Answer :

Executive summary:
The DeMarcos is a well known New York department store that has attracted millions of customers across the world due to its customer services and incentive plan that facilitated overall growth and development. The company’s incentive palm help in boosting the employee and sales productivity but often carets social differentiation and rigid competition between the workers. Such differentiation is witnessed by Demarco in their work environment. Lauren seeks into the matter and internal issues and help in problem solving method. The paper presents a report regarding the disadvantages and advantages of the consumer service and incentive plan and how far the company has been benefited towards its personalized consumer service and motivate the customers towards participating in the decision-making process of the company. In addition, the study explores the management process and recommends effective solutions in curbing the existing issues.

1. Introduction: 

DeMarco’s is a department store located in the Central Avenue, New York well-known for its consumer service ("DeMarco's Restaurant", 2017). The company has its won customized service working both online and offline with its innovative and dynamic approaches. It is observed from eth study of the secondary sources that the store has given way o global customer demands and supply with classic dishes, combining the tastes of eth different states and regions. From the world class dishes it produced classic beverage combinations. However, it lately faced global challenges and changes in relation to its customer service, salary structure and other sections. The report studies the customer service, sales management and service.  

2. Issues identified in De Marco:

The DeMarco’s store manager has been reporting regarding the store management, besides suffering from heavy fall of economy. In addition, the company has been facing tough and rigid competition from the restaurants of other areas that brings out changes in their work structure and performance (Gallupe & Jiang, 2015). The DeMarco’s manger need to address the strategies in order to generate the ways through which they can retain their previous consumers while create a strong structure and performance that will increase the volume of consumers in near future. The customer service of the department store needs to address the flaws and assess the ways it can enhance its service. Besides, it is important to adhere to the assessment of the online and offline stores through evaluating the feedbacks and reviews.   According to the analysis, DeMarco’s have sales team have shifted from hourly payment to that of the straight commission. 

2.1 customer services:

There have been new plan that is assessed the company towards bring back their old customers. It is expected that every personnel working within the company need work at professional level and address to the customers wants and requirements. Besides, the store attempts in customizing their service under the feedbacks and reviews. In addition, the payment is shaped according to personalized services that attracts more customers and makes the customer in returning back to their stores. The company has been maintain good communication services in meeting their guests and treats them with equal respect and gesture that would allow them to visit the store again and again. The practitioner has been proving quality food and service to the consumers offering a better action plan and services (Yu, Ramanathan & Nath, 2014). Besides the sales differentiation, the store has been appealing the customers in participating in the decision-making process and loyalty programs. They have been able to meet the consumer demands and improvise their existing sales structure and customer service through the evaluation and feedbacks and review. 

2.2 Change of salary structure:

There has been a shift in the payment method within the Demarco departmental store. As it had been offering incentives the sales team shifted to straight commission from hourly mode of payment. The payment is structured through the personalized services adopted by the company in order to foster sales and customer services.  The incentive plan experiment was studied after two years that stated gains in the production process while sales volume increased towards the success that resulted due to the straight commission. The consumer review had appreciated the existing plan and requested to continue the program process. It is the reliance on the incentive plan and commissions that boosted the employee performance and sales associates in promoting equity and impressive work environment influencing the purchase of eth customers. 

3: what do you see as the advantage and disadvantage of the incentive system that DeMarco’ is using for sales associations? What impact do you think it is having on the DeMarco’s culture? Explain.

The incentive system had several advantages and disadvantages that help in the sales team management. The company needs to provide incentives in order to motivate and encourage the sales department towards performing better and foster social and economic growth. The new incentive plan had created a minor exodus (Gruber et al. 2015).  However, initially the sales department had given rise to allegations against such plan however when a year passed, the sales team, was pleased by its outcomes. With the strategic planning the marketing facilitated growth and created a new image affecting the customer service with more personalized features. The company has been employing favorable and logical types of incentives in meeting professional objectives and allowing the sales associations to perform, in the professional level (Siano, 2014). The company needs to adhere to its monetary fund and utilize its existing income in planning out offers and incentive plan depending on the time, frequency and usefulness. However, the sales team needs to be given proper training and knowledge regarding the incentive plan that will give them idea of the possible outputs. The advantages of the incentive plan as implemented by The DeMarco’s will help in boosting both the sales team and its employees that will create equity among the workers. For every planning and management, it is important to strategize the offers and plans in accordance to their skills, experience and performances. If there is an individual development, the companies will then be benefited in their overall production and service supply. Incentive results in minimum expense of product and services per unit. This then results due to increase in efficient and generates possible outputs in relation to the fulfillment of the customer service and organizational objectives.  But the disadvantage mainly lies in the uncertainty that states that every incentive plan do not really assures that there will be nay improvement in individual performance., therefore, the company need to assess and report the improvement in the skills, employment structure and performance, sales management while evaluating and comparing it with the increase in expense per product. It is the increase and decrease in the cost that will bring out the possible outcome of the incentive plans (Puranam & Vanneste, 2016). For instance, often the sales person and the employee given the incentive plan may not perform the way he used before he was given the incentive. The incentive plan affected the other sales associative who became aggressive of not given the benefits and offers that led to social disparity and had an impact work environment. Besides, the incentives might result in dubious value due to eth increase in the outcome. Another major drawback is if the incentive is provided and then there is no such efficient performance which is again assessed by the company manager and the incentive is tend to discontinue then the workers and sales associative show anger and rage that results in internal conflicts (Gallupe & Jiang, 2015).  This creates socio cultural disparity and conflict within the department store. Therefore, the company need to supervise and implement its incentive plan after prolong evaluation and study of its sales department, employee structure and performance of the organization. 

4 : Do you think the complaints of lower-paid sales associates are legitimate? Why? How do you suggest Lauren respond to these complaints, such as the gripe that the system offers few opportunities for large commissions in some departments?

The incentive plan had resulted in certain staged conflicts where the low paid sales associative and workers raged against the high paid workers or those who were offered the incentive plan. There was a rising differentiating among eth workers that resulted in indifference in the thoughts and work performance.The company was known for its mutual coordination and cooperation that was disturbed due to aggressive response of the low paid sales workers (Lingens et al. 2016).  Besides, the company was facing internal competition where the low paid sales associative were competing with the high paid workers so that they can rise up to their status and performance and be given equal wage and benefits. The company was witnessing the resentment among the people of eth organization due to the adoption of the straight commission. Few were given the same hourly payment that did not fit according to their work structure and responsibility. However, Lauren probed into the matter stating that if few were given hourly wages while the other were given the straight commission benefits, how does that affect and deteriorate the new image? Therefore, there was a nurturing concern among the staff that was discussed by Lauren that such discrepancies and differentiations might bring back the old structure and incompetency among the sales associative. Lauren can help in providing stipends and offers that will help in boosting the lower paid sales and keep up with the work force equity. The differentiations is legitimate but proper response be provided towards the limiting the competition with the sale associative. Proper training and development under the supervision of the professionals, managers and human resource management will help the low paid sales associates towards improving their performance (Mariadoss et al. 2014). The high paid workers and sales associative can transfer knowledge and help them in problem solving. 

5. Have the successes of sales associates such as Katherine and Damien created a situation in which loyalty to customers is stronger than loyalty to the store? For example, if a successful associate leaves DeMarco’s might the customer leave also?

It is observed that successful sales team has affected the customer’s purchase loyalty to the store and its brand image. For instance, if a sales associate leaves the store then it is assumed that the customer might not be purchasing and avail the store much as the sales department and customers are interrelated. The success of the sales team is determined by their bond, rapport created through effective communication, understanding and trust (Yu, Ramanathan & Nath, 2014). It is through the performance of eth sales associative that eth customer gains loyalty and trust towards the company. Therefore, the sales associative play a major role towards uplifting the company’s image. Besides if an efficient sales person attempts to leave who was successful in fulfilling their needs, solve their queries and problems effectively, then the customer tend to get de motivated. But it is not necessary that the customer would not visit and purchase from the store if the company has strong and customer -oriented sales department then that will attract the customers from many regions (N et al. 2014). In order to ensure that the customer is not affected by eth leave of the sales associative,  DeMarco need to facilitate their trust not only towards the sales executive and team but towards the brand and is products. According to the social behavior and personality, it is observed that management department can foster customer development and gain its trust and shifting their trust from the sales person to the brand through strategic implementation by giving them offers, discounts, benefits;  utilization of local branding and sponsorship, and allow them in participating ion eth decision making process. 

Recommendations:

It is important for the company to understand the individual skills and performance of the employees nod the sales associates. Proper and weekly report need to be recorded that will involve the details of the performance efficiency, growth and development, performance time, attainments of goals within the given period of time, production process, policy process, customer feedback and reviews. The effective assessment of the work structure and production will thereby provide useful knowledge regarding the company’s image. In addition the stakeholders and the shareholder of the company should be allowed to perform and participate in making organization and work policies that will facilitate mutual understanding and strengthen internal relationships. The customers loyalty to be shifted from the  sales associate to the brand image by giving them with benefits and offers within their purchase  and help them in providing necessary feedbacks in improving their work performance and sales management and proficiency.