According to a report that ranked PC manufacturers, Dell Inc’s $150 million initiative to improve customer service and product quality may have taken a serious hit. The report, based on an annual study carried out by the University of Michigan, saw Dell’s numbers move southwards by 5 percent.
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According to the survey, Dell currently stands close to the bottom of the pile with 74 out of a possible 100. This rating is the same as what Dell had in 2005. The company had managed a comeback of sorts in 2006, with a marginal improvement.
According to Claes Fornell, the University of Michigan marketing professor who heads the survey, ever since Dell plummeted downwards in 2005, the company has been struggling to make any significant comeback. Dell has been constantly trying, without much noticeable success, to regain the #1 spot from Hewlett-Packard Co. in the arena of PC manufacturing.
Where Dell has been suffering is in the lack of fresh and innovative designs for its new PCs. This, along with complaints from users, has ensured a steady erosion of Dell’s customer base, translating into reduced sales since 2005.
Having identified the problems, Dell has been pursuing different strategies to improve sales. One of the major changes is the return of founder Michael Dell as the CEO to plan new strategies that would give an upward thrust to sales.
Since Mr. Dell’s return, the company has been selling PCs even at retailer outlets such as Wal-Mart. Other strategies include the hiring of 2,000 service representatives in the U.S. alone last year. The company also re-trained another 5,000 representatives and launched DellConnect.
A spokeswoman for Dell said the company recognized the need to improve customer satisfaction, as that would translate to improved sales in the long run. She said the company’s own survey showed it had made significant improvements in this area, and that it was going all out to ensure this improvement continued.
The University of Michigan prepares this report – the American Customer Satisfaction Index – based on a survey of 70,000 consumers. The report is an all-encompassing look at the different trends in customer service across different segments of the IT industry.
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