p 26% from last year to $421.4 million.5 SALES TECHNIQUESGateway, Inc. tries very hard to portray themselves as a small hometown business. One of the many ways it does this is by using the spotted cow motif. Across the United States, the black spots on the white background will almost instantly be recognized as a Gateway product. Gateway also started the trend of creating personalized systems. Each system is personalized for each client, from the consumer to the large business customer. On average, 11,000 of these systems are built to order each day. Uniquely, Gateway sells PCs without the merchandise, which in turn gives the consumer more options.3 Another aspect that has helped propel Gateway to such success is the increase in global marketing. They have active markets in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and China.2 A mere five years ago, Gateways were only sold in three countries. A big factor in their seizing of the global market, is the opening of the manufacturing facilities in Ireland, Singapore, and Malaysia. Gateway has also recently targeted K-12 Schools and school-aged children with its new Your:)Ware for Education (SM) program. This program involves offering training, totally customized software and hardware, and dedicated support to K-12 school systems.7 Your:)Ware for Education also includes a help line for teachers that is staffed partially by former teachers. The line is reserved to assist teachers with technical difficulties during school hours. The action of creating this system falls directly in line with the new U.S. Department of Education’s Technology Literacy Challenge, which includes equipping schools with modern computers, offering curriculum-specific software, and training teachers on software application.7 Gateway went across the country surveying teachers, technol...
