1. Take Your Own Path
User Seeking Information
Martha types in “business
mobility” on Google
She sees the SEM/SEO
link for Dell Small
Business and clicks link
and it takes her to
Dell.com/SB360
After scanning the page,
she sees the link
“Mobility/Wireless For
Your Business” and
clicks link and it takes
her to a page with a
Take Your Own Path
Mobility Story and other
content about creating a
wireless office
From this page, she
clicks on the top banner
labeled “ How to Create a
Mobile Sales Force” and
it takes her to a new page
Martha reads an article,
scans reviews and then
clicks a link under
“Related Take Your Own
Path Stories”
Arriving on the page with
the story, she scans over
the page, reads the
featured story and then
clicks on the banner ad
for “Dell Wireless
Computers”
The ad takes Martha to a
product family page on
Dell.com where she
explores different models
and starts down the
purchase path
Martha Brown
Office Manager;
Advertising Agency
Demographic Background
White, age 42, works full-time and often
from home. Divorced, no children, rents a
high-rise condo downtown, personal annual
income $65,000.
Personal Profile
Martha has worked her way up to the job of
Office Manager after a series of positions
as an executive administrative assistant.
After her divorce, she threw herself into her
career and has branched out in her
responsibilities as Office Manager. Being
proactive, she’s always looking for ways to
streamline processes and save the office
money.
Goals and Needs
Martha’s office has outdated equipment and
needs to upgrade to new systems. The
sales people have requested new laptops
that they can use on the road to stay
connected to the office.
Scenario
Martha needs to get familiar with available products and how they can
meet her office’s needs. She is feeling pressure to make the order but
she wants to ensure that she does her research and gets a good deal.
2. Take Your Own Path
User Seeking Community
A friend on Facebook
mentioned that SM360 on
Dell’s site had some good
podcasts and other
resources and provides a
URL to a specific page.
Ed clicks the link and
sees the page profiling a
Take Your Own Path
feature story about a
business similar to his
and how they had smart
growth.
He signs up as a
member to get emails
and special offers sent
to him.
An email offer is sent to
Ed.
He reviews the email and
wants to see how he can
customize one of the
systems.
He goes to the product
page and starts
configuring a laptop.
Ed Harrison
CEO;
Web Design/Development Company
Demographic Background
White, age 34, works full-time
building his business, single, CS
degree, owns his own home,
personal annual income $98,000.
Personal Profile
Ed grew up playing with computers. When he went to college he
majored in Computer Science at the local university. After
graduating, he and a few friends started a web dev company
working out of his parents’ garage. The business grew so quickly
that it moved into a warehouse and gradually added 13 people to
the staff to bring up the total number of employees to 17.
Goals and Needs
Ed needs to keep abreast of the latest
developments and know when new
products hit the market. He wants to be
among the first to know about new product
launches and the best product deals
available. He is on the fence about growing
his business and is concerned that it’s
growing too quickly for him to manage.
Scenario
Seeking advice and innovative ideas on how to grow his business utilizing the
latest technology and best practices. Ed is curious to see how other small and
medium business owners like himself have adopted new tools to make their
businesses more successful.
Ed is an introvert and spends a lot of time online even when he’s
not officially working. It’s hard for Ed to draw a line between work
and pleasure since he loves being immersed in technology and the
web. He spends lots of time in online communities and contributing
to blogs. He’s also an early adopter of new technology.
3. Take Your Own Path
User Seeking Transaction
Jose sees an ad for a
Dell server in his morning
newspaper.
He visits the URL
mentioned in the ad to
learn more about the
special deal advertised.
Jose sees a link to join
as a member of SB360
for more deals and
information.
He clicks the link and
goes to a sign up screen
where he signs up. A
welcome email is sent to
him with special offers.
Jose reads the content on
the specials page. He
clicks on the featured
product links to compare
servers.
He makes a choice of
servers and starts the
configuration process.
Jose Gonzalez
Owner;
Roofing Company
Demographic Background
Hispanic, age 45, works full –time
with his own roofing business,
married, 2 kids, college degree in
business, owns his own home in east
TX, personal annual income
$110,000.
Personal Profile
Jose was born in the U.S. His family never had much money when
he was growing up. Jose enjoys the outdoors, music and being
able to ‘tinker’ with or build things. Jose worked hard performing
odd jobs while also working on the weekends for a local roofing
company in his teenage years. Jose was the first in his family to
graduate from college with a degree in business.
Once out of college he worked as an entry level sales associate for
a local commercial parts supplier company. Jose’s job did not
excite him that much so he decided to take the experience he had
gained when growing up and what he had learned in school to start
his own roofing company. Jose’s business successfully grew year
after year and he now has over 14 employees working for him.
Goals and Needs
While growing his business, Jose has tried
to keep his operating costs as low as
possible. His office staff has brought up
their concerns and frustrations with the lack
of centralized organization and how it may
be hurting the business. Jose realizes he
needs a way to help make his business run
more efficiently especially during the
troubling economic times that appear to be
rising upon the horizon.
Scenario
Jose is looking to get a great deal on a new server for his office staff to
utilize in order to help organize, communicate, share files easier and
have a centralized location for their order management system.
