This report throws light on the selling

process of DELL and its lead generation in

context of B2B as well as B2C.

DELL
Selling Process and Lead
Generation

Submitted by:
Abhishek Mandaviya
Vaibhav Bajaj
This report covers how dell has become the market leader in the PC market by using its different
and innovative selling processes and its business model of Direct Selling. It is being discussed in
detail in the report.

Company Overview.

Michael Dell, 18, left college in 1983 to work full-time for the company he founded as a freshman,
providing business clients with hard-drive upgrades. Dell's company had $6 million in annual
revenue over the course of one year. In 1985, to start offering built-to-order machines, Dell
changed his approach. Dell Computers ' meteoric rise was primarily due to supply chain and
production advances, but also due to a new delivery plan being introduced. Through constantly
evaluating and making tactical improvements in the value chain of personal computers and taking
advantage of emerging market developments, Dell Inc. has evolved to dominate the PC market in
less time than many businesses need to begin.

Selling Process

Dell used direct selling model to sell its personal computers. Dell Direct Model has been so
successful in creating value for both the company and its customers. In the personal computer
value chain, Dell was able to analyze the computer industry and make tactical improvements. It
allowed the company to adapt to the changing market environment and Dell was able to dominate
the U.S. PC market and other markets.
Because Dell sold directly to customers, customers were offered the choice of system
configuration and personalized products were provided according to customer choice. It also set
up 24-hour support services and also provided customers with assured shipment of replacement
part. The company was also able to sell the personal computers at a cheaper price, as the company
saved the distribution costs by leaving out the sales middleman. This Direct Selling Strategy also
provided the company with a wealth of market data that it used to forecast trends in demand and
enabled it to segment the market according to profitability and focus on the lucrative segment.
Dell began selling directly to customers by initially using the mail order process. The company
developed an online sales network with the advent of the internet, which allowed the business to
reach a wider audience and increase sales volume. For its transactional customers, the company
has developed www.dell.com and its corporate customers www.premire.dell.com.
It has also developed an extranet, valuechain.dell.com for its suppliers in which both parties
exchange real-time information on availability, performance statistics, price customer demand,
product quality and technological customer requirements Dell's direct model, lean manufacturing,
just-in-time supply and web use has been imitated by organizations such as Compaq, IBM, HP,
NEC, etc., but they have been overwhelmed by co-workers. In contrast, bringing together an
entirely new delivery system was challenging for Dell's rivals. This has resulted in Dell being
competitively superior to its rivals.

Dell’s Spartan Approach

In doing business, Dell and his organization retained their Spartan style. The Spartan approach is
to have business process consistency, flexibility and resilience and to meet targets rigorously but
in a controlled manner. Dell had a simple sales function that allows consumers to order their PC
through the website and can also demand customization according to their needs. The organization
also operated 24/7 customer-friendly service stations. Dell improved productivity through the use
of a direct template that allowed the company to interact directly with consumers and decide
exactly what they wanted before the product was produced. At the time of order, listening to the
client takes the guesswork and wasted resources completely out of the equation. This shows the
company's customer-focused strategy has a pragmatic approach and principles. It sees each order
of sales as a personal quest.
In addition to this, Dell used unique and creative approaches to strengthen customer service, build
partnerships between suppliers and achieve vertical integration. This made the company more
competitive because the new technology could be capitalized far quicker than the rivals. Moreover,
the lean production of the business and Just in time stock meant that customer orders were fulfilled
in a short span of time. Strategic thinking about the company helped the business cut costs and
increase profits while building on the Spartan strategy.
The culmination of the company's quest for a customer-centric strategy to offer customers better
quality at a bargain price was Dell's Direct Model.
The company also helped to differentiate its product from the direct model. Customers were
dealing directly with the company and this gave the customers a sense of belief that they would
not have trusted the intermediaries. Customers can also have been able to customized their order
to their requirements.

Benefits of Internet Efficiency to Dell

Dell used telephone to receive orders from consumers prior to the advent of the internet. For the
call attendant, who had to explain the product features and note down the customer requirements,
this was a tedious job. It took a long time to secure the order and the call attendant was at high risk
of missing out on the customers ' main requirements.
The launch of www.dell.com opened the service of the business to more potential customers. Dell
customers are able to customize and order their PC online, receive technical support and install
their software updates. Dell's Direct system had remarkable success as consumers could now order
the PCS through the website. It lowered overheads because setting up and running online shops
cost less than a physical store. The Internet enabled the company to automate the processing of
orders and payments. Institutional clients of the product, which are distributed around the world,
use premier.dell.com to do business with the company. In addition, through its extranet,
valuechain.dell.com, Dell can share information with its suppliers for a range of topics, including
product quality and stock. Dell is able to control the product lifecycle by using the Internet to sell
the life cycle and flow of information to subsidiaries.

Training for Selling Better

Dell typically hire college graduates who spend five weeks in practice before speaking to a client.
Four weeks are spent on awareness of service and business, and one week is spent on capability
sales. Dell has got about 500 salesmen.
Throughout its service, they are committed to continuous improvement. For example, the
salespeople spend on the phone with their customers an average of six and a half hours a day.
Compared to other companies in the sector, this is very effective. Many of the telemarketers
generate between $3 million and $4 million in annual revenue. Many of the time-consuming steps
involved in telemarketing sales have been automated.
For example, in many businesses, salespeople take notes during a phone call to plan a proposal for
a client, then sit down and write a draft and have it checked over by the sales manager. The plan
will then be copied and re-examined. If all goes well, the next day it may be mailed and the
customer will receive it the following week. Salespeople at Dell are calling up a special monitor
while speaking to the customer and planning the plan with a few key strokes while the customer
is still on the phone. In many cases, before the phone call is over, the salesperson will fax the
proposal. They might say, “after we've been through, I'd like you to go to your fax machine because
I just faxed you the device setup and the prices we've been talking about. I'm going to call you to
follow up in three days.” It's a very efficient and productive way to do business.
Before the opportunity window closes, it is important to move information quickly to help the
consumer make an informed decision.

Lead generation

In any business, there are customers these potential customers who wants to claim any product
offered but are somewhere confused whether they are making a good purchase or not. Lead
generation can be classified as creating those potential customers to actual customers who can add
any value into products or services of a business.

Dell turning brand detractors into fans:

Five years from now, Dell had a very small market share. The company realized that there were
many conversations happening in the market regarding computer company and nobody had the
name Dell in their words.
Since then, the company had invested a huge amount of money, time and resources in marketing
their products. Richard Margetic, director of global social media of Dell said that since 2006, there
had been many changes in the company that had resulted handsomely especially for company’s
B2B business. Also added that as compared to B2C, social media has made more impact on B2B
business.

Talking about social media, now let’s see how dell used twitter for lead generation

The company has used twitter perfectly to generate sales. There was an article reporting that the
company had generated a million-dollar revenue over the past year and a half by using tactics on
twitter. People who had followed Dell on Twitter received messages form the company about their
discounted products available at the company’s outlets. Easy purchase option was given on twitter
for people who wanted to buy and also a share tab for the ones who wanted to forward the
information to others.
The four recommendations from twitter can be classified as:
 1. Analyse what people are saying about Dell on twitter
2. Be transparent with the customers and crating own physical presence.
3. Identify the potential customers and persuading them to buy their product
4. Answer to the discussions happening on twitter about the company

Dell’s strategy

- Fast to adopt: While there were competitors out there still trying to figure out how social
media would help them and what their current scenario is, Dell was all clear with its
strategy and used twitter for its channel of distribution for their products to hit the market,
taking leadership stance and approach.

- Segmented users: Dell segmented their market with respect to the different countries. They
set up different twitter accounts for example, Dell twitter for New Zealand, different
platform (Dell twitter for UK) etc. the company offered products based on their location.

- created a special offering for each of its segments: Special advertising has been developed
for each of its segments: the segmentation approach for different markets has been
introduced to assist it with special offers for each of these segments. Thus, adapting the
approach of' Think Global, Act Local' to their overall marketing strategy for Twitter.

- created a following a build a trust factor: Provided an element of trust and confidence:
businesses who established communities have always been successful in selling their
products. To develop and build a large audience on Facebook, Dell leveraged the digital
brand identity and confidence factor. More than 2000 users built a strong and dedicated
follow-up.

- Targeted sales messages to the company: Once they had a follow-

up, they used their deals and advertisements creatively in the form of tweets and updates
on Instagram.

Tactics

- holding conversations: Holding conversations: When employees at the South by Southwest

conference discovered Twitter in 2007, they thought they would hit a good channel to push
information out.
- Consciousness raising: Instead of just using Twitter to let people know about their sales,
the company has come to think that it is a very good place for consumers to connect with
— and to raise awareness about the product.

That doesn’t mean Dell Outlet did abandon the payments. Yes, the company also publishes
Twitter-only deals. You just tweet to stop spamming your followers and use URLs to test
which followers find most interesting. They do it only a few days a week.

- Increasing sales: They are not only retweeted and collected through coupon sites— which
both spread the name of the brand, they also promote sales. In revenue attributed to his
Twitter posts, Dell Outlet has booked more than $3 million. In addition, research has shown
that the outlet's popularity has also increased.

- Connecting with customers: Dell currently provides more than 80 Twitter-based Dell
accounts (including @dellhomeoffers for new system deals), from new technology
imagery to Asia-Pacific promotional video. It also supports Facebook staff and has well
over 100 accounts of workers. Dell is using a large number of these accounts (with names
such as@ StefanieAtDell) primarily for customer service exchanges requiring direct
communication (private Twitter channels).
References:

https://www.sellingpower.com/2010/02/02/3847/how-dell-sells-part-two-direct-relationship-
marketing
http://itiskalyan.blogspot.com/2016/05/dell-direct-summary-of-case-this-case.html
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/dell-direct-model-of-supply-chain-management-
business-essay.php
https://socialmediaunleashed.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/dell-case-study-using-twitter-for-lead-
generation/
https://blog.dellemc.com/en-us/digital-marketing-platform/