Aaron Magness, Zappos
Company: Zappos
Entry Submitted By: Kel & Partners
Company Description: Zappos.com has become the #1 seller of shoes online by stressing customer service. It stocks 3 million pairs of shoes, handbags, apparel, and accessories. Through its website (and 7,000 affiliate partners), Zappos.com distributes stylish and moderately priced footwear to customers nationwide. Zappos.com was acquired by online giant Amazon.com.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Director of the Year
Nomination Title: Aaron Magness, Director, Brand Marketing & Business Development
Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
The principle is simple. If you hire the right people, treat them well, and put
them in a high performance culture, your people will generate amazing results.
The results are clearly evident at Zappos.
Their sales figures are phenomenal. In the past ten years they have grown from
$1.6 million to $1.1 billion in sales. Seventy-five percent of their sales is
based on repeat customers.
Despite their financial success, their number one motivation is not making
money, but to deliver happiness to their customers, employees and vendors.
Amazon bought Zappos for $1.2 billion in November 2009. Sequoia Capital made
$248 million on its investment. In the first quarter of 2010, net sales at
Zappos were up almost 50 percent.
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://money.usnews.com/money/articles/2010/08/10/the-secrets-to-zappos-success
http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/ceo-and-coo-blog/2010/03/11/zappos-com-update-march-11-2010
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:
Aaron Magness has worked in the area of retail business development for more
than 8 years. His career has taken him through sales, operations and all the
grunt work it takes to make a team successful. Magness joined Zappos.com with a
primary focus in business development. However, his role has grown to include
oversight of Brand Marketing, PR and Social Media. Magness received his BBA from
University of Wisconsin – Madison with a double major of Marketing and
Management & Human Resources. Magness chose to run with the bulls in Pamplona,
Spain just five weeks before his wedding day. Luckily, he made it out alive.