Práctica 5: De Mar´s product strategy
What is De Mar´s product? Identify the tangible parts of this product and its service components:
De Mar is a company focused on producing air-conditioning, heating and plumbing systems. This is the tangible part of the product, whereas the given text deals with the service components of this company, which are even more interesting and important for the customers. Basically, De Mar intends that all their customers have the feeling they can rely on the company no matter what happens to their products: their aim is to solve the customers´ problems as soon as possible, as good as possible so that they feel very satisfied. For instance, De Mar offers a 7-day, 24-hour a day repairing service with no extra charge for moving to the customer´s home whenever he needs something to be repaired urgently. Moreover, De Mar guarantees that the done work will last at least one year without any problem. That way, on the contrary to other companies whose main goal is money but let customers down, De Mar tries to show to the customer that he can trust the company, so that he feels confident. As a result, this company has become one of the most successful ones in the area.
How should other areas of De Mar (marketing, finance, personnel) support its product strategy?
On the one hand, De Mar´s personnel should have certain features. As it is written in the text, the person who wants to work at De Mar should be willing to go to the customer´s home whenever he needs help, even if it is at 3 o´click in the morning. Moreover, this person should be able to work well and make sure that his repairing will last at least one year. But even more important than this is that the employee should not aim for a “nine-to-five-job”, that means this person should be willing to work hard and not try to work as little as possible for lots of money.
On the other hand, De Mar´s marketing strategy should be focused on persuading the customer that they have the best customer service and that they can trust the company no matter what it happens, although their products are not necessarily the best ones.
Even though De Mar´s product is primarily a service product, how should each of the 10 OM decisions in the text be managed to ensure that the product is successful?
The OM decisions taken by De Mar can be structured into different groups:
Concerning selective hiring, ongoing training and education, they are related to the workers education. Basically, if employees and skilled workers are trained regularly and well paid, they will be prepared to face difficult situations and solve problems in a short period of time; if they are even well paid, they will be encouraged to do it better and to stay in the company instead of moving to another one. On the other hand, performance measures, compensation, peer pressure and empowerment mean that the employees´ work and their education are checked continuously so that the customer is offered the best service. In addition to this, workers are trained to work in team, so that they learn how to solve problems together with their colleagues. This is important, as problems are usually not solved individually, but in groups. We cannot forget that aggressive promotion means strong publicity leading to look for new customers or to remember old customers that De Mar is a company they can rely on.