Profiting or Perishing through People

Every year the findings from research conducted by Accenture come out the same - 50% customers who defect from a business do so, not because of inferior products, but because of bad service. While working on my new book about Zappos, to be released in the fall of 2011 entitled The Zappos Experience, Tony Hsieh CEO of the company shared that despite careful hiring processes, extensive training, and a renowned service culture Zappos has lost money from bad hires. In a recent Business Wire interview Tony estimates the losses from bad hires are over $100 million dollars. How much are "BAD HIRES" costing the business in which you work? Why are companies unable to select for service talent? Have you experienced people in the service industry who are ill-equipped to serve? Why are those people still employed in those capacities?