January 2008 - Direct2Dell

Over the past year, many of our business customers have shared candid feedback through our support specialists and in places like IdeaStorm and Direct2Dell about Dell's technical support solutions.  You tell us what we're doing well, and in many cases, what we need to change.  I'm here to tell you that we're listening, and we're finding ways to act.

You've given us many ideas, and we're taking time to consider all of them.  Here are three suggestions that you've made loud and clear:

• Simplify the purchase process.  IdeaStorm user beefman and many others have told us to simplify the purchase process for Dell products and support solutions.  Beefman described the current "multilayered, multitiered pricing structure" as "immensely confusing today" and urged Dell to "simplify!"

• Skip the scripts and treat IT professionals as the professionals they are.  IdeaStorm user hipowerone and many others have asked Dell to differentiate between IT professionals and end users calling for technical support.  They've asked that Dell "get rid of the scripts" and mandatory troubleshooting for IT pros who call with a clear understanding of their problem - thus, saving time on the phone and helping to resolve the problem faster.
  

• Make support services consistent globally.  IdeaStorm user xaerts, an IT manager for the European region of a multinational company, expressed the challenges associated with managing the IT needs of 15 different offices.  He suggested that Dell organize a more streamlined, global service and solutions offering. 

We've heard you, and have made significant progress in giving you what you've asked for.  Next week, Dell Global Services will share more details on upcoming enhancements to our service offerings for business customers of all sizes.

Thanks for your feedback... more to come soon.

When I talk to customers, I get lots of questions about overall performance in Windows Vista—especially in the area of laptop battery life. I saw an idea called Make longer lasting batteries for better portability from IdeaStorm user winoffice on the topic. While Vista brings a number of improvements to the table like enhanced security and graphics, it's a new and sophisticated code stack. We've been working with Microsoft to address some of the factors that impact overall notebook battery life.

Microsoft enabled a new set of power management tools that allow Dell to fine tune the operating system to the hardware. This is a great example of the unsung improvements Microsoft has made to the OS which will become more apparent over time.

In November, Dell took advantage of these tools to make almost 40 configuration changes and updates. Some enhancements were straightforward, like making more intelligent use of hibernation sleep states, while others were more complex, like optimizing multi-core power management.

If you are looking for optimal Windows Vista performance on a new system; consider a Dell. A good example is the Inspiron 1525 and you can read more about its strong battery performance in this recent review in Laptop Magazine.

PS. If you are running Windows Vista on your Dell today and would like to utilize our optimizations, we'll post them to support.dell.com (and we'll update this post) in the coming weeks.

For the first time in Dell's history, we will air an advertisement during Superbowl Sunday that focuses on our (PRODUCT) RED systems.

If you'd like a sneak peek at what's coming, my good pal and social media tour de force RichardatDELL posted a couple of preview videos on YouTube. This video features some behind the scenes footage, and this one features some insight from Dell's David Clifton and Samuel Bayer, the director of the spot.

Update, February 1: It appears we were premature in posting those videos, so we were asked to remove them. My apologies for the inconvenience. I still stand by my statement that RichardatDELL is a social media tour de force.

More to come this weekend.

Today, we will close 140 Dell Direct Store kiosks in the United States. We're doing this to focus on phone sales, direct orders on Dell.com, and selling products through retail outlets.

We started offering Dell systems through retailers about six months ago, and now customers can buy Dell desktops and laptops through more than 10,000 retail outlets worldwide. See the Retail category on Direct2Dell for more blog posts on this topic.

This change does not impact Dell Direct stores in Canada or in Asia Pacific and Japan.

Last week I was in Poland taking part in the official opening ceremony of our second European plant in Łódź, Poland.  Michael Dell and I were joined by employees, customers, members of the Polish national and local government, international ambassadors and media for the event. 

The facility in Łódź represents a significant investment from Dell and its suppliers and signals our commitment to growing our presence in the Central and Eastern European and Scandinavian markets.  Locating our plant here is already significantly improving our service to the region's customers and has strengthened our competitiveness by cutting up to two days off our delivery times.

In addition to its proximity to our customers and its good transport links, Łódź also gives us access to the great talent and skills of the local workforce in Poland.  We started production in November 2007 with about 400 people. We now have more than 1,200 employees.

One of the questions I was asked most in the event was how Dell will contribute to the lives of our employees and the wider community.  It is our goal to be a positive contributor.  Consistent with this goal, our Łódź facility has a number of community projects underway.  These include enabling two Łódź schools from the Widzew district to receive Dell products worth US$35,000 and more than 100 Dell employees planting trees in the Lublinek forest park.  This was the first stage of an initiative to plant 130,000 trees in Łódź and its surrounding area last year.  This project and many like it around the world, show how Dell is partnering with customers and members of the ReGeneration - people of all ages who care about the environment.

I'm proud that our newest factory is also our most advanced worldwide.  It has benefited from the knowledge and best practice of all our facilities around the world, in particular from the skills of our Irish team in Limerick.

This is another historic step for our commitment to customers and growth in the region. Here are some photos:

Ribbon cutting (from left to right): Michael Dell (Chairman and, CEO), Jacek Murawski (General Manager, Dell Poland), Jerzy Kropiwnicki (Mayor of Łódź), Mike Cannon (President, Global Operations), Łukasz Wysocki (Gold Award Winner, Manufacturing).

Plant Entrance

Note from Lionel: We posted more photos from the event on Flickr.