Dell launched their Social Media Listening Command Center yesterday in a ceremony with CEO, Michael Dell; CMO, Karen Quintos; and Vice President of Social Media and Communities, Manish Mehta.
I got to attend, as a Dell customer, and it was a really impressive set up there.
If you remember the scenes at NORAD in the movie War Games, that’s what it all reminded me of, except it was a system from Radian6 focused on listening to what people are saying about Dell in social media and responding to them.
In addition to the Social Media Listening Command Center, where I, unfortunately, was not permitted to take pictures, they also opened up the Dell Social Media & Community Open Workspace, where a large team is revolutionizing the way Dell does customer service.
I know some people have a sour taste in their mouth over past customer service experiences with Dell over the phone. I’d urge any of those folks to take a second look because Dell is committed to this new initiative from top to bottom.
I got to see how they are using Radian6, Salesforce Chatter, and other tools to bring together the entire company internationally for this evolution in their relationships with customers.
During the grand opening of Dell’s Social Media Listening Command Center, I had a chance to shake hands and meet Michael Dell – that was a nerd thrill as a longtime customer and fan.
Then, he went on to give a short talk on the importance to Dell of listening to their customers before officially opening the Social Media Listening Command Center.
It’s all about Listen / Engage / Act.
The enthusiasm for the big emphasis by Dell on listening to social media was great to see, and I think companies would be well served to monitor what they are doing over there in Round Rock, TX, and across the globe.