Gateway eSupport Goes from Worst to Among Best

The Challenge

Customer Support is integral to retaining customers in the highly competitive computer hardware business. When provided effectively and efficiently, a successful eSupport system not only drives customer satisfaction but also decreases costs through self-service and increases sales through customer education and cross-selling. In early 2001, Gateway's eSupport was having the opposite effect, frustrating and alienating customers, thus driving future purchases to competitors.

The Solution

Silicon Space led Gateway's initiative to turn eSupport into a competitive differentiator by integrating six Application Services Providers (ASP's), Gateway's JD Edwards ERP system, and support teams in four time zones into a seamless self-service web application voted among the best computer hardware sites online by a major eSupport publication. For both Gateway and Overland Storage, Silicon Space led the initiatives from market research into best practices through a complete renovation of the user experience to complete integration of its eBusiness software with back-office databases.

The Result

The effect for the users was a powerful, self-service based experience that allowed them complete and secure access and control over their customer and product information. By integrating with warranty card, RMA, and CRM systems, duplication of customer information was eliminated and a single picture of the customer is presented. These new eSupport offerings have advanced their clients' perception of support and have driven retention and thus revenues. Additionally, Gateway saw a savings in excess of $1.5M in the first 3 months alone by diverting over 30% of support calls to the self-service web site.

"It has been a pleasure to work with the Silicon Space team at Gateway. I was thoroughly impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm of the entire team, more specifically the overall value Silicon Space brought to the eSupport and [DirectShip] projects."

Eric V.
Program Manager, eCommerce
Gateway