When you decide customer support is an unnecessary cost, you make a statement that defines your position in the market place. Dell are reaping the consequences of this now.
Micheal Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Computers, hopes to grab some of the tablet computer market from Apple with the release of Microsoft Windows 8.
It’s a big goal – Apple have owned the tablet computer market since launching the iPad.
Dell, along with most of the other PC manufacturers, squandered the decade’s head start they had in tablet computers with poorly designed and overpriced tablet PCs which were based around a clunky version of Microsoft Windows using styluses.
Part of the problem was Windows itself; the operating system was designed for desktop users and to make it work on tablet computers it required a clunky workaround. Being designed for smart phones and tables mean Windows 8 may overcome previous limitations.
But Dell have a problem; they are perceived as a low price, low quality supplier and have a competitor in Apple that has locked in the supply chain for the product.
So Dell will struggle to beat Apple on price while customers believe the Dell system is inferior.
Even more difficult for Dell is their support reputation, a quick look at the comments to the Bloomberg story illustrates the problem.
Of the the sixteen reader comments, admittedly not a scientific sample, three business owners claim they will never buy Dell again after customer support issues.
This is the critical mistake Dell’s management made in the 2000s – in order to cut costs so they could be profitable at lower price points they trashed their support.
Eventually this culminated in the Dell Hell debacle where Jeff Jarvis’ experience summed up the frustrations of thousands of Dell’s disillusioned customers.
Apple on the other hand chose not to go down the rabbit hole of cheap and nasty systems. Today they can offer free, and skilled, support in their genius bars as their fat margins allow them to provide constructive and helpful assistance to their customers.
Now Dell has the reputation for at best indifferent after sales service which means they are locked into competing on price and ever declining margins.
It’s not a good place to be for Dell but that’s what you get for treating your customers like an unnecessary nuisance while fixating on headline prices.
We often talk about the Internet’s long tail; our online reputations could be the longest tail of all.
Absolutely agree, Apple has built their reputation on strong customer service and it shows in their legions of loyal, repeat customers, who don’t hesitate to recommend Apple devices to their friends.
Customer service is an important, and often overlooked part of any business. In my experience, many startups are guilty of ignoring customer service in the hope of creating an online only business. http://evonet.com.au/dont-neglect-customer-service-when-building-your-web-2-0-business/