Dell offers customer service “Gizmo” to Aussie consumers and SOHO

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:59

Opinion and Analysis

In-home tech support company Gizmo, covering the PC, AV and digital lifestyle space, and top-tier PC manufacturer Dell, have joined forces in Australia to provide a more complete hardware and support offering – but it’s not an “exclusive” deal.

Modelled on the “Geek Squad” service in the US, “gizmo” is an Australian company that has, over the past few years, offered an in-home technical support service to Australian consumers and SOHO business owners at a range of “flat prices”, somewhat revolutionising the tech support industry.

Gizmo provides support for virtually any modern computing, AV and digital lifestyle equipment.

Despite having a range of smaller tech support competitors, gizmo have expanded into a nationwide company with over 100 support staff (growing at an aggressive rate of 15% per month) in the major capital cities, with rural and regional consumers are also service by phone and remote support.

Gizmo could easily be seen as one of the most well known Australian tech support companies, after only a few short years in business, and clearly the new deal with Dell will only increase its profile further.

As you’d expect from service oriented company, gizmo proclaim an extra strong focus on customer service, and say that ongoing customer surveys have customers rating gizmo at a 9.5 out of 10 ‘satisfaction rating’.

These are key factors in why one of the world’s major computer companies, Dell, would choose gizmo as a customer service partner, placing a lot of faith in gizmo’s capabilities and lending gizmo some of Dell’s global branding power.

Indeed, Dell says it’s the first time it has “partnered with an organisation in Australia dedicated to providing technical services and support for consumers.”

Dell customers who buy from August 1 are able to add gizmo’s services to their orders from the Dell.com online store, through Kiosks or over the phone, and while gizmo’s services were always available to anyone that wanted it, no matter what brand of modern computer, the fact it will be promoted and available online at Dell’s site is good for both businesses, and for consumers that are interested.
 
Evan Williams, Dell’s Southeast Asia Consumer Sales and Marketing general manager said, “Our partnership with gizmo builds on and complements Dell's recent moves to expand our range of consumer products and solutions, and expansion into retail.

Now we can offer Australian consumers even more best-in-class services and support, including in-home installations, advice and education.  Having these added abilities is a key component of our consumer strategy and we believe they will further enable us to provide a superior customer experience.”

Brett Chenoweth, gizmo CEO said, "gizmo is excited to be working with Dell. We were selected by Dell after a competitive review and we were their number-one choice.  We feel we can offer the best quality customer experience to Dell’s Australian consumer and home-office markets. 

For consumers, this partnership will deliver a personalised support service, as well as enable customers to make the most of their Dell purchases.”

So what are the Dell and gizmo offerings from August 1, and what are both companies planning for the future? Please read on to page 2.