John Cass gets the Dell story right, I think:
Is the biggest blogging story of 2007 the resignation of chief executive Kevin Rollins at Dell? As investors.com reports did Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine help Dell’s earnings fall, and in the process seal the fate of key executives at Dell? No, is the simple answer to that question, lackluster profits and a competitive marketplace having more to do with Dell’s troubles and the changes among the company’s top managers. . . . The story demonstrates that any company working in a competitive technology market must pay attention to the content customers generate online or otherwise face the danger of poor results. Though hard to bear at the moment Dell will benefit from responding to customer feedback, and in turn Dell customers will benefit in return. If Dell becomes the new gold standard for online customer service and technology customer service through blogging, its customers have a lot to be concerned about if they fail to keep up and follow the same conversational marketing strategies.
