Dell has been one of the best of all the major computer and software makers at using social media to increase its sales.

The computer maker views social media as a way to extend its direct sales model and take it to new heights. Dell gets it. It views social media as a competitive weapon to directly increase sales.That's far more than most companies even in this socially media aware age.

Give Dell credit. It has done a great job,for example, of using Twitter to its benefit. On August 30, Dell proclaimed that its @DellOutlet surpassed the 1 million follower mark on Twitter. Now that doesn’t mean that 1 million users are hanging on its every hot deal. But the company is clearly gaining some traction here. Dell has already documented that the @DellOutlet has contributed $3 million in related sales since 2007.

One reason Dell has found a following on Twitter is the fast-paced coupon blitz that users can take advantadge of to get what can only be called unbelievable savings even if they are on refurbished systems.

Dell, by the way, provides the same standard warranties on its refurbished systems as it does on its new systems. That's no small matter, even if it doesn't mean much, since if your machine breaks it's one big hassle to ship it back to Dell to get it repaired.

Check out the @DellOutlet Twitter feed and you'll find deals like "Coupons coming! Online only, limit 2 PCs per redemption. Expire 8/31 or after 1000 redemptions, whichever is first." That kind of Price Is Right game-show like posts have caught the imagination of bargain hunters.

Many of these refurbished systems are probably being sold by Dell resellers or even end users on Craigslist or other sites as new systems. That's a practice that has gone on since the earliest days of the PC business and nothing the computer manufacturers can do will stop it.

The bigger issue here is that solution providers should be aware that their biggest competition as Dell resellers is Dell's many faces on social media from Facebook to Twitter. On Twitter alone, Dell has 35 Twitter feeds including Direct2Dell, DellSmBizOffers and Alienware.

Do you view @DellOutlet or @Direct2Dell as your competition? And how are you using social media to increase sales?