. We've got a bunch of great stuff on the way, so stay tuned!

To correspond to John H.'s Zpartans blog, we created the following silly short for your viewing pleasure.


Random randomness: I love the show Cheaters (it's a guilty pleasure- don't you judge me!). Some of my favorite brands are Roxy, Privo, Puma, Earth, MBT, and Betsey Johnson. I think life is what you make it, and for me it's an ever evolving, expanding, and always thrilling adventure.

That's it for now- I'll see you around the blog-o-sphere!

Today was an exciting day here in Creative Services; three of our
fellow CS'ers completed their last day of CLT training, and we couldn't
be more proud of them! Fabio A, Kris K. and Phil S. completed their
last day in the four week training course.
CLT (Customer Loyalty) Training consists of three weeks of classroom
time and a full week on the phones that trains all of our fine CLT
Staff! All Zappos employees, no matter what their position, go through
the training. This allows us all to see into the world of CLT and the
WOW that they deliver on a daily basis.
Phil, a graphic designer, Kris, a production assistant, and Fabio, a
web producer, graduated in style, and all of us in CS would like to
say: "Right on, fellas! Proud of ya!"
And to all of our new CLT team members, for those about to WOW, we salute you!!!!!!
-Brett H.

We love p-1221 in CLT, and we love it when the project
involves p-1240 and decorations. It has been said, though, that you
have to break some eggs to make an omelet. Such is the case with these
"projects." Exhibit A:

Well, it's really the only exhibit, but I've always wanted to say that
:) This is the east side balcony in CLT. This is also the aftermath
of a
couple years of hard working artists, striving to put to canvas the
creative and insightful imagery floating within their very souls. You
may even see some art within the careful and precise over spray...I
don't think the people who end up having to repair the balcony would
think so. Oh tarp in the background, when will you be put to use?
Only
time will tell.

I leave this entry with a beautiful view of eastern Las
Vegas...suddenly, I'm not bothered by the errant paint beneath my Globes.

I love being surprised by the multi-talented people in CLT.
Everyday I'm treated to a new and fascinating experience that is unique
and uplifting. Yesterday, I happened to come across a rare but
altogether amazing sight: The Windsor Flattes Pose of Excelsior the
Legend. Few understand the power and majesty behind said pose. It
invokes feelings of pride and humility at the same time.

This mighty vision has given me passion to write; only the bravest of
souls will attempt such a dangerous feat. Kudos to you Nick...kudos to
you.

What you cannot see from the photo is that Nick's right foot is
actually about 2 inches off the ground. If executed properly, this
pose, made famous by Excelsior the Legend, will allow momentary flight,
and/or spontaneous laughter. If executed without the necessary
preparation, this maneuver can end with a sore belly and red face.
You've been warned!

Hey, World! My name's Jesse and I wanted to introduce the Customer Loyalty Team (CLT) to everyone. We are a fun and weird (core value #3) crew consisting of people from all walks of life.

Our hobbies include playing music, memorizing every episode of Golden Girls, making good choices, repairing vans, winning jackpots, listening to Savage Garden, healing winter borne injuries, staying at home, flying to distant countries, singing in the musical group The M-52s, sweet mustaches, and many many more activities. Actually, these are some of the hobbies of the Email Team, the team of which I hail from.

If you don't already know me or the rest of the email team, we are located right by the Copier of Doom on the east side of CLT. Yes, the copier that has a mind of it's own...but that's a topic for another blog. Until then, I will see you later.

P.S. My favorite shoe company in the world is Globe, and I may refer to them cryptically when necessary ;) Excelsior!