• The Falconer Knows

    Posted on May 28th, 2007 by and currently 5 commenting.

    Falconer.JPG Greetings blog readers! It is great to be back after a wonderful vacation last week. My husband and I made a few stops, but the most remarkable was a few days of relaxation at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. The Greenbrier was established in the late 18th century and has hosted sports stars, heads of state, and thousands of families like ours since then. The Greenbrier is also known for the secret cold war Emergency Relocation Center – only acknowledged in 1992, the ERC was underground bunker built in the early 60′s to allow congress to continue to operate in the event of nuclear attack.

    On our first full day at the resort, my husband and I took a beginning lesson in falconry. It may be the “sport of kings” and enjoy great popularity in other parts of the world, but falconry is pretty rare in the US. There are 40,000 certified falconers in England and only 4,000 in the entire US. During the lesson, our falconers asked if we had ever worked with birds of prey before. He was not surprised to hear we hadn’t. Falconer Dave said, “People who come to the Greenbrier have been a lot of places and seen and done a lot of things, but most have never experienced this. If you enjoy this, tell the folks you meet up at the main resort to come join us.”

    It was a simple comment in a spectacular hour, but it struck me that a bird expert from West Virginia understands what many big companies struggle with – knowing what makes them special and how to capitalize on it. Just last week Dell announced that after 20+ years of only selling direct to customers, they would begin selling desktops through an intimate little retailer called Wal-Mart. Dell currently has a direct relationship with millions of customers and, should they choose to make those connections 2-way conversations and improve their customer experience, could return to being one of the biggest word of mouth success stories of all time. The direct model could be a competitive advantage against which manufacturers selling anonymously through retail would never have a chance. Upon reading the news that Dell was going retail instead of trying to improve the business advantages of “being direct”, I considered buying a plane ticket for falconer Dave to visit Round Rock.

    I hope you’ll take a post-Memorial Day moment to think about what makes your business special and whether or not you are using that to its full advantage in the marketplace.

  • http://www.dell.com/conversations RichardatDELL

    Hi Virginia,
    That greenbrier is something, isnt it. Is it still owned by CSX? Certainly is a wonderful spot to get away and enjoy some outdoor activity.

    Also thanks so much for the comments about our direct relationships with customers and making them two way conversations — a true differentiator.

    First, let me assure you we see the entry into Wal Mart (and soon other retail outlets) as an addition to, not a replacement of, our direct customer connections. We recognize and believe very much in the value of the direct relationships….and are taking steps to turn those connections to conversations, as you suggest.

    fFor example, we have have launched a blog where lots of conversations are taking place. Through Dell’s Ideastorm we are listening and acting on what our customers are telling us (including more desktops and laptops with Linux, blogging in Mandarin and Spanish,continuing to make XP available and many others). We are conversing with folks at SecondLife. StudioDell welcomes customer videos and is home to lots of tips and tricks. And, importantly, we are involved in conversations through outreach like this to listen and engage with bloggers like yourself….and more to come on this front too..

    Right now at Ideastorm we have asked the communtity to provide us with feedback on several ideas we have to improve customer service and support. You can also read about this at http://www.serviceuntitled.com where our VP discussed some of the issues and our focus on regaining our leadership with customers in terms of technical support and customer service.

    Hope maybe I saved you that airfare to Round Rock for now…..you don’t need to travel here to be heard :-)

  • http://brainsonfire.com/blog VeeDub

    Richard – Thank you so much for “actively listening” and for participating on our blog! As you may have seen from my previous posts, I am an avid watcher and fan of Dell’s following my 4 year stint there and am very impressed with some of the new media ventures especially the blog and Ideastorm.

    It is because I am such a fan of Dell’s and such a believer in the business potential of creating great word of mouth experiences that this move leaves me cold. There are 20 million customers dying for Dell to make moves to redeem the soured relationship they have with them and those current customers represent a crushingly massive business opportunity! It breaks my heart to see that opportunity pursued halfheartedly while focus is turned to buying new, less profitable customers through a low end retail channel. I guess the desire to position Dell as a high end brand (with XPS, premium products, and excellence in the business sector) was not as important as buying a few points of market share to try to catch up with HP for the #1 position. This seems like a major brand sacrifice and, quite fankly, the easy way out.

    I hope that Dell will leverage Ideastorm and other methods of listening to begin creating products and sales experiences that are truly desirable and worthy of positive WOM to the consumer segment! That is a much more challenging road back to #1 than glutting a channel with low end machines in massive distribution, but I believe it is one that is built to last.

  • http://www.dell.com/conversations RichardatDELL

    Hi Virginia,
    Yes, we read your blog regularly and appreciate the comments, insights, guidance and support.

    Besides liking the Greenbrier, I think you and I have something else in common….we both think Lionel does a great job. I recall him calling you shortly after or before we had drinks with Jeff Jarvis, as he had done an interview with you around the same time.

    leaving our likes aside, we also do agree on positive word of mouth and our need to keep making moves (incremental and no big single thing, but lots of incremental ones) to redeem soured relationships. Like this one http://www.iproceed.com/blog/?m=200610&paged=3
    or this one http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/archives/2007/04/dell_gets_it_right_finally_1.html...

    one by one connections, direct, just like the model. The wal mart and retail strategy is an “add-on” There is no way we are leaving “direct” behind, and frankly the “direct” relationships are the ones with real value and potential for further growth and nurturing.

    We are listening and acting on Ideastorm. Did you check out some of the ideas we have asked for feedback about…help us continue to improve customer support:
    http://www.ideastorm.com/popular/service_ideas

    And how about the new ratings and reviews on dell.com…have you seen them?

    all steps forward to reinvigorate our relationships…and like I mentioned earlier, more to come…so, we will keep working and listening and you keep coming at us with ideas and commentary. Frankly, we all need to make efforts and build a relationship — together. One worthy of your loyalty and positive word of mouth, I hope.

  • http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/ johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

    Richard, the leaked Wal-Mart Brand Positioning document from GSD&M that the NY Times profiled on May 30th gave me new insights into DELL’s decision to sell desktops in Wal-Mart.

    As you referenced, DELL prides itself on forging direct relationships with customers be it directly over the phone or directly over the Internet. A by-product of this direct relationship is people are able to get expert customer service to help them make the best decision possible in buying a computer that costs less because the middle-man retailer has been cut out of the equation.

    We all know Wal-Mart isn’t known for its customer service and the leaked brand positioning analysis highlights this challenge. Wal-Mart struggles to offer excellent customer service in the form of expert guidance from its store associates when selling complicated, higher-dollar electronics. The report goes on to say that Wal-Mart shoppers believe Best Buy is a smarter choice when it comes to buying higher-dollar electronics like HDTVs and computers because Best Buy is able to provide shoppers with product knowledge to help them make a more informed buying decision.

    Here’s what this relationship between Wal-Mart and DELL boils down to … Wal-Mart is an “OR” company and DELL is an “AND” company. When given the choice between offering low prices OR high-customer service, Wal-Mart has chosen to offer low prices. On the other hand, DELL has always answered this question differently. DELL has purposely chosen to offer low prices AND offer high-customer service through its direct relationship model.

    Because Wal-Mart is an “OR” company and DELL is an “AND” company, I question the strategic viability of this relationship.

  • http://www.dell.com/conversations RichardatDELL

    Hi John
    Thanks for the input and your point is taken. The strategic viability of being in both spaces, I suppose in some respects will come down, no doubt, to execution — something Dell is pretty good at.

    Think its important to understand that Wal-mart is not the only retail presence Dell will have nor will they be selling the complete Dell line of products. This is an addition to our current market position. We are not abandoning the direct connections with customers or our “AND” company position.

    We are, however, offering customers more choices. The choices are more in terms of what they buy (Linux and other expanded/alternate product offerings coming soon) and where/how they buy it (Wal Mart, Dell Kiosks, dell.com, and more to come).

    Even at Dell.com we are expanding the customer perspective with ratings and reviews now.

    Perhaps in your scenario we are becoming more AND+