Main

May 1, 2006

The Best Small Software Company in America?

Most people would have a hard time selecting the best small software company in America. But if we asked Global Shop Solutions customers to vote, they would have no trouble identifying their top pick.

I recently had the great fortune of working with Global Shop in Houston. Their business works well on a lot of levels, but the most remarkable thing about the company is the tremendous value it creates for its customers.

Global Shop provides comprehensive EPR systems to small- and medium-sized manufacturers. It helps those manufacturers automate their entire business from the initial quoting of a project to cash collections and everything in between. The primary benefits to customers are increased productivity and profitability, along with improved customer deliveries. But most customers would say that Global Shop has taken their business from chaos to order and given them tight controls.

Global Shop has emerged as the market leader in its category by focusing with laser-like precision on delivering the basic value proposition of “best total solution.” In fact, it is executing the business strategy of customer intimacy as well as any company I have worked with. As a result, Global Shop now has more than 1,000 installed customers and has grown at a sustained annual rate in excess of 25% for the past several years.

Continue reading "The Best Small Software Company in America?" »

Posted by Rod Whitson at 2:19 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

April 17, 2006

Dell: A Brand in Flux?


For years, Dell has enjoyed one of the strongest brands on the market. Lately, however, the giant PC maker has been taking some real heat in a number of blogs and consumer affair sites. In fact, a quick browse of sites like My3cents.com, Ripoffreport.com, ConsumerAffairs.com and BuzzMachine.com will turn up multiple negative posts and comments from dissatisfied Dell customers. Not exactly what you would expect from a company with such a sterling reputation.

Dell executives say they're monitoring online complaints and taking steps to correct those issues. In particular, they've added more customer service centers and employees in an effort to better resolve customer complaints. These measures seem to paying off. In a recent article, Investor’s Business Daily cited internal Dell numbers that show a 35% year-over-year improvement in customer satisfaction and a 30% improvement in its ability to resolve problems the first time out.

Considering the fact that Dell surveys about 24,000 consumer customers a month, these numbers are worth noting. But I wonder if some of the steps Dell is currently taking might come back to bite their brand in the long run.

Continue reading "Dell: A Brand in Flux?" »

Posted by Rod Whitson at 12:55 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

April 1, 2006

Be Like Intel: Sandisk's Journey From Commodity to Recognized Consumer Brand

Technology companies often want to emulate Intel’s success in moving from a hidden ingredient inside personal computers to a brand that consumers recognize, value, prefer and pay a premium for. For most, however, that journey represents a task much easier said than done.

On the surface, the Intel Inside campaign looks like a simple stroke of genius. Shell out a few million bucks for some well-placed television commercials, and in no time consumers will be insisting that your customers put your name on the outside of their product, right? If only it were that easy. What most people fail to realize is that the remarkable success of the Intel Inside campaign -- or any campaign that seeks to turn a commodity into a recognizable consumer brand -- rests on two very important principles.

Continue reading "Be Like Intel: Sandisk's Journey From Commodity to Recognized Consumer Brand" »

Posted by Rod Whitson at 7:06 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)