Dell 2.0 to focus on customer
satisfaction
Tom Espiner
ZDNet UK
September 13, 2006, 13:05 BST
Michael Dell acknowledges that something needs to be done about
failing customer satisfaction at the computer maker he
founded
Computer manufacturer Dell is to focus on customer satisfaction,
which it admitted on Wednesday it "had not done perfectly in the
past".
The company is investing $150m in customer relationships this year,
said chairman Michael Dell in New York on Tuesday. He hopes the
business plan, called Dell 2.0, will reverse the flagging fortunes
of the biggest computer maker in the world. Recent woes have
included a poor quarterly earnings report and exploding laptop
batteries.
Dell had to recall 4.1 million laptop batteries in August after
several Dell laptops exploded into flames earlier this year.
"We weren't living up to the standards our customers were expecting
in some areas of our business," chairman Michael Dell told ZDNet
UK. "We've [therefore] announced significant investments," he
added.
Chief executive Kevin Rollins said the change will "involve
deepening customer relationships, and customising the entire
customer experience, placing a greater emphasis on services
tailored to individual customers".
Rollins admitted that the company needs to "broaden customer
relationships by listening and evaluating more". He added: "This is
a shift from a transactional model to value created over the
lifetime of a customer relationship."
Dell plans to invest more in its sales channels, both in sales
contacts and its online presence, in its Web site front and back
end. The company also wants to expand the scope of Dell Connect,
which enables a Dell technician to take control of a customer's
system should they be encountering problems.
Dell has also reduced its supply base, to "reduce variability in
component quality". It has asked its core suppliers to perform
ongoing reliability testing, so it becomes aware of issues "faster
than the general industry", according to Brad Anderson, senior vice
president and general manager of Dell's product line.
The company will also focus on design something it has been
accused of neglecting in the drive to increase efficiency.
Over recent years, Dell's customer service ratings have
become consistently worse.
Brad Anderson, senior vice president and general manager of the
product line told ZDNet UK that Dell made a decision to address
customer dissatisfaction a year ago, in recognition of ongoing
service problems.
"We made a decision six to 12 months ago because we weren't pleased
with our internal and external customer satisfaction indices," said
Anderson.
Anderson said he "would not go through the litany" of problems with
Dell service levels, but said that in future Dell would provide
better quality of support. "Should you have any issue, we will
handle it properly," said Anderson. "Unfortunately the slipping
didn't happen overnight, and repairs won't happen overnight," said
Anderson.