De Mar’s Product Strategy Case Study 

Answer the following questions:

• What is De Mar’s Product? Identify the tangible parts of this product and its service components.

De Mar’s is primarily a plumbing services company. They offer home and office plumbing solution including heating and air conditioning installation and repair.

Tangible parts: When they go to repair customer’s heating, air conditioning and other plumbing problems, they offer the repair part. That could include wiring and air compressor parts etc.

Service Components: De Mar offers 24/7 services to their customers. They claim to guarantee a same day visit when they are called to resolve issues with domestic plumbing. They also charge for only one tariff. The repairs they do comes with one year guarantee.

• How should other areas of De Mar (marketing, finance, personnel) support its product strategy?

There three mentioned areas that are not defined as the products or services of De Mar need a careful consideration.

Marketing: De Mar need to organize a strategy where they can advertise their services on the internet, especially on social media with the help of their social media pages that may need to be setup. They need to inform their customers in clear words about the uniqueness of their service like I have never seen any repair service offering one year guarantee.

Personnel: Del Mars need to invest in the technical skills of their current employees. They need to introduce trainings so that their employees are up to date with ne repair skills in the field of plumbing.

Finance: When deciding their repair charges, Del Mar need a proper market survey to get an idea of what their competitors are charging for the same services.

• Even though De Mar’s product is primarily a service product, how should each of the 10 strategic OM decisions in the text be managed to ensure that the product is successful?

As it can is evident from the case study that the company has increased its profit within the last 8 years dramatically, they can do on with their current business strategy with minor adjustments with regards to the 10 strategic OM decisions. They need to focus on the competitive advantage that is a great source of bringing in new customers. They need to keep their costs constant unless really necessary. This will add to the quality of their services. They need to provide flexible working hours to their employees and give bonuses when necessary. To keep their operations smooth, an inventory monitoring system has to be established.