Marketing Essay: Strategy To Overcome Immediate Customer For HomeMakers In Darsait, Muscat.

Discuss about the Marketing Strategy To Overcome Immediate Customer.

HomeMakers is a home maintenance services Company that will offer services to the residents of Darsait, Muscat. The HomeMakers will be formed as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and will be owned solely by Michael Richards. HomeMakers will employees twenty employees with diversified specificities on a permanent basis for the start. For the success in the Darsait’s competitive home service market, the company will build its case as a reasonably priced, trusted and qualified service provider. The owner focuses on reasonable price and good reputation to facilitate smooth and quick penetration in the market as well as providing quality services to attract return customers.

HomeMakers will provide multi-home service like electrical, plumbing, health and safety related repairs and solar energy renewable to the consumers in the Darsait target market. The company will establish itself as the finest provider of home maintenance and repair services to property managers, homeowners, and restaurant businesses. All services will be offered at a fee of $40 per hour inclusive of the parts required for repair. However, all customers will be offered a free hour of services during the first two visits (Blackwell, 2008, p. 76).

All services provided by the HomeMakers will be simple repair jobs which does not require contractors. Nevertheless, the company will re-evaluate the service for the customers and recommend the best cause of action based on case by case analysis. With the focus on repairs and replacement, HomeMakers will repair the identified problems first. Replacement will only be required repair is not possible. HomeMakers seek to take a unique path from contractors who believe that the only way of solving a problem is by replacing the faulty part. Our services are geared towards customer satisfaction at reasonable costs. Repairing faulty items will be less costly to the customers (Consumer Dummies, 2015, p. 56). HomeMakers will also provide its customers with a one year guarantee for work done. If there is something wrong with the services offered within one year, HomeMakers will resolve it free of at a 10% fee of the original cost. Our philosophy is to avoid any situation that some customers are unsatisfied with our previous services (Abrams, 2010, p. 111).

Specific services that will be offered by the company are;

1. Minor Plumbing comprising of leaky faucets, sprinkler repair, install ice maker lines, replace/ repair fixtures, minor drain problems, and garbage disposal install.
2. Minor electrical comprising of electrical switches and plugs, motion lights, ceiling fan repair and install, motion lights, vanity lights, and phone and cable line installation.
3. Fence repair comprising of electric dog fences, latch and gate install, and wood and metal fence repair and install.
4. Wall, door and window repair comprising of door installation, window repair and maintenance, and small hole repair.
5. Patios and decks comprising of chemical cleaning, handrail installation, wood replacement, and deck maintenance and repair.
6. Painting comprising of both interior and exterior services.
7. Weatherproofing comprising of caulking and weather stripping.
8. And, flooring comprising of hard and carpet wood repair.

• Market Analysis Summary

HomeMakers will focus on three market segments, homeowners, property manager and restaurants. The segments have been chosen to avoid fierce competition from contractors; the segments involves repair and maintenance services that are too complicated for the customers to handles themselves but too small to be performed by the contractors (Baker, 2011, p. 93). In the home services and repair industry, there is always a competition between handymen and contractors. However, the differentiation of services is based on the complexity of the jobs/ tasks. While contractors go for large and complicated jobs, handymen seek to solve small projects (Raghunath & Rose, 2017, p. 116).

Services

HomeMakers will focus on quality services delivery to our pioneer customers. Satisfied customers are more likely to becoming our ambassadors in the market through word of mouth referrals. We believe that our customers will then encourage their neighbours, friends, restaurant owners and property managers to try our services. By capitalising on referrals and word of mouth from our customers, HomeMakers will provide exemplary services to increase the number of repeat and new customers (Clain & Coffee , 2004, p. 77).

• Market Segmentation

The market has been segmented into three customer groups namely homeowners, property manager, and restaurants.

• Based on estimation, the Darsait suburb has approximately 35, 000 occupied homes.
• The home value in the Darsait, Muscat range between $100,000 and $ 700,000.
• 45% of the homeowners tries to fix small repair and maintenances themselves before realising that they do not possess the required skills to execute the job. At this point, they are forced to seek the services of experts. The remaining 55% do not take risk with small repair and seek the services of profession once a problem has been detected (Viardot, 2017, p. 64).
• 60% of the homeowners have lived in the area for at least three years hence well informed with the home repair service providers. 28% of the residents have lived in the area between one and two years while the remaining 12% have dwelled in the suburb for less than one year. Therefore, the first target for the HomeMakers Company will be residents who have lived in Darsait for at most two years (Berry, 2006, p. 91).
• While 35% of the homeowners seek for the services of handymen the first time a problems is realised, 65% wait until the small problem escalate. This homeowners avoid unnecessary expenditure of home repairs by calling for professional help every time a need arises.

• There are approximately 1000 managers who manage property with three to twenty units.
• The avoid employing their own repair personnel to avoid extra overhead expenses.
• The rental cost per month range between $300- $ 500 a unit per month.
• 75% of the property managers seek the services of home repair services every month.

• There are approximately 50 restaurants in Darsait, Muscat.
• Only 20% of the restaurants have their in-house repair service providers while the remaining 80% prefer to outsource to repair services to avoid extra overhead expenses.
• 80% of the outsourcing restaurants seek the services of home repair services every month.

Another important aspect of market segmentation is its growth. In the last five years, the homeowners segment has grown by a cumulative aggregate of 5%. The property manager segment has grown by a cumulative aggregate of 3.83%. Lastly, the restaurants segment has grown by a cumulative aggregate of 2.14%. The data shows that the market is projected to continue growing in the future which is a good expansion indicator for the HomeMaker Company (Ekanem, 2017, p. 43).

• Target Market and Market Need

The target market will be based on the market segmentation. The three segments have been chosen because they have the most potential consumers of home repair services. Most of the homeowner do not have the required skills, desire and time to address repair and maintenance jobs (Finch, 2010, p. 81). The property managers are also potential consumers because they manage several rental properties which require repair and maintenance services periodically. Although some property managers have in-house repair and maintenance personnel, most of them before hiring for the service when need arises; it cheaper to hire for the services than to employ a permanent service provider. Rarely will you find manager with the maintenance and repair skills in the suburb (Barrow, 2011, p. 177).

Considering the number of restaurants in the target area, most of the customers will come from homeowners and rental properties. Although the HomeMakers is concentrating in the Darsait market, for now, plans are underway to venture into other market within the Muscat city. The company will not seek to service outside city markets. As one gets outside of the city, most people have more skills and time to fix their home repair and maintenance problems. It would be difficult to penetrate into such a market (Gabarro, 1991, p. 102).

HomeMakers will operate in home repair industry and will offer general home services to the Darsait market. Generally, the industry is made up of both handymen and contractors who provide similar services. While contractor focus on complicated and costly repair and maintenance services, handymen fix minor issues which do not involve extensive damages and require less expensive and general tools to fix (Moltz, 2003, p. 22).

Competition Analysis

HomeMakers has identified the following business are its main competitors in the market. The competitors have been grouped in Handymen and Contractors category.

• All inclusive Traders: The Company have employed eight employees as handymen. Although the company has existed in the market for approximately six years, its employees are less experienced in home repair services; the employees do not stay with the company for long. For instance, different service providers are more likely to service one customer who make a call during two different occasions. Likewise, the company does not provide electrical repair and maintenance services.
• All service: The business has only two employees who have specialised in electrical and plumbing services only. The business does not provide patios and painting repair services.

• Darsait Contractors: The Company provides all-inclusive general home repair services in the market target homeowners, rental properties, and restaurants segments. The company is made up of thirty employees. However, the company only provide services for eight hours a day and is not available to provide services past six P.M in the evenings.
• Perfect Contractors: The Company is relatively small with only five employees. The company concentrates in the homeowners segment and takes projects that require at least three-hour

A feasibility study carried out in the market relieved the following issues

• Customers registered mixed exercise with the services provided to them. With most of them were satisfied with the services, some sated the same problem that was previously fixed arises again after three months.
• The services providers had a limited number of employees with limited skills.
• The services providers did not take jobs that required less than our hour work leaving the customers to seek for services outside the suburb.
• The available service providers offered selective services.

These weaknesses formed the basis of selecting the services to be provided by HomeMakers Company in the Darsait market.

• The Company will provide an all-inclusive services (as described earlier).
• The company will have twenty skilled and professional employees will diversified experience in the home repair industry.
• The Company will divide the market into four region and five employees specialised in the services offered by the company will be deployed in each sector. This will ensure availability of adequate personnel to handle tasks that require long time.
• An employee stationed in one region can be deployed in another region where there is a shortage of personnel or when an emergency that require additional personnel arises.
• The company will have a flexible schedule that fit the customers’ availability.
• The Company will focus on putting the needs of customers first.
• Strategy Summary

The main strategy that HomeMakers will use to gain market share is providing reasonable hourly rates, encourage frequent service trips, committing to solve problems within the shortest time possible and providing a one year guarantee to the customers (Dietrich, 2017, p. 86).

Marketing strategy will be used to create awareness of the services offered by HomeMakers in the target market. We will encourage customers to try our services our by offering free services to the first time customer within three months of business establishment. The strategy support the word of mouth and referral approach. Lastly, our sales strategy will focus on selling our professionalism and skills to the customers and attract more customers to our company. Our philosophy would be; more satisfied customers is equal to more sales (Prayson, 2014, p. 77).

• Competitive Edge

HomeMakers’ competitive edge will be based on one-hour minimum for response and solving a customer’s problem, reasonable prices, and encouraging customers to seek services from the company whenever an issue arises. Our employees and clients’ support desk will always be on call to serve our customers. The communication will be facilitated through online phone application. The price of $ 30 per hour is considered as a reasonable cost for our services. At $30 HomeMakers Company will be in a position to buy small items required for repairs and maintenance (Pinson, 2013, p. 111).

As established in the feasibility study, 85% of the competitors in the market could not take jobs with less than three hours barrier. The existing companies considered jobs that required three hours to execute as too small to take. HomeMakers will its one-hour barrier will encourage customers to seek services irrespective of hour small their problems are. The company sought to develop loyalty by forming a business family with the customers. The competitive advantage apply for all the three market segments (Klein, 2011, p. 91).

All the services provided by the company will be priced at $ 30 per hour which is considered as a reasonable price considering the quality of services required by the customers. Competitors currently offer their services at an hourly rate of $ 40 which is more expensive compared to the price to be offered by HomeMaker. The company will be using its pricing method as a competitive strategy as well (Hintze, 2015, p. 122).

Home Owners

HomeMakers’ marketing strategy focuses on creating awareness in the market regarding its reasonable rates, expertise, high level of trust and its commitment to offer quality services to the Darsait consumers. The awareness will be created through several marketing tools. For instance, advertising will be placed in organizational newsletters and local media. Other marketing channels to be used are sport and social associations. The company will also use websites and social media platforms to reach potential customers. Customers will be asked to voluntarily provide the company will their contact information which will be used to send them leaflets on the services provided by HomeMakers (Mazzucato, 2002, p. 120).

Organizational newsletters, social and sport associations will be targeted with advertisements considering that they have high influence on their members. HomeMakers Company will first offer to repair the problems within the organizations and associations premises as a tool of creating awareness among members. HomeMaker s believe that the management of these organization would then pass impressive information to their members based on their good experience. Members are likely to trust word from their little hence this would be a perfect market penetration strategy for HomeMakers (Magretta, 2012, p. 47).

The word of mouth has also been identified as an effective marketing strategy. The company has established that people tend to trust word from their neighbours, family, and friends. In the home repair services industry, customers tend to seek services from providers known to them. On the other hand, new customers tend to seek information from their trusted ones. Therefore, HomeMakers Company will ask their satisfied customers to pass the information to their neighbours and friends. The religious, social and sport based organisations will also be asked to refer the company’s good service and reputation to their members, neighbours, and friends (Mallinger & Rossy, 2007, p. 55).

• Sales Strategy

HomeMakers seek to convert a large market share who are currently using the services of contractors and handymen into using its services. This will be achieved through completing assigned tasks with professionalism. The company will also ensure that its services exceeds the services currently provided in the market. Completing jobs with professionalism will create a positive impression among the consumers. Employees of HomeMakers will also move from one resident to another to look out for problems and provide solutions to the customers. The company believe that door to door approach will attract more customers to the service (Cole, 2011, p. 78).

Property Owners

Showcasing the company’s ability to solve problems facing its potential customers plays a key role in generating more tickets. With reasonable prices, trustworthy nature and qualified skills, HomeMakers will definitely win the heart of a reasonable number of customers. Besides, increasing sales, the adopted sales strategy will increase the number of loyal customers, increased referrals, and increased general sales. The company’s philosophy is more satisfied customers is equal to more sales volume.

HomeMakers Company has put in place an effective milestone plan which will help in fulfilling its respective goals. The milestone plan will provide the targets to be achieved as well as the mechanism of achieving them. The table below shows each milestone and the provided timeframe for it to be achieved.

The HomeMakers Company is solely founded and owned by Michael Richards. Richards developed the passion of fixing things at their home and school while in high school. After completing his high school education he secured employment with a contractor. Because of lack of formal skills and experiences he worked as a helping man helping the contractor with a wide range of jobs for one years. He later enrolled in a college and specialised in home repair services. Over the last six years, Richards have acquired vast skills and experience as an electrician and plumber. Richards developed an urge of owning his own business which lead him to enroll in a Busines college two years ago. Today Richards have acquired the necessary business skills and it is time to put them into practice. He will use his personal savings to start the business with the help of former workmates and friends who will become his employees.

Michael Richards will be in charge of the management of the business. The other twenty employees will take care of all home repair activities allocated by Richards. Richards will also be responsible for handling accounting issues with the help of the Quicken Accounting management Software. Equipped with his a laptop, and a printer, Richards will create, print submit and collect invoices to and from the customers and project sites. The table bellows shows the personnel payroll for the first three years.

The following information presents the company’s financial plan.

HomeMakers Company will incur the following expenditures associated with starting the business. Richards will use his personal tools to start up the business. However, he will have to buying the following tools.

• Plumbing tools comprising of snakes, nuts, bolts, tape, assorted caps, and slip wrenches.
• Electrical tools comprising of wire caps and various wires, soldering iron, and electrical tools.
• Printing materials comprising of paint rollers, air compressor, paint brushes, pneumatic paint sprayer, sand papers, masking tape, and spackle tools.
• Pressure washers.
• Other general tools.
• Power tools such as saw, Dremel, sander, and
• Laptop and portable printer.
• Mobile phones.

Restaurants

The start-up information has been summarised as shown in the tables labelled 1 and 2 in the appendices. Richard requires $31,900 to start up the business.

Table 3 in the appendices section shows several assumptions that has been made by Richards during the preparation of the business plan.

The tables labelled 4, 5, 6,7, and 8 in the appendices shows the projected profit and loss, projected balance sheet, sales forecast on a monthly basis and sales forecast for the first three years for HomeMakers Company respectively.

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