confirms the correctness of your course, and in our case, I believe it will help accelerate the transition from the old business model (indirect) to the new (direct).

Thanks to the information we constantly receive from our customers and suppliers, we really have the opportunity to continuously choose which products and services to sell to customers at any given time and which ones bring the greatest benefit to customers. This allows us to determine not only which customers to offer their product, but also with which of the companies to compete.

Demonstrate "judo techniques" to competitors

In order to succeed in any industry, you must first understand the basics of its functioning, which can open up new horizons for the market for goods and services. If вы создаете компанию или ей управляете и при этом оставляете экономику «на потом», вы не сможете разработать в отношении клиентов и товаров стратегии, необходимые для достижения сбалансированного успеха, под которым я понимаю рост доли рынка (или доходов), рентабельность и ликвидность (or cash flow).

Understanding how your industry's total money pool is distributed (what your competitors are actually making money off of) can open your eyes to whole new possibilities. Imagine a competitor that has a significant market share and makes large profits in the market for any product. Then think about how attractive it would be to use that power of his to your advantage. INедь ваш конкурент, скорее всего, не сможет достойно ответить на агрессивную атаку без значительного сокращения получаемых прибылей.

We называем это «приемами дзюдо».

INот вам пример. IN середине 1990-х нам стало ясно, что некоторые из наших конкурентов получают более половины своих доходов от продажи серверов. What's more, their (certainly good quality) servers were overpriced and unfairly priced to finance other, less profitable parts of their business. By raising their server prices to such astronomical heights, they were in fact openly demonstrating their weak spot by shifting additional costs to their best customers. IN результате появилась редкая возможность помешать конкурентам грабить покупателей и одновременно добиться роста своей доли на рынке серверов.

IN сентябре 1997 года Dell выпустила новую линию серверов по весьма конкурентоспособной цене. The market literally exploded. This aggressive move allowed us to establish ourselves in the server market, where we are now the second largest company in the world with a 15% market share. By drawing heartily from our competitors' income, we have also weakened their ability to be aggressive in pricing in other markets, such as laptops or desktops.

On самом деле, за семь лет до этого, под the usual speculation from competitors that it can't be done, we've done a similar thing with desktops. And the same thing happened with workstations and storage drives.

We появились на рынке рабочих станций только через год после основных конкурентов. Но уже через девять месяцев мы были компанией номер один в США и вторыми – в the world. We предпочли не бросаться вдогонку, чтобы стать первыми, а потратить время на то, чтобы четко оценить возможности, выработать оптимальную стратегию и стать лучшими.

The Internet is another great example of how to show competitors "judo moves". For Dell, the Internet is a natural extension of the direct model. But many of our competitors were in a losing situation. Yes, of course, they say they intend to trade directly and copy our business model, but over the past ten years, many have already tried to do this - and to no avail. For them, the transition to a direct model leads to an inevitable conflict of distribution channels. INесь их бизнес построен на традиционном канале дистрибьюторов, дилеров и розничной торговли, а не на прямых взаимоотношениях с клиентами. INступая в прямой диалог с конечным потребителем, непрямой производитель начинает конкурировать со своей же торговой организацией, которая по-прежнему реализует сегодня большую часть их продукции.

This only contributes to more quickly attracting general attention to Dell. If потребитель задумывается над приобретением компьютера напрямую у производителя, то что может быть лучше, чем купить его у компании, являющейся лидером прямых продаж?[18]

Turn a disadvantage into an advantage

Turning a perceived disadvantage into an advantage is another "judo trick" and another method we use to improve our competitiveness.

IN далекие 1980-е, когда продажа компьютеров впервые начала по-настоящему расти, получить техническую поддержку было так же «просто», как запломбировать зуб. If вы приобрели свой компьютер у дилера, вам приходилось грузить его в машину и везти в сервис-центр, а отстояв длинную очередь, чтобы сдать его в ремонт, вы имели возможность забрать систему обратно только через несколько дней, а иногда и недель.

And there was no guarantee that it could actually be repaired.

Immediately after founding Dell, it was difficult for potential customers to imagine buying a computer over the phone, it seemed to them that it would be completely unrealistic to service such a computer. With no store to take it to, they assumed the system would have to be packaged, mailed, and then wait a long time for it to be returned. And, of course, given that a computer is quite an expensive purchase, they were afraid that mailing it could lead to even more damage (not to mention postage).

Competitors also assumed that by selling computers directly to customers, Dell would not be able to achieve much success in technical support. With the additional "advantage" of trading organizations and real stores, they believed that in service (however badly delivered) they would always be ahead of us.

But they were absolutely wrong.

From the very beginning, we saw an opportunity to provide excellent service where our competitors did not even see it - and this became one of the first goals of our company. IN 1986 году мы предложили первую в отрасли программу обслуживания компьютеров «на местах», что-то вроде визита «врача» на дом к «заболевшей» машине. If у вас с компьютером возникала проблема, вам не нужно было никуда идти, мы приходили сами – в вашу компанию, дом или номер в отеле. Moreover, they came on the very next working day, and sometimes on the day of the call.[19]

Notожиданно сервис-центры наших конкурентов стали выглядеть старомодными и невыносимо медленными. Even today, if you take your computer to a service center for service, the repair time can be two weeks, what a next day! And still there is no guarantee that it will be repaired. What our competitors saw as a disadvantage turned out to be a huge advantage for us.

The expansion of the company abroad provided another chance to turn the disadvantage inside out. IN 1980-е годы, когда рассматривалась возможность открытия филиала в INеликобритании, мы узнали о существовании компании под названием Amstrad, являвшейся одним из главных лидеров компьютерного рынка этой страны. INсем было известно, что компания продает, по сути, одноразовые ПК: очень дешевые машины с большим процентом поломок и абсолютно недостаточной технической поддержкой. However, in the absence of real competitors, its volume sales amounted to an absolutely incredible figure, which, in turn, opened up a great opportunity for us.

Why? By selling unreliable computers and not providing support for them, Amstrad taught its customers an object lesson: never buy cheap from a company whose product and service cannot be relied upon. It also set up a market for advanced (though disillusioned) users who were determined to buy better systems from someone who would give them great service and support, even if that company didn't have a known reputation in their market. К счастью для нас, Amstrad совершенно не понимала своего рынка и в результате заложила основы для невероятного роста и успеха Dell в INеликобритании. And since the opening of a branch in this country was our first expansion outside the United States, it served as a great start for the expansion of the company around the world.

We дошли до того, что видим открывающиеся возможности даже в судебном процессе. On заре нашей деятельности один из конкурентов подал на Dell в суд за содержание нашей рекламы. But such a strategy, instead of regaining the lost reputation (and therefore, in the opinion of this competitor, and customers), hit him himself. Because of the media hype about the process and the overreaction of our competitor, his customers began to wonder if our claims of similar or even better performance at a lower price were really true. IN итоге процесс породил повышенное внимание к нашей компании и принес нам известность, которой мы никогда не смогли бы приобрести on one's own. And since the competitor's products were considered the gold standard in the industry at the time, he gave our claims a great deal of credibility, sparking interest in Dell in market segments that we hadn't previously been able to reach, accelerating our momentum.

Turn what others see as a disadvantage into an advantage.

Look for quality advantage

Notкоторые компании завязаны на идее «серебряной пули» – одного великолепного товара или патента, который охраняется 24 часа в сутки. But this is not something that can lead to the growth of the organization in today's, much less tomorrow's economy. The key to success is not so much a great idea, but impeccable execution and implementation of a good idea. strategies.

Look at Disney, or Wal-Mart, or Soke. Their strategies are easy to understand, they are not that complicated. But - brilliant! And, despite the seeming simplicity, not many companies can really repeat their success.

Why? INся проблема в исполнении.

Traditionally, insufficient capital was thought to be a barrier to entry into a new competitive market. Look around you and you will see that this principle is no longer valid. Information is increasingly becoming both a means to strengthen the competitive advantage of companies and a weapon that protects them from competitors.

And besides Dell, there are many successful companies today that have thrived, even though they didn't start with a passion and a good idea. But there are others who have failed for the same reason. The difference was that