Your great Idea could earn you a trip to Dell World*

Duration: Oct 16, 2012 - Oct 25, 2012

Status: Archived

Social networks have fundamentally changed business. That is why, for the first time at Dell World, social media will be a key part of the conference agenda.

In this Storm Session, share your ideas for how Dell can further support customers and their businesses in social media. The top two ideas as determined by the IdeaStorm Community as well as the IdeaStorm Partners and Community Managers will receive tickets to Austin to present their ideas to the Dell social media community, customers and partners at Dell World.

 


 

 IdeaStorm Live Challenge
OFFICIAL RULES

 

 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

THE FOLLOWING PROMOTION IS INTENDED FOR VIEWING IN THE UNITED STATES ONLY AND SHALL ONLY BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW. Http://www.ideastorm.com/Idea2SessionIdea?v=1350322005379&id=a017000000qF0w2AAC DO NOT PROCEED IN THIS SITE IF YOU ARE NOT LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES.

1. Eligibility: IdeaStorm Live Challenge (the “contest”) is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry. Employees of Dell Marketing L.P., Dell Inc., and their parent and affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible. Employees of the City of New York are not eligible. Government employees, including all federal, state, county, city or municipal government employees and K-12 employees are not eligible. Subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited. Participation constitutes Entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

2. Sponsor: Dell Marketing L.P. One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682.

3. Timing: Phase One of the contest begins at 8:00 a.m. CT on 10/16/2012 and ends at 5:00pm CT on 10/25/2012 (the "Entry Period"). Phase Two of the contest begins on 12/12/12 and ends on 12/13/12.

4. How to Enter: Dell is soliciting ideas on how we can best support customers via social media. Please submit your ideas through the online form on IdeaStorm.com. The entries will be judged via two contest phases. At the end of Phase One, two (2) finalists will be selected to come to Dell World to pitch their idea live on stage to a panel of judges.

Phase one [10/16/12 – 10/29/12]:

  • Entrants submit Ideas to a Storm Session on IdeaStorm specifically designed for the contest Http://www.ideastorm.com/Idea2SessionIdea?v=1350322005379&id=a017000000qF0w2AAC
  • On or around 10/29/12, eligible entries will be judged based on the Judging Criteria listed belowto determine two (2) finalists who will each receive one (1) economy, round-trip airline ticket from a major airport closest to the finalists’ residence , two (2) nights stay in Austin, Texas, and one (1) pass to Dell World.
  • Phase two [12/12/12 – 12/13/12]:
  • Finalists present their ideas live on stage to a panel of judges. Winner will be highlighted across IdeaStorm and Dell social media channels


Judges will be made up of Dell IdeaStorm community manager, Cy Jervis, and Dell social media communities and Dell World attendees.

Dell is not obligated to use the entry that is ultimately selected.

Judging criteria for Phase One and Phase Two:

  • Feasibility of implementing idea- 30%
  • Creativity and innovation- 30%
  • Popularity with Idea Partners- 25%
  • Popularity within Ideastorm community- 15% 

Content Restrictions:

  • The Submission must be original with you;
  • The Submission cannot have been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means;
  • The Submission must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement;
  • The Submission must not disparage Sponsor or any other person or party affiliated with the Contest;
  • The Submission must not contain brand names or trademarks other than those owned by Sponsor, which entrant has a limited license to use to incorporate in his/her Submission in this Contest;
  • The Submission must not contain material, images or artwork not created by entrant;
  • The Submission must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
  • The Submission must not contain material that is sexually explicit or suggestive, depicts illegal drug use, alcohol abuse, terrorism, weapons, violence or nudity;
  • The Submission must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; and
  • The Submission must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where Submission is created.

Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in disqualification. In the event of a dispute as to any registration, the authorized account holder of the email address used to register will be deemed to be the registrant or player. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. The potential winner may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder. Released Parties (as defined in Section 7, below) are not responsible for lost, late, stolen, damaged, incomplete, invalid, un-intelligible, garbled, delayed or misdirected Submissions; all of which will be void.

5. Finalist Selection: Sponsor’s decisions as to the administration and operation of the contest and the selection of the potential finalists are final and binding in all matters related to the contest. On or around 10/29/12, Sponsor will select two (2) finalists from all eligible entries received during the Entry Period based on the Judging Criteria listed above. The potential finalists will be notified by email. Each potential finalist (parent/legal guardian if finalist is a minor in his/her state of residence) will be required to sign and return to Sponsor, within ten (10) days of the date notice or attempted notice is sent, an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability & Publicity Release in order to claim his/her prize. If a potential finalist cannot be contacted, fails to sign and return the Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability & Publicity Release within the required time period, or prize is returned as undeliverable, potential finalist forfeits prize. By entering, entrant agrees he/she is in compliance with all of his/her employers’ rules, policies, and procedures that relate accepting prizes. Potential finalist must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. In the event that a potential finalist is disqualified for any reason, Sponsor will award the applicable prize to an alternate finalist by random drawing from among all remaining eligible entries. Only three (3) alternate drawings will be held after which the prize will remain un-awarded.

6. Prizes: Two (2) finalists will receive round trip economy airfare for one (1) from a major airport closest to the finalists’ residence to Austin, TX, two nights accommodation at the Hilton Austin and one (1) passto Dell World to be held 12/12/12 -12/13/12. The Approximate Retail Value of this prize is $1,500 but subject to change based on, among other things, normal price fluctuations associated with the consumer marketplace. Prize is non-transferable and no substitution will be made except as provided herein at the Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize for one of equal or greater value if the designated prize should become unavailable for any reason. Winner is responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use. Limit: One (1) prize per person. Total ARV for all Prizes: $3,000.

7. Release: By entering, entrant agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor, Dell Inc., and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parent companies and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize.

Entrants hereby grant to the Sponsor for the full term of any rights that may make up their submission (“Submission”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, sub-licensable right to use their Submission as follows (without payment to the Entrants or any third party):

  • To play, publish, make available to the public, perform, display, reproduce, distribute and otherwise use their Submission on any and all media (whether now known or invented in the future) worldwide;
  • To host, store, copy, modify, adapt, edit, translate, create derivative works from, incorporate into other works and/or otherwise treat in any way Entrant’s Submissions at the discretion of the Sponsor;
  • The Sponsor may (but is not obliged to) identify any Entrant as the creator or author when their Submission appears on any and all media, for example, by displaying an Entrant’s name; and
  • To sub-license the rights in Entrants’ Submissions to third parties.

8. Publicity: Except where prohibited, participation in the contest constitutes winner’s consent to Sponsor’s and its agents’ use of winner’s name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions and/or hometown and state for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration.

9. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other Promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

10. Limitations of Liability: The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the contest; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the contest or the processing of entries; (5) late, lost, undeliverable, damaged or stolen mail; or (6) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. If for any reason an entrant's entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another entry in the contest, provided that the Entry Period has not ended. If the contest is canceled, suspended or modified, Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may elect to hold a random drawing from among all eligible entries received up to the date of discontinuance for any or all of the prizes offered herein. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. In the event that production, technical, seeding, programming or any other reasons cause more than stated number of prizes as set forth in these Official Rules to be available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the right to award only the stated number of prizes by a random drawing among all legitimate, un-awarded, eligible prize claims.

11. Disputes: Except where prohibited, entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and the Texas State District Court in Williamson County, Texas. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, entrant’s rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the Sponsor in connection with the contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Texas, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Texas or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Texas.

12. Entrant's Personal Information: Information collected from entrants is subject to Dell’s privacy policy.

13. Winner List: For a Winner List, send a hand-printed, self-addressed, stamped envelope to “IdeaStorm Live Challenge” c/o Dell Marketing L.P. One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682. Winner List requests must be received by 11/5/12.

14. Mailing List Name Removal Notification System: If you would like your name removed from Sponsor’s mailing visit www.dell.com/optout.
 

 

 

 

 

 


Summary:

Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. After reviewing the ideas and judging them according to the rules we are happy to announce our two winners; Morblore and jkunken.

7 Ideas


SESSION IDEAS:

Re-build your *ENTIRE* phone/chat sales and support staff

October 23, 2012

2 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

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I really like Dell computers and own many of them up until last year.  Last year I tried many times to buy a new Dell laptop but the Sales staff, both from the online chat and phone support, was horrible.
 
Get rid of the idiotic flowcharts and question process they use to select a machine. If the customer has an idea of what they want and your staff doesn't know enough about the product to immediately select a device, then don't waste the customer's time. I went through 4 reps that asked the same dumb questions and arrived at the same incorrect configuration. 
 
Gone are the days when we had to explain megabytes and PCI busses. Dell's approach is to dumb down the selection process so we have such broad categories as Gamer or Home PC and then artificially try to shoehorn the more technically savvy customers into these categories. I can build my own PC if needed, but I go to Dell for a certain configuration and some measure of aesthetics. It's annoying to have to sit through some call center person as he reads some flowchart to me. Do you play games? Do you run Excel? Might you be interested in this fine laptop bag? 
 
So, if the customer wants a certain thing, maybe it is 32G of RAM in a laptop or a particular type of keyboard or a certain screen size, build your selection process so that the call center rep can select these particular items. If the selection does not exist, either locate the next closest configuration or have some sort of voting process for these feature sets. The worst thing you can do is to spec a system that's missing the one or two "must haves" that the customer requested. The old Dell that I liked would help me build a laptop according to my needs.
 
So yeah, some consultant probably sold Dell on the idea that outsourced call centers would really be better... Doesn't seem to be working for me. Just gives me indigestion after a call.
 
So for the social networking aspect...
 
Online forums have existed for years and years. They are nothing new, except instead of Usenet feeds we have Facebook pages and Google+ circles.
 
1) Don't treat your social media presence as just another webpage. 
 
Engage your customers on the site with polls, questions, etc.. And don't just put out polls and pose questions. Answer the questions, take action based on the polls. There's a danger in that the online folks may not be representative of your actual markets (e.g., business users may not spend a whole lot of time on your FB page) but you can gauge this with demographic data available from all the major players.
 
2) Don't be a "Like This Page" [redacted].
 
Many sites throw out these contests to get Likes and Circles. The problem is that your comment feed ends up being filled with noise.. "Hey", "Add me", "I like your page".. And eventually the people who are really interested drop off because of all the chatter. Sure, gain followers but aim for relevant followers and not just bots and professional contest winners (yeah, they exist).
 
3) Don't use schills.
 
The most annoying and credibility busting ploys is to use paid schills to hawk a product. Believe me, they're easy to spot. 
 
4) Design is important.
 
Keyboards without proper function keys are useless to programmers. Just saying.
 
5) Media is important.
 
Provide product ads and info pages that are "you-tubable", mobile aware on different browsers, and use new tech. E.g., there are 3D plugins for most browsers.. why not use them to showcase a product. Create videos explaining how to use a technology or why the design decision was made. E.g., I became a bigger fan of the Nexus 7 Android tablet once they explained *why* there was no media slot.
 

2 Votes | 1 Comment | Report Abuse

Can we still support customers and keep it private with Social Media?

October 23, 2012

2 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

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Times have changed since the computer first started. Back in the 80's and early 90's support was accomplished through telephone calls. In the mid to late 90's email started playing a key role because it allowed a more intimate relationship and allowed for more information to be passed through file attachments. I got involved in support around this time. Fast forward to the present day and the avenue of choice is text chatting and online chats with Skype and tools like it. Tools like Facebook and Twitter and other related sites have made support more personal. Support organizations have to have more active roles on the chat websites like Facebook and Twitter to listen for bad noise that could negatively effect the organization as a whole. Customers rarely comment on a good resolution to a problem but when the solution is wrong then the boards just light up and start everyone forwarding the bad news everyone. Along with support answers the information provided had to be valid and researched. We have to use our tools but it should be a two-way street. Create rooms on the support sites to keep sensitive information private. We should use out customers as a resource for answers to problems. Query the customer base about solutions that work and post the information online. There are many forums online to post this. The information can be tested and reported back as a standard solution for all representatives of the support team to use so they appear as one not many.

2 Votes | No Comments | Report Abuse

Current-See!

October 22, 2012

2 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

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My idea is to have Austin youth (12-18 yrs. of age) showcase their own accomplishments in a Workshop Track called Current-See, and show the adults in attendance how it's done with Dell!  Sessions could include a myriad of topics, including how youth are using social to crowdfund a project, develop and deliver a digital campaign, or gamifiy a homework assigment. 

A youth panel with interactive Q&A with adults regarding the importance of earning and exchanging digital currency across various platfroms and channels would comprise the final session of workshops. 

I beleive that youth, specially today, can offer a powerful voice to IdeaStorm!

2 Votes | No Comments | Report Abuse

Utilizing Windows Remote Assistance

October 21, 2012

1 Vote

Status: Acknowledged

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Dell should make a specific site for service with good computer engineers and they should try to solve all the problems online through windows remote assistance , I t will be benefitial for the customers and It will save their time as well as service centre's time . And if there is any hardware problem then that support site can either provide onsite or call them to walk to a dell service centre depending on their contract . If the products are not in warranty period than dell can ask for online payments for the remote assistance service.

1 Vote | 2 Comments | Report Abuse

Business Intelligence + Leveraging the Groundswell

October 20, 2012

2 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

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I would like to make a combination of 2 suggestions here. On a broader level, I would say maintaining a powerful presence on social media and utilizing the unstructured data from the social media to come up with intelligent outcomes which would help in providing better support to its customers.

I believe customer service can greatly be enhanced by tapping the power of groundswell. Not only would this make the customers more happy but also help Dell enhance its customer base by energizing its existing customers. Some of the few things that Dell could do include:

1) Quora - Utilize Quora for answering queries where there are currently 62 Open Questions related to Dell customer support. The customer support representatives at Dell should be trained about the latest buzz in the online social world which would help them be ready and quick to reach the customers.
2) Utilize videos - Underutilized since 2011 March. The videos are an easy and simplest means of explaining solutions to hardware problems to customers. On Youtube, the Dell Support videos have not been updated since March 2011. The power of videos should be leveraged to help the customers.
3) Have 25000+ followers on twitter -  Host contests where in basic support questions are asked and have a raffle for the correct answer.. Keep it open for a couple of hours! Increases interaction with customers which helps them. These customers may in turn help other customers with similar issues thus reducing your customer traffic in future.

The second part of my suggestion is to have efficient and highly advanced Business Intelligence systems in place which have strong analytical algorithms. This could enable Dell to understand what the customers are talking about Dell. Tracking the unstructured data online using such efficient BI systems would help Dell to evolve as a competent social leader.



2 Votes | 1 Comment | Report Abuse

The Social Media Reach, As Well As The Service Reach

October 19, 2012

2 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

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To begin with what I mean by 'The Social Media Reach', I feel Dell could have a lot going for it should they speak the same language as their social media fans. What I mean by this is if you notice music artists, particularly the heavy bands, post 'memes' or jokes to make their fans laugh - which draws in more fans because they see the band connects with their fans, sometimes even statuses to hype their fans on upcoming projects. Dell could jump on this same tactic: post things that make the customer feel happy to be a fan of Dell's Facebook page or a Twitter follower. But all is not well should 'The Service Reach' not be attained along with it.

I'm a member of AlienwareArena.com and often we get new members who come to specifically seek help for problems they experience with Dell's customer service. Often these complaints are about the customer service reps not knowning anything about an Alienware computer, often telling the customer that the laptops aren't meant to play video games and other remarks that do not help the customer at all. Because of these ignorant customer service reps, Dell loses customers alltogether, not just from their Alienware division. Don't get me wrong, I've read about good customer service reps who know a thing or two about what the product is and can help the customer immediately, but it's the bad ones who make the company lose customers.

To fix this, I suggest specific customer support teams for a specific product line instead of general customer service. Not just for the Alienware line but for even the XPS line, projector line, etc. Specific teams should specialize in support for a specific line of product to make the customer's experience that much less stressful. They give their hardearned dollar to this company and they should be treated like royalty when dealing with customer service.

In closing, social media is not the only way to get more customers and more exposure about products. If a customer has a good experience with customer service, they're more likely to recommend Dell to their friends and family, gaining Dell more customers. Social media and customer service go hand in hand. Both can make or break the company's sales.

2 Votes | No Comments | Report Abuse

Dell's consumer support is the problem. Social Media is only the magnifying glass.

October 19, 2012

3 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

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I think the question about how to use Social Media for consumer support is wrongheaded. The fallout Dell has faced in social media over the years is not due to poor social media management, but poor overall support of Dell's customer base. I was a long-time Dell customer until my last purchase. You puppies lost me for good. And I certainly used social media to explain all the reasons to the world. 

Fix your support and social media will work to your advantage. Not the other way around.

3 Votes | 1 Comment | Report Abuse