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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stock bull who wrote (131311)	6/5/1999 1:50:00 PM
From: Jill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Interesting piece last year on top sales forces: Frito Lay sales force #3--DELL behind them (#4) salesandmarketing.com Here's an excerpt: No single industry has a corner on greatness. At least that's what Sales & Marketing Management's 1998 Best Sales Force winners prove. Just look at this year's top three winners: The number-one sales force, GE Capital, is a dominant player in the financial services business. Cisco Systems, number two, is recording incredible growth in the networking industry. And Frito-Lay, number three, sells billions of dollars worth of salty snacks to hungry consumers. Could these companies be any more different? Hardly. But look closely at all of our 25 winners, not just the top three, and clear patterns emerge. America's Best Sales Forces-which S&MMdetermined this year with the help of researchers Dun & Bradstreet-have all grown sales dramatically over the past three years (10 of our winners have boosted revenues at least 50 percent in the past three years; four have topped 100 percent growth). They've all demonstrated a fanatical devotion to satisfying customers (sales reps for number 19 Federal Express have been known to help deliver packages; Frito-Lay talks to retail customers every day). And they're all among the best companies for salespeople and managers to work for (Intel, number 11, rewards all of its employees with an extra day's pay when the company scores high on customer satisfaction surveys.) The fact is, 1998's Best Sales Forces prove that companies can grow sales dramatically in any market, be it the fast-growing high-tech industry or the mature consumer products sector. Another excerpt: Chips and dips are hardly big-ticket items, but revenues at Frito-Lay increased by $600 million-6 percent-in 1997. Which means that the company is as successful as ever at getting its salty snacks into consumers' shopping carts. Senior executives at Frito-Lay know that growth is the culmination of thousands of five-minute conversations their individual sales reps have daily with store managers at supermarkets and convenience stores. So the strategy is to equip the 18,000 route service reps (RSRs) with the technology and selling skills they need to convince store managers to stock more Frito-Lay products and position them prominently. Frito-Lay executives go to great lengths to inspire and train the sales force. The latest tactic is the Priority One video series, in which Chief Operating Officer Al Carey role-plays as a Frito-Lay salesperson while John Compton, senior vice president of field operations, stars as an ornery store owner. Carey tries his best to appease Compton-while pushing the latest products and plying him with data to support his suggestions for promotions. The 15-minute training videos are distributed from headquarters monthly, and reps get together to watch them in meetings with their district managers. The videos offer one new tactic that reps should try that month-such as suggesting to store owners that chips be stocked in the beverage aisle or offering discounts for buying snacks and Pepsi (Frito-Lay's parent company). With handheld computers, RSRs track how products are selling in each store. The company does a monthly analysis of what sizes and flavors sell well in each district. It knows, for instance, that spicier snacks are popular in the South, and Cheetos sell well in large cities. "We take the data and optimize our promotions around it," Compton says. This has impressed industry observers. "What they've been able to do is give in-store intelligence back to decision makers, on both their side and the store side, faster than anyone else," says Paul Kelly, president of Silvermine Consulting Group in Westport, Connecticut. "Everyone can get product to a store. But they ask, 'Should we make adjustments?'" Another competitive advantage: Reps visit small accounts at least three times a week, and visit large stores like Kroger and Wal-Mart daily. "The salespeople have a good eye for incremental sales," says Megan Bell, a sales manager who oversees 11 districts in the Dallas area. "They're looking for good ideas to talk to the store manager about. Other companies just don't have the frequency that we do." The result? "We're wanted at retail," Compton says. "The products turn fast, so the economics for the retailer are great. When we walk in the door, they're happy to see us."

To: stock bull who wrote (131311)	6/5/1999 1:55:00 PM
From: Jill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Dell's hiring policy; from this link: wgss.com Many companies try to develop a system for promoting employees to the very top ranks of the organization. Dell has almost taken the opposite approach. Literally none of the senior staff has been promoted up through the ranks of the company, and instead, have been hired from outside into their current positions. While this has created a large amount of turmoil, it also serves to bring new ideas, methods, skills and drive into the company. Literally the entire executive staff, with the exception of Michael Dell is new since 1994. Gone are Andrew Harris, ex-President of Dell International; Glenn Henry, ex-Executive VP of Dell Product Group; Joel Kocher, ex-President of Dell USA; Jim Daniel, ex-CFO; Rick Salwen, ex-Chief Counsel, (Rick remains with the company in a reduced role), Katsumi Iizuka, ex-President of Dell Japan; Bruce Sinclair, ex-President of Dell Europe. Their replacements are all from outside the company: Mort Topfer, Co-CEO and Chairman, from Motorola, Kevin Rollins, Sr. VP of the Americas, from Bain & Co; Tom Meredith, CFO, from Sun; Jan Gesmar-Larsen, President of Dell Europe, from Apple; Michael Lambert, Sr. VP of the Server Group, from Compaq; Scott Mercer, Sr. VP of the Product Group, from Western Digital. Dell has been able to keep its mid and upper level executives happy through growth-driven promotions and stock options made even more attractive by the terrific run-up in Dell stock over the past 3 years this, and my previous post, indicate (to me anyway) that MD is doing what he always did in terms of hiring, and successfully--why not pluck someone from a company that beat you last year ?