Other conversations

» Tim Mapes - Senior Vice President of Marketing at Delta Air Lines
» Barbara Basney - Director of global advertising for Xerox
» Bob Pearson - Vice President of communities and conversations for Dell (#1)
» Robert Greenberg - Vice President of Corporate Brand Marketing for Panasonic
» Jason Dowdell - Founder of MarketingShift
» Ed Faruolo - Vice President of Brand Development and Advertising at Lincoln Financial Group
» Roy Bostock - Chairman of the Board of Yahoo, Inc.
» Gary Briggs - former SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, eBay North America

Q&A with Bob Pearson, Dell’s Vice President of Communities and Conversations

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that whether we’re already in a recession, a depression, or heading toward one or the other, the economy is nasty. For marketers, an economic downturn has always posed a challenge and this one may be more onerous than any in recent history. What’s interesting, however, is that, unlike in downturns past, marketers can take incredible advantage of digital tools and tactics not merely to operate with greater efficiency but to acquire customers and increase loyalty among existing customers. It was this topic that was front and center in my recent conversation with Bob Pearson, Vice President of Communities and Conversations at Dell. While Dell is, of course, adept at all things technology, the ideas that Bob and I discussed relative to taking advantage of the built-in marketing efficiencies of digital tools and tactics can be adopted by any organization, no matter what size, industry or level of technological acumen. The first question I asked Bob was whether Dell had a specific philosophy with regard to the use of digital tools and branding.

BP: Absolutely. Engage with your customers in relevant ways and they will unlock more value than you could possibly imagine. People love to voice opinions and to offer solutions. They did it before there was an Internet and, now, with digital technology, they have the power to share their brand experience on a global basis within minutes of its happening. It’s up to the marketer’s to harness this customer insight and use it in a way that benefits everyone, other customers and everyone in the brand organization.

AA: From what I understand, Dell launched its new Latitude line of personal computers only after listening to what its customers thought about specific features - before the PCs even hit the production department. How did this process work?

BP: Well, there’s a section of the Dell Web site called IdeaStorm (www.ideastorm.com). Basically it’s an online forum on which consumers can provide feedback about existing products but, more germane to organizational efficiency, provide their vision about products and features still on the drawing board. Listening to what consumers had to say about specific Latitude features before heading to manufacturing and marketing enabled us to make critical design choices earlier in the process thereby significantly reducing time to market and operational costs. We saved money, certainly, but also subsequently gave our customers what they needed, what was important to them, not what we thought they needed or was important.

AA: It’s sort of like having a focus group of thousands rather than a formal focus group of ten people who may or may not feel comfortable telling you honestly how they feel.

BP: Beyond that, it’s like having a focus group of thousands whose input you can easily share on an organization-wide basis. Listening is an integral part of the Dell culture. To use digital listening and learning tools effectively, you have to share what’s being said with anyone who can benefit from what consumers have to say, which I’d say is just about everyone, from marketing, to finance to operations, to research and development.

AA: Based on my experience, a company’s culture starts at the top. Is that true of Dell?

BP: Michael Dell is the biggest proponent of making sure the company avails itself of any digital tools and behaviors that make listening to consumers easier and more productive.

AA: One of the most interesting things to emerge from the digital arena is exponential proof that customers trust other customers for advice on brand information more than they trust organizations. This means there’s an enormous opportunity to leverage the cost efficiencies inherent in word-of-mouth marketing. What has Dell done in this area?

BP: It was with the idea of making significant use of word of mouth that we developed a community forum application called Accepted Solutions. This “app” gives customers the ability to ask questions about Dell products or to pose problems they’re having and have other Dell customers provide answers based on personal experience. When a customer has a solution that works, they click it as a solution and then our community team verifies their accuracy. This visual check-mark system makes searching through the millions of question/answer threads extremely manageable. Since its launch in February 2008, Dell has posted over 15,000 Accepted Solutions with an average of 350 views per solution. This is an incredibly positive example of engaging customers in customer care.

AA: It would seem that in addition to creating a huge fan club of brand evangelists, the beauty of an application like Accepted Solutions in a down market is that it saves Dell the expense of fielding thousands of phone calls or hiring extra customer service representatives.

BP: Exactly. Customer relationship management is done in collaboration with consumers. It’s the viral dynamic at its best. The enormous success of social networks from Twitter to sites like YouTube is due, in part, to our natural inclination to want to be heard, and to share ideas and opinions. Accepted Solutions is a good example of how businesses can make efficient use of these socialization applications.

AA: Are there other new digital applications that you’ve been using to manage expenses?

BP: We’ve made very good use of the Dell Reviews site. Given how easy it is for consumers to compare and contrast products these days, it’s imperative that every organization have its own robust review application. It’s an application with incredible benefit. You should also have the mindset that positive and negative reviews are equally important. Again, you want to be in a position to address issues quickly. Another application we’re using on an enterprise level is a program called force.com created by Salesforce.com. It’s a software service that puts all the information we have about customers at our sales teams’ fingertips, including on which communication channel a customer likes to receive product updates and information. Some of our customers like email, some mobile messages, and many want to share their ideas on how to improve. This application has turbo-charged the effectiveness of our sales force. They, like everyone at Dell, have been making it a responsibility to stay on top of what’s new as a means of doing their jobs more efficiently.