Dell Hell Part 1 | Reputation Management | Branding Your Business Online

Why Online Reputation Engagement Is Vital For Your Business: Dell Hell Part 1

Posted on Oct 7, 2011 in Online Reputation Management, Tips by Anna 1 Comment

On June 21, 2005, a “citizen journalist” by the name of Jeff Jarvis posted a single negative blog-post about his experience with one of the top computer and technology companies in the world- Dell Inc. His rant was lengthy, and unforgivable, with sentences like, “DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES. Put that in your Google and smoke it, Dell,” and it attracted computer buyers from around the globe.

“DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES. Put that in your Google and smoke it, Dell.”

- Jeff Jarvis, Angry Dell Customer

Dell had built a strong reputation during the 1990′s and early 21st century, however, the experience of one customer would serve as a catalyst to Dell for over two years. Dell Inc. became known instead as, “Dell Hell,” and the bold opinion of Jarvis resulted in a domino effect that caused bad critiques and drastic declines in Dell’s success. Their business, their brand, was under attack, and getting this smudge off their record was no easy task.

Dell set themselves up for this situation by failing to relate to the very people who keep them in business. The first reason to get serious about your business’s online presence is so you have a better grasp on what your customers are thinking. Billions of dollars in marketing efforts are spent each year on studies, surveys, and behavior patterns to find out what people want and how to appeal to consumers. But don’t think just because there aren’t conversations about your brand online that this is a good thing. In fact, if you aren’t a topic of conversation online, this can be an even bigger warning: no one is talking about you because no one cares or knows about you. Not to mention, with consumers trusting online reviews 70% of the time and only 62% of U.S. Internet users trusting brand sponsorships, (Statistics taken from April 2009 Nielsen Survey of over 25,000 online users from 50 countries) how can anyone determine your credibility?

Secondly, engaging in online reputation management allows you to also take a pro-active step towards your business goals by allowing your business the opportunity to tell the world who you are first, before someone else tries to do it for you. If a business is able to build their brand’s reputation online and strengthen their search engine listings, there is a significantly smaller chance of a “Dell Hell” scenario effecting their success, or smudging their reputation for lengthy amounts of time.

Your page one defense with search engines is your first impression and accessible to consumers world-wide. You have the ability to create the perception you want people to have of you, instead of others creating it for you. Are you socially involved with your customers online?

If Dell would have already been encouraging conversations with their customers, and building their own reputation beforehand, perhaps they would have been able to spot this problem and correct it more quickly. Dell reacted to this change by initiating online reputation transparency projects to try and turn such a negative situation into a positive campaign. They learned the importance of breaking through the online barriers with efforts to show online users that they cared about them as valued customers. This resulted in Dell joining online conversations and turning their reputation around. Reputation is built over time and can easily be destroyed in a few seconds, but there are tools available to help create and sustain a reputation that is difficult to attack. Exceeding the expectations of customers by paying attention to them can allow online users to become your biggest asset.

By: Anna Leeds