Dell can create BETTER results on customer orders!
Dell, Sales Strategies, Service and Support submitted by phubert
Jan 11
Understanding the Customer's needs - developing "Interview" skills
Our site has had a couple of issues, one being resolved presently.
The issues were not Dell's fault, per-se, but I believe a different approach BY Dell could have <u>prevented</u> them.
When I was an Applications programmer, years ago, I learned _something_ of the art of "interviewing" the end user. Or at least, that is what I called it.
The trick is to start by LISTENING and then to carefully place 'helper' questions that will turn the user's/customer's attention to something they may not have considered. I had to learn about THEM and THEIR needs and then (at times, since MY learning may have been the most important) help them to learn of alternatives or possibilities, _allowing_ them to make the decision.
If it is done right, it is NOTHING like a hard sell, or even a sell at all, though it may, in fact, be JUST that.
If it is actually based in "the customer's best interest", let me contend that MAKING THAT your priority will actually end up benefiting you/your company/the program/system you're developing.
O.K. So what are the steps?
1) KNOW YOUR PRODUCT/PROJECT/system capabilities THOROUGHLY
2) GENUINELY put your customer/user FIRST both as an individual and in light of the work/project goals.
3) learn the art of patient listening
4) learn the art of the 'interview' ... helping the customer describe and even better _understand_ their own needs as well as POSSIBILITIES they may not have considered.
5) be sure you first learn the INDIVIDUAL you are speaking with.
Are they highly skilled?
Are they presently irritated?
How to PRESENTLY communicate with them?
Don't ever 'talk down'
--CONTINUED in the following TWO comments--
140
Enough with the blue LED's already!
Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by chewd
Jan 15
A small, sharp, pinpoint of blue light is absolutely the worst thing you could possibly do to your night vision! Theres a reason the panel lights in aircraft are always red, red light does not leave retinal artifacts that impair night-vision.
I know blue LED's are trendy, everythings got them these days. And bluetooth has "blue" right in the freakin name. But those of us who use notebooks for work, and work at night, find blue LEDs very irritating.
Blue being a very short wavelength is very penetrating. You can light an entire room with one blue LED, whereas red being a long wavelength is ideal for indicators & such as it does not carry as much.
Give us the option of changing the color of the LED's either through BIOS, software, or even physically replacing them (or just replacing a colored lens). Maybe it would be possible to let us turn down the brightness a tad.
It would be nice not to have to cover my new laptop with little bits of tape.
550
Add a switch to disable all LEDs for entertainment mode (laptops)
Laptops submitted by fry-kun
Jan 17
I like to watch DVDs on my laptop in the dark. Unfortunately, there are always green LEDs that light up right in my face every time I do. Some of them I can disable (numlock, capslock, wifi, bluetooth) - but others stick around (power/HD/battery indicators).
I'd like to have a switch to disable all LEDs at once, for use while in "entertainment mode".
500
Work directly with on-site technicians
Dell, Service and Support, Small Business submitted by morgan_smitty
Jan 18
Currently, Dell outsources their on-site tech support to multiple companies. Information on these companies is widely available online, so I won't name names. Those companies then outsource to more companies, who outsource to more companies (usually computer stores or individual sole owner/proprietors). By the time a service call makes it down the line, up to 5 or 6 parties are involved. This results in 3 problems:
*By the time the call makes it down the chain, the information has been parsed and rehashed so many times, the tech has to dig for the problem, and it's easier just to find out on-site.
*Technicians don't get paid very well, because every company down the line takes a little off the top. They also often don't get paid hourly or by mileage, but rather get a per-call pay, which encourages rushed service (this I imagine varies between subcontractors).
*In the event of some sort of issue with a call, for instance, back-ordered parts, techs have to go back up the chain to ask what's going on, then wait for the answer to come back down.
Dell could set up an automated system, similar to those used by their outsourced companies, along with an automated log in/log out call system, reducing the number of people required to man phones (which some outsourced companies do), and allow techs direct access to the work order and all relevant information. They would reduce their overhead meanwhile increasing the wage that is paid to onsite technicians.
170
Standardize Power Cables for Laptops
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by badblood
08/27/07 **UNDER REVIEW**
Nothing is more annoying than laptop power cables that are not interchangeable from one computer model to another or from one brand of computer to another. Power cables have been standardized on most electrical applicances, including desktop computers for decades.
Make an effort to promote and implement standard power cables for laptops.
Please see dawn_l's comments below.
28020
 track my votes
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