Compaq takes direct route

Compaq UK has outlined its plans for selling into the direct market, but insists the move will represent a small fraction of its total sales, with the bulk still going through its indirect channels.

David Petts, director manager of Compaq's recently opened call centre in Glasgow, justified the move by saying research conduc-ted by the company had revealed that users in the small to medium enterprise and micro-business markets viewed the vendor as remote and distant.

The company was taking steps to address that perception, he said.

These markets are so big that Compaq can ill afford to ignore them. 'If we don't change, we could end up with problems,' Petts admitted. 'We need a better understanding of what is happening in the market.

'We are selling direct to the sophisticated, knowledgeable consumer,' he added.

Petts said the vendor's call centre will act as a hub for taking direct orders, but the calls will be filtered by the staff. Orders placed for anything other than low-end product would be passed to channel partners, using a Web-based system for pushing and tracking leads which was developed in the centre.

Compaq has also introduced the build-to-order and configure-to-order model, but will not allow its channel to build PCs, Petts said. It had considered that option but felt that pitfalls such as lack of reliability made it undesirable.

Petts admitted that Compaq currently finds it hard to reach home and small business users and so needs to sell direct, while retaining the power of its brand.

'There is a part of this market which we are currently not able to reach.

Some customers are swayed by the offers available at the time. It's the people who want a brand that we need to address more carefully,' he said.

While in theory, customers can buy as many PCs as they want through this direct arm, in practice the vendor's pricing and pre-sales advice is designed to steer larger buyers to the advantages of using the indirect model.