he ParkingGuy


to speak to you and the person answering the phone can sense the customer is angry, have that person politely put them through to your voice mail. Give the customer an hour or so to calm down before returning their call. I’ve done this many times, and in most cases, the customer is much easier to talk to after they’ve calmed down. • E-mail:When replying to an e-mail complaint, follow


these rules: 1. Reply as promptly as possible. 2.Make your answer as thorough as possible. 3. Offer to meet face-to-face at the location where the


problem occurred to help get a better understanding of what actually happened. 4. Offer a solution, even if it may not be the solution the


customer is looking for.


Be the Customer “Be the customer” is a simple concept that for some rea-


son can be very difficult for people to grasp. Learn to see and approach the problem from the customer’s point view, even if you don’t agreewith it. Put yourself in their situation and then think to yourself how you would see things if you were them. This allows you to approach the problem and solution in a way that the customer already understands.


Educate Rather Than Punish People make mistakes.As a Parking Guy, thinking that


everyone is out to beat the system is naive and should be cast out of yourmind, because that is simply not the case. If some-


People complain or have a problem for a reason.


one who is not a repeat offender receives a parking citation and comes to you not understanding why, if possible consider offering to void or reduce the citation as long as they under- stand why they received it.


Get to the Bottomof the Problem People complain or have a problem for a reason. Often,


they don’t understand the way the system works or they don’t take the time to learn. There will be times, however, where someone’s complaint brings to light a legitimate flaw in your parking operation. It could be poor signage, poorly worded instructions, faulty equipment, or an endless list of other things. Use this as an opportunity to correct whatever is not working the way it should. Around the time I was checking the self-pay lots, I


remember listening to a co-worker on the phone with a cus- tomer who was disputing a parking citation. After arguing


DECEMBER 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 31


with the customer about the citation for about five minutes, he finally said “What do you mean, the customer is always right? Thatmay be true elsewhere, but not in parking!” With that he slammed down the phone. Put yourself in that


customer’s shoes:This person took the time to call our office about a parking citation they felt was issued in error. They took the time to argue their side of the story to someone who clearly didn’t care about their version of what happened. At the very least, my co-worker should have listened with an


openmind and taken a fewminutes to do research to find outwhat may have happened. Instead, he helped build a negative reputation for himself, our company and the parking industry. Value your customers, take the time to understand them, and


give them the opportunity to understand you. Everyone will get alongmuch better.Then, perhaps, people will actually start to like the Parking Guy.


Bart Neu, a Senior Operational Specialist at Desman Associates in Denver, can be reached at bneu@desman.com.


PT


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