The Ripple-Effect of Reputation: Why Dell A/S Denmark Lost A Sale (And Probably Doesn't Even Know)

I'm not a tech fetishist. Now, I hear it's very in not to be a technology fetishist, but I assure you that I am not that calculating (or trendy).

It's simply that most acts that start tech fetishists trembling with delight fill me with dread. Not "root-canal" dread, but "standing in line at the property-tax office" dread.

That's right, I can think of few things more tedious than buying a new laptop.

So a company like Dell should have an inside track to me. I can put together my "own" system with a few clicks on line. Or call them and they'll do it. Coach me, even.

And Dell Denmark loses no opportunity to let me know this.  Dell A/S Denmark sends me a personalized ("Kære Hr. Coffee", which always makes me smile) snail-mail every month with great offers for SOHO consultants like me (one just came through the slot). Moreover, they send our household a glossy little catalogue every month and manage to slip a brochure or two into the biz section of our newspaper a couple of times a month.

In short, they should have me by the short-and-curlies: I don't have to waste time in computer stores dealing with people who were in Pampers when I had my first email address (big plus), I save time (small plus), and, since I buy as a business, get a pretty good deal.

So why did I eschew Dell Denmark? And buy my rig elsewhere? Two words: Jeff Jarvis.

But I only realized this later. At no point did I say "Well, Jeff Jarvis is having trouble with Dell, so I'd better avoid them." But throughout the summer, the blogosphere that I read murmured with "Dell... problems... falling down on customer service... " Nothing you could put your finger on, except for Jarvis' posts; it was just the word on the street, the hum of the market.

Dell Denmark approached me a half-dozen times over the summer, at least. At minor expense, to be sure, but it adds up. But the hum started by a guy 4000 miles away, whom I don't even know, who had a bad experience with a Dell subsidiary I'll never have to deal with, was enough to wave me off. The hum got into my subconscious. And Dell Denmark could do nothing to get back into the front of my brain.

Posted by Allan Jenkins on August 12, 2005 at 08:59 AM in Advertising, Blogging, Marketing, Public Relations | Permalink

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