Final Customer Purchasing from the Product Producer
Maintain Steps: Maintain steps include all activities required to keep the product in working order. These steps include the costs the customer incurs to diagnose and correct product problems.
B.
Resources: Reduce resources required for the use of the product
1.
Money – Reduce the money the customer uses with the product
c. Reduce the customer's spending on other products used with the product
Products customers use with main product
| No. | SIC | Year | Note |
| 1 | 3571 | 2002 | Warranty lengths tend to be standard within product categories, but some lesser-known companies are offering longer warranties to ease concerns about the reliability of their products. Budget PC maker Atlas Micro offers a three-year warranty on most parts, and a lifetime guarantee on labor. More established companies, on the other hand, may try to leverage their well-know brand image in order to get away with unusually short warranties. For example, the Apple iPod's warranty lasts just 90 days, compared with a full year for many lesser-known MP3 players. |
| 2 | 3711 | 2003 | More automakers are offering long warranties to entice buyers and create a reputation for quality. They are more effective marketing in the long-run than large cash rebates for the brand image. Honda and Toyota are able to sell their products for more than competing vehicles because they have a reputation for long-term dependability. Brands are motivated to offer these incentives by different factors. Luxury brands such as Cadillac and Lexus can afford to offer them as they rate well in dependability tests and further reinforce the idea of quality. Hyundai used the warranties to win over customers reluctant to buy an unknown brand. They also improved quality. The move pushed competitors to do the same. |
| 3 | 7374 | 2002 | Some traditional software makers are beginning to deliver many of their products online calling it outsourced software. Companies such as Oracle Corp. and PeopleSoft Inc. deliver some of their products on line as well. The potential market could top $600 billion. By outsourcing, software programmers can find and fix bugs more quickly because they are constantly monitoring the software. |
<<Return to Maintain Steps