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 apoor 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 insome 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.