Dell
Inc.
Dell Inc. start their innovation process with asking
their customers, "What would you really want this thing to do? Is there a
different way to accomplish that?" Then they meet with their suppliers and
ask, "Can we do this in a different way?" Then they try to come up with a
totally different approach that exceeds the original objectives.
From the start, the entire Dell business – from design to manufacturing to
sales – was oriented around listening to
the customer, responding to the customer, and delivering what the
customer wanted. Their
direct relationships – first through telephone calls, then through
face-to-face interactions, and now through Internet – has enabled Dell to
benefit from real-time input from real customers regarding product and
service requirement, products on the market, and future products they would
like to see developed. While other companies had to guess which products
their customers wanted, because they built them in advance of taking the
order, Dell knew – because their told them before they built
the product.
To continually bring information from the
outside world into Dell, with an eye toward staying as competitive as they
can,
Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Inc. used a variety of
innovative approaches. He says, "I also enjoy roaming around outside the
company to see what people think of us. On the Web, nobody knows I'm a CEO.
I'll hang out in chatrooms where actual users commonly chat about Dell and
our competitors. I listen to their conversations as they discuss their
purchases and their likes and dislikes. It's a tremendous learning
opportunity."
"When we've made mistakes, we've benefited from
faster correction because our customer input was more immediate," says
Michael Dell. "We often cut our losses
before there's a chance for them to develop into bigger problems and make
corrections quickly. And we know how to cut them off because of the valuable
advice we get from our customers."...
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Involve customers, urged
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