For Dell, however, the Web is more than a sales vehicle. Customers can use Dell's Web site to track orders and retrieve 45,000 pages of service information, including the same guides that Dell technicians use to diagnose problems. Business customers, such as Eastman, get their own password-controlled area inside Dell's site, where they can display specially configured machines, review recent purchases and electronically page Dell sales representatives. Dell also is extending its Web site to its own suppliers, so that chip and component manufacturers can better schedule production and further reduce inventories. Dell's online division is an integral part of the business.
Online reps are part of every sales pitch to major customers.
More Thorough and Creative Many of Dell's competitors offer similar services on their own Web sites. Compaq Computer Corp., the nation's leading computer maker, last month began selling computers directly to small and midsize businesses by telephone and the Internet. International Business Machines Corp. says it will have private areas on its Web site for 450 large customers by the end of the year. And Gateway Corp. says it already hosts 400 such areas. But analysts and customers say Dell uses the Web more thoroughly and creatively.