ARC Clients: Dell Sweeps Clients

Dell Computer knows its customers, whether they're buying desktop or notebook computers. The Austin, Texas-based company swept this year's Annual Report Card client category with first-place mentions in nine out of 11 criteria and an overall ranking of 76 points,two points ahead of Apple Computer.

"The model that we operate under is a much different model than most of our competitors use," says Jay Parker, marketing manager at Dell. "The direct model offers a number of benefits, but the biggest one is that it allows us to have one point of accountability in dealing with our customers--both [solution providers] and end users. Users feel like they can get answers and solutions to their problems more quickly."

Customers say that it's easy to do business with Dell. In fact, the company scored 80 points in that criterion, which put it five points ahead of second-place Apple and eight points ahead of third-place Acer. Solution providers also appreciate the margin opportunities that Dell offers by passing on savings achieved through careful supply-chain management.

"Our pricing and cost basis is better than others, mainly because of inventory and how we manage it," Parker says. "We are able to keep inventory down in sub-10-day levels, which lets us take advantage of cost curves that inevitably happen in this industry. It allows us to get more aggressive on pricing."

In the coming months, Dell plans to continue its "maniacal focus on the customer experience," Parker says. "We want to make sure we are managing these relationships responsibly."