"Dell's story is the stuff high-tech legends are made of."

~ Forbes ASAP

Strategies that revolutionized an industry

The Power of Vision and Business Concept

One focused vision made Dell the world's leading direct computer systems company. One bold concept – direct customer contact – has made Dell one of the most successful companies in the world.

Delivering the Best Possible Customer Experience

Dell's climb to market leadership is the result of a persistent focus on delivering the best possible customer experience by directly selling computing products and services online and through catalogs.

"We put a great deal of emphasis on understanding what drove customer satisfaction, whether it was response times on the telephone, quality of products, valuable features, or the ease of experience in using the product. Engaging the entire company – from manufacturing to engineering to sales to support staff – in the process of understanding customer requirements became a constant focus of management, energy, training, and employee education," writes Michael Dell.⁷

Focus On the Best Solution, not the Best Technology

"We know what we are and what we're not. We are a really superb product integrator. We're a tremendously good sales-and-logistics company. We're not the developer of innovative technology," says Mort Topfer who helped revive Dell's fortunes in 1990s.

As Fortune wrote: “A Dell mantra is that today's technology is tomorrow's commodity. Dell waits until the cost of that technology falls low enough for it to be stuffed into computers at state-of-the-art factories and then sold direct at a cheap price, which allows the company to drive for share.”

Teaching Innovative Thinking

"It is really dangerous if everyone in a company starts thinking the same way", writes Michael Dell¹, Chairman and CEO of the Dell Computer Corporation. "The danger comes when you fall into the trap of approaching problems too similarly. You can encourage your people to think about your business, your industry, your customers innovatively. Ask a different question – or word the same question in a different way. By approaching a problem, a response or an opportunity from a different perspective, you create an opportunity for new understanding and new learning. By questioning all the aspects of our business, we continuously inject improvement and innovation into our culture. How can we teach people to be more innovative? Ask them to approach a problem in a holistic sense."

Make the Most of Incidental Interactions

"Dell is the kind of company where everyone rolls up sleeves and get personally involved in the details of our business every day," says Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Computers. "This is, in fact, how we got to be successful: As managers, it's not enough to sit around theorizing and reviewing what those who report to us do. We frequently meet with customers and attend working-level meetings about products, procurement, and technology, to tap into real source of our company's experience and brainpower.

"Why bother? It's a way to get close to our people, for certain. But that's not all. Our day-to-day involvement in the business helps us establish and allows us to maintain one of the Dell's critical competitive advantages: speed. In this case, "staying involved in the details" allows for rapid decision making because we know what's going on... More

Getting Feedback from Customers and Suppliers

"Turn your customers into teachers," advises Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Computers.

Dell start their innovation process with asking their customers, "What would you really want this thing to do? Is there a different way to accomplish that?" Then they meet with their suppliers and ask, "Can we do this in a different way?" Then they try to come up with a totally different approach that exceeds the original objectives.

To continually bring information from the outside world into Dell, with an eye toward staying as competitive as they can, Michael Dell uses a variety of innovative approaches. He says, "I also enjoy roaming around outside the company to see what people think of us. On the Web, nobody knows I'm a CEO. I'll hang out in chatrooms where actual users commonly chat about Dell and our competitors. I listen to their conversations as they discuss their purchases and their likes and dislikes. It's a tremendous learning opportunity."¹

References:

1. Direct from Dell, Michael Dell with Catherine Fredman

2. "Inspiring Innovation", Ellen Peebles, Harvard Business Review on The Innovative Enterprise

3. D&B Report for Dell, 2004

4. Dell Inc.: Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Case Studies

Michael Dell

Creating Customer Value

Customer Care

Customer Intimacy

Listening To Your Customer

Customer-driven Innovation

Value Innovation

Customer Feedback

Strategies of Market Leaders

Be Different and Make a Difference!

Sustainable Growth Strategies

Competitive Strategies