PROJECT REPORT

ON

CRM PRACTICES AT DELL

By

SAURABH SHARMA

PG20112202

IILM Institute for Higher Education

GURGAON

DELL-
VISION – DELL is committed to being a good neighbor in the communities we call home. We
must continue to grow responsibly- protecting our natural resources and practicing
sustainability in all its forms and improve the communities where we live and work through our
financial and volunteer efforts.

MISSION- “To be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best
customer experience” .

Dell is in the business of manufacturing computers and servers. Bearing the name of its
founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest technological corporations in the
world, employing more than 96,000 people worldwide. Dell Inc. is a multinational information
technology corporation based in Round Rock, Texas, United States that develops, sells and
supports computers and related products and services.

The company sells personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches,
software, and computer peripherals. Dell also sells HDTVs, cameras, printers, MP3 players and
other electronics built by other manufacturers. The company is well known for its innovations
in supply chain management and electronic commerce. The corporate structure and
management of Dell extends beyond the board of directors. The Dell Global Executive
Management Committee sets strategic directions. Dell has regional senior vice-presidents for
countries other than the United States.

Segmentation has been the reason for Dell’s success. Dell positions itself on the basis of
segmentation and modifies its offerings to for each segment’s customers. Its competitors are
Hewlett Packard/Compaq, IBM, Apple, Gateway, Sony, Lenovo etc.

Dell has one simple concept: to sell computer systems directly to customers. Dell’s customers
are global wide and range from individuals, small businesses, large businesses, and institutional
organizations, such as schools, colleges and hospitals. Such a huge customer base makes Dell
one of the leading technological corporations of the world today. Dell is also known for its CRM-
SCM strategy. CRM-SCM integration has been a major reason why Dell stands as one of the
leading corporations today.

WHAT IS CRM?
CRM- customer relationship management

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a new approach in managing customer

relationships at the level of corporate and business so as to maximize communication,
marketing through the management of a variety of different contacts with customers. It is a
broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s
interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to
organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also
those for marketing, customer service, and technical support.

CRM can be defined as a business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate and manage the
needs of an organisation’s current and potential customers. CRM is a shift from traditional
marketing as it focuses on the retention of customers in addition to the acquisition of new
customers. CRM implementation will be optimal only if assisted by technology. Because, the
technology will increase the depth of knowledge about customers, improve access for
customers, create customer interactions more effective and integrated through all channels.
Without the right technology, CRM solutions will not be optimal.

It helps enterprise to-

- Give it a 360° view of each customer and increase the opportunities for sales and the
effectiveness of customer service.

- To enable customers to have a consistent view of the enterprise. This improves customer
satisfaction and customer retention.

· To enable front office staff to perform sales, service and marketing tasks more efficiently as a
team, increasing expertise and reducing costs.

PURPOSE OF CRM-

 The focus of CRM is on creating value for the customers and the company over the
longer term.

 When customers value the customer service that they receive from suppliers, they are
less likely to look to alternative suppliers for their needs.

 CRM enables organisations to gain ‘competitive advantage’ over competitors that

supply similar products or services.

TYPES OF CRM-

 Sales force automation

 Marketing
 Customer service and support
 Appointments
 Small business
 Social media
  Non-profit and membership-based

ADVANTAGES OF CRM-

 Reduced costs
 Customer Lifecycle Management
 Increased customer satisfaction
 Business Intelligence
 Growth in numbers of customers
 Maximisation of opportunities
 Long term profitability and sustainability

DISADVANTAGES OF CRM-

 Overhead costs
 Training issues
 Unstable CRM application leads to loss of thousands of dollars

CRM IMPLEMENTATION AT DELL-

DELL is one of the leading companies that uses CRM to a good effect. One of the Dell
Company’s ways to optimize its CRM is through interaction with consumers on the internet.
Concrete example is the making of a fan page on social networking which is very popular today,
Facebook. Dell company had nearly 377,922 people liked this page. This fan page was named
"Dell".

With this page, Dell enables its customers to find out what new products, latest information,
tips and tricks of Dell, and others that can be a source of information for its customers.
On this page, Dell also inform customers that if they are likely to receive information about
special offers and the latest product Information by e-mail the customers can ask  to sign up for
Dell emails at: http://dell.to/ewyQUb.

DELL’S DIRECT MODEL-

 Dell goes- Dell.com (July 1996)

 Served its online customers with 12 sales reps and 2 order processors
 Cost cutting by eliminating the retail stores and spend those saved dollars on customer
service and other after sale services in order to build great relationships with customers
 500 million page visits per quarter to www.dell.com

DELL’S DIRECT MODEL AND CRM-

This model helped Dell to eliminate middlemen and thus Dell was able to talk to customers
directly. They tried to understand the needs of their customers. They then started to build
computers based on its customer needs. All this resulted into a greater customer satisfaction
and in turn benefited the company. It also gave them an understanding of what a customer
expects from them. Thus it resulted into customer loyalty and increase in sales.

DELL’S CRM STRATEGY-

Earlier people went to an electronic or retail store to buy computers. There was no interaction
with the manufacturer, only with the salesperson of that particular store. These salespeople
were not as knowledgeable about the product since they were not involved in building the
computers. Dell brought this concept of interacting with the customers by phone or by Internet
to custom-build a computer specific to that customer’s needs and delivering that computer to
the customer on time. Dell created a supply chain management (SCM) system that ensured that
the right computer parts were always available to the customers.

Dell has developed a strong relationship with both its suppliers and customers that allow it to
ensure that computer components are available from suppliers to meet customer demands. It
also ensured that a system was in place to get the product shipped and delivered to the
customer effectively and efficiently. This direct customer focus has resulted in Dell’s
competitive advantage.

Dell utilizes database software, which is effective and efficient with customer relationship
management. These particular databases store tables of data that can be mined for information
about clients and used to generate promotional campaigns. The databases would include
customer information, their interests, and products. The customer database helps increase
profits because the database contains client information that helps determine effective and
efficient ways to target and segment the customers. Thus it makes segmenting and targeting
easy and effective. The bottom line to CRM systems is that it directly impacts its customer base,
ensuring that better service is offered.

Dell’s CRM strategy:

 Segmentation and identifying customers.

 Listen to their customers.
 Also to learn from their customers.
 Each member acts a student and learns from the customers.

Thus it can be said that Dell’s CRM strategy revolves around its customers and their basic
strategy is to understand their customers as well as possible and the CRM softwares are also
designed keeping in mind the customers as their focal point. They give utmost importance to
their customers.

TYPES OF CRM SOFTWARES AT DELL-

Before the use of CRM people went to an electronic or retail store to buy computers and there
was no interaction with the manufacturer. Interaction was only with the salesperson of that
particular store. But the sales person were not that efficient and knowledgeable. Thus the need
arose to implement CRM.

The various types of CRM Softwares in Dell are-

 PRESENT ON ALL LEADING SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES- One of the Dell Company’s
ways to optimize its CRM is through interaction with consumers on the internet. They
have fan pages on all leading social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flicker etc.
 I2 PLANNER SOFTWARE FOR SUPPLY CHAIN NEEDS- I2 planner is a software which helps
them to meet their day in day out supply chain needs. It includes i2 supply chain
planner, i2 collaboration planner and factory planner. It helps to track backlog numbers,
stock status and supplier commitments. Also helps them to meet the needs of
customers on time.
 PROCLARITY- Proclarity is another important CRM Software for Dell. It helps to check the
success and failures of each and every sales team and thus benefits sales, marketing and
finance departments largely. It also highlights the good and not so good areas for
business. Also benefits the company by providing details about customers.
 HOTLINK- Hotlink is the marketing automation software for Dell. It aids e-marketers in
effective targeting, efficient marketing and real-time monitoring of customers and
market trends. It also helps Dell to have free advertising. It is mainly to target right
audience and helps in improving efficiency of Dell’s marketing department.
 PREMIER PAGES (CUSTOMISED WEB PAGES)- It offers easy ordering, tracking and
control. It is basically a transparent online system which uses custom designed web
pages. It helps them to know about customers and create a direct relationship with
them. It is mainly for corporate customers, allowing these customers to simplify and
accelerate procurement and support processes.
 SAAS PORTFOLIO- Provides customers with cloud-based applications that help simplify
and automate IT management.

Dell is also trying to close with its customers through making polls, discussion forums, links bar,
notes bar, YouTube bar, events bar, video bars, and photos bar, all of which can be accessed by
customers.
In the "info" bar, Dell mentioned the other websites which are can be visited to know deeply
about Dell, websites for their product, and certainly their fan page on Facebook. Dell has been
very committed to CRM. They have responded to nearly every comment and postings whether
good or bad. Thus they have fully optimized social networking sites for CRM.

CRM-SCM integration strives to satisfy and promptly deliver products to customers, ensuring
availability of the product and maintaining profitability of the manufacturer.

IMPLEMENTATION OF CRM-
PRE-SALES CUSTOMER SUPPORT- Dell provides a lot of help to customers who are considering
buying Dell’s products and offers them interaction with their experts. Customers can either chat
live with a product expert or they can even talk with the product expert. This helps customers
to know fully about the product which they are considering buying. They also allow users to
make an account on Idea storm to share their ideas if any and help them make products even
better.

Dell has also been very open to innovation and R&D. Innovation leads to latest technologies
and therefore it is hard for customers to migrate to some other company’s products. They also
offer education programs for customers to educate them about various products. Expert
opinions are always available to know the smallest of details about a product. They also give
stars to every product. They also provide amazing finance options. In few countries it is fixed to
3.25% prime rate.

POST –SALES SUPPORT- Dell support offers drivers, technical support and other resources
online. It includes-

 Support for home users

 Support for small businesses
 Support for enterprise IT

Dell also provides additional resources support like warranty extension, parts and upgrades ,
Dell download store etc. Hardware Warranty Support is designed to diagnose and fix defects in
Dell products.

They also have experience sharing support on their website. Experience sharing includes
owners club, alienware club, xps club etc. where users can share their different experiences of
using Dell’s products. They also have given support for hardware diagnostics and automated
troubleshooting. Some additional resources include-

 Warranty information
 Search for my problem
  Support forum
 Return parts after service
 Order pay as you need services like software, networking, anti virus etc.

EFFECTIVENESS OF CRM IN DELL-

The CRM has proved to be an effective tool for Dell in gaining competitive advantage over
others. It has helped Dell to achieve objectives like-

-gaining customer loyalty and satisfaction

-higher sales

-improved marketing efficiency

-stronger brand

-more cost effective customer service

All this has given them a upper hand over its competitors and the sales have increased
considerably since the implementation of CRM.

For large corporate customers,

– Pre-sale: the Company works with the customer to plan a strategy to meet that
customer’s current and future technology needs.

– Post-sale: direct relationship by establishing account teams, consisting of sales,

customer service and technical personnel.

For small-to-medium businesses and individuals,

– through internet.

– telephone sales representatives.

Domestic customers,

– Spare-parts ordering system.

– direct access to technical support data.

This has led to the success of Dell.

Dell has become an industry leader in service and reliability. Dell has used CRM to its
advantage. This has built trust into their customers. By custom-building a computer that the
customer desires, this has created a very strong relationship with the customers. Also
cooperative research and development with technology partners is another reason for the
success. Also 24*7 phone and online support and mail-in service for notebooks have given them
an edge over its competitors.

The main reason for the improved market condition for Dell has been the value they have given
to their customers through-

 Efficiency and optimized operating expenses with Hardware Monitoring and Alerting.

 Automated Diagnostics to detect and diagnose for fast recovery.

 Accurate warranty status with customizable Warranty Expiration Notifications

 Reduced complexity with a single warranty tracking.

CRM has resulted in net revenues of between $30 and $60 million over the last five years. Also
Dell company had nearly 377,922 people who liked their page on Facebook. This shows that it
has proved to be a very effective tool for Dell in gaining customer loyalty and satisfaction
resulting into higher sales. Also it can be said that Dell has won the hearts of people with their
supreme customer service and is here to give its competitors a run for their money. Dell has
made the best use of CRM when compared to other technological enterprises.

It can be concluded that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) admittedly provides

organizations a significant assistance in creating and maintaining long-term relationships with
their customers, as well as making customer-centric decisions by providing a foundation of
knowledge in the form of a customer database.

Thus it can be said that Dell has made great use of CRM and has gained competitive advantage
over others. It has set an example for its competitors on how to effectively use CRM. Its
competitors need to learn from it on how to effectively use CRM to gain an edge in market.

Dell has been able to successfully create and maintain substantial trust from their target
customers and was ranked No.28 by Forbes 500. There are definite reasons why Dell is known
as the world’s leading organization in terms of customer satisfaction, reliability and technology
advancement.