CUSTOMER SERVICE: TWO VIEWS
IMPLEMENTING A CUSTOMER SERVICE
PROGRAM BY JEFFREY S. SMITH
In the fire service, customer service is all about the service provided to the public–a service already paid for and expected to be available 24 hours a day, and on a moment`s notice. The fire service in the past took “the customer” for granted–and many departments still do so today. The fire service perception was, “The public loves firefighters and everything they do; and we can do no wrong.” The public`s perception was, “We know they are there, and they will come when we call them.”
But times are changing. Today`s fire service is under more scrutiny. The public perception now is, “They are taking our tax dollars, so what are we getting for our money, and what else can we get?”
HISTORY OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE FIRE SERVICE
Customer service has been around for as long as there has been a customer. Terminology and methodologies may have changed, but it still is customer service. Customer service has always existed in the fire service, and it always will. As with any other business, the fire service always has been involved in customer service but from a different angle. The fire service has assumed the customer is happy with the service just the way it is and has served the public with that thought in mind. The question is, “How does the fire service keep up with the times or, better yet, stay ahead of the times?” In the past, there really has not been a need for customer service. The customer has always been sort of a “captive audience,” and the fire service has taken advantage of that. The perception always has been, “If people want the service, they will call for it, and we will provide it.”
CUSTOMER SERVICE TODAY
In today`s world of customer awareness and education, the customers` expectations are ever increasing. They expect that the service promised is the same as the service delivered; that the service is the same quality as that promised; and that if the service promised is not delivered, “Heads will roll.” In the business world, the customer is king. The survival of the business depends on the customer, and the business knows that. However, it seems that some businesses are forgetting who really pays the bills. To them, the customer is becoming an imposition, resulting in the demise of many of these businesses.
Take a look at some of the more successful businesses and why they succeed. Les Schwab Tire Company, which serves the Northwest, is an example of good customer service. When you pull up, employees are there to find out what you need, when you need it, and what else they can do for you. The company has a stringent dress code, which includes standards for hair. Schwab is not known for its prices but for its service, from start to finish. Home Depot has touched on increasing customer service not only by giving the customer more but by giving more to those who are giving more to the customer–the employees. This must be working, because Home Depot has surpassed its competitors and put many of them out of business.
The fire service is entering the business-like competitive world in a hurry, and it can learn a lot from the business world. Knowing who the customer is and what he wants is a good place to start.
WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?
Taxpayers are the fire department`s customers–and boss. What they want, they get–or so they`d like to think. Should they get what they want? Why not? Without them, we would not exist. The customers are changing; and the sooner we realize it, the further ahead we will be. Customers are learning about and taking more interest in what happens in the fire service at a younger age and are living longer and on a tighter budget. Our customers include a growing number of professionals, single parents, and new immigrants. In general, customers are learning more of the good and the bad about the fire service. The days of hiding in the fire station and coming out only when called are over. Customers want to see fire department members out doing something or being somewhere. They are getting fed up with “government waste,” and they want the best value for their money. They may not know what the best value is, but they still know they want it. Customers still like their fire departments; but if someone else could be their fire department for a cheaper price, the bottom line would rule. Hence, enter the possibility of a competitor.
WHO PERFORMS CUSTOMER SERVICE?
Everyone in the organization, from the top to the bottom, should be concerned about giving good customer service. Probably the division that has the most contact with the customer, however, is the fire prevention division. These fire department members deal with the customer on a day-to-day basis. The fire prevention division mainly does fire inspections, plan reviews, fire investigations, and public education. Customers usually are referred to the fire prevention division when they have complaints or miscellaneous inquiries. The fire prevention division should be best prepared to deal with customers and train all other personnel on how to deal with them. Training employees in how to deal with customers can help greatly in projecting a good image to customers.
CUSTOMER SERVICE PROGRAM
Every department should have a customer relations/customer service program, and all employees should feel they have a stake in the program`s success. The program should include provisions for getting all department members involved and enthusiastic, objectives to be met, and plans for training. Training modules should cover topics such as the proper way to answer and talk on the telephone, appropriate dress, apparatus and station appearance, and dealing with complaints. The customer service training process should not be used as a tool for employee evaluation. This could destroy support for the program. Customer service can be used in evaluations later, after employees have had time to practice their newly acquired skills.
TRAINING
As with many other fire service programs, customer service training should be an ongoing process, adapted to keep up with the times, and updated as necessary. When preparing for the training process, a few items should be remembered:
Once the customer service plan has been completed, go over it carefully to ensure that specific areas of training meet the needs.
Don`t try to cover everything in one session.
Ensure that all employees receive the same amount of training and that it is standard in its delivery.
Introduce training to employees as an opportunity, not as a reprimand or criticism of their performance or lack of skill.
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
Of new jobs created in the United States, the largest percentage are in the service industry. Among the reasons for such growth is that the number of two-income families has grown, which leaves most families little time to do the things that need to be done and has also increased the number of things that need to be done. Also, new technology–such as computers, including training and software–has created services unheard of 20 years ago. The customer wants good service and expects it in all industries, including the fire service. Customers have carried over this attitude and concern from the private service industry to the public arena.
In larger departments and businesses, it historically has been easier to get away with giving bad service and not getting caught. Smaller departments and businesses have a harder time because they have more repeat contact with customers, and it is easier to track down the culprit of bad service. Larger departments and businesses, however, are finding that even though they may not catch the culprit, the damage has been done. They are also learning that the customer looks at customer service as part of the value. The concept “the customer is number one,” known to smaller departments and businesses for years, is finally starting to take hold with the larger entities.
Measuring the value of good customer service may seem an impossible task. If the product is a monopoly, so to speak, as the fire service is, the customer is expecting good value. In the unique situation of the fire service, the customers are also the boss, so if they feel they are not getting a good value, they then have the power to change things or to bring in a competitor who offers a better value at a cheaper price. The validity of the better value may not be able to be challenged in theory, only in practice. By the time the perception of added value is disproved, competitors have established themselves, and the public department is out of business.
Customer service is not a straight line but a circle; this is especially true in the fire service. The customer also being a taxpayer has the power to replace the public department and to control funding of the department. Customers satisfied with the value tend to keep the system status quo or support improving the system.
A customer service program must first place a value on each contact the customer has with employees. The fewer contacts the customer has with the employees, the greater the quality of each contact must be. Most customers have few contacts with the fire department, so every contact will be remembered. If the contact is bad, customers will talk with their neighbors and friends, and their neighbors and friends will talk to 10 of their neighbors and friends, and so on, and so on–creating a snowball effect.
It may be easier to think of the service we give as a product, but keep in mind the following:
Service is produced at the instant of delivery. You can`t keep boxes of it on the shelf. Like electricity, you must produce it on demand.
Service is delivered by line personnel, often beyond the control or influence of management, at the point of contact with the customer.
Service must be experienced by the customer at the moment it is delivered. It can`t be sent out on approval.
Service cannot be recalled, as a car, for example. No one can bring it back for repairs.
Good customer service can be a very effective tool if used correctly. Only if all of the employees understand the concept of and the reason for good customer service can good service be delivered. Other important elements of effective customer service are understanding and support from the very top of the organization.
Customer service can be efficient. If customer service slackens and the competitor makes a good-value-for-a-cheap-price pitch, then the customers may decide they are not satisfied with the customer service and value offered by the current provider. The competitor then will take over the fire department and give the customer a good value, and the public fire department will be out of service. The public provider then must fight for the opportunity to provide the service again. It is therefore cheaper and easier to provide good customer service from the start, which is a more efficient way of doing things.
WHEN IS CUSTOMER SERVICE USED?
The opportunity for good customer service is always there. It can be applied in emergency as well as nonemergency situations. A good opportunity should never be passed by or overlooked. During emergency responses, the fire service is under a microscope; every move is watched. This is a great opportunity to show the public what kind of value it is getting for its money.
During an emergency medical response, customers expect quick action and competent service. It could, however, be taken a step further. They should see that we genuinely are there for the patients and their family and friends. For example, a chaplain should be available to assist in counseling the family, and a system should be in place for assisting the family with arrangements for body removal and funeral services when a death occurs. There should be services for child care for single parents or when only one parent is home at the time a serious injury or illness necessitates that the parent be transported to a hospital.
During a fire response, the customer expects quick response and fast action; but we can take our service a step further by providing counseling by a chaplain and temporary shelter, food, and clothing for the victims. One fire department went so far as to deliver to the fire scene a large secure, weather-resistant storage box so the victims could store valuable personal items salvaged from the fire.
The fire department should attempt to do all it can for customers when responding to any type of hazard, even if it means locating someone else to handle the problem.
Nonemergency activities such as fairs, community special events, fire education presentations, fire inspections, and numerous other nonemergency fire department activities are good opportunities for promoting good customer service.
THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE FUTURE
Once most of the fire service has been educated in the need for good customer service and understands its importance and the ramifications of not delivering it, things will start moving in a positive direction. There is much to learn and a long way to go, and there will be many new ideas for improving customer relations.
The fire department is told to get out and make contact with the customers, and it does. How does it know if that contact is positive or negative? A system to receive customer immediate and long-term feedback should be developed.
Budgeting for customer service is hard to do at this time; but as it becomes more prevalent in the fire service and as new ideas pop up, the budgeting process will become more predictable.
EXAMPLE OF A PROGRAM
Setting up and implementing a customer service program can be as easy or as hard as you make it. One idea that could prove to be simple and inexpensive and yet highly effective is a “comment card”-type program. It allows for customer feedback and offers them anonymity if they wish it. Such a program might work as follows.
Distribute comment cards such as those available in restaurants and hotels to the customers in the situations listed in the box on page 83. Of course, this list could be expanded.
The comment card program would have a relatively small budget impact immediately. The cost basically involves the printing of the comment cards, purchasing get-well and sympathy cards, and postage. Although you do not know how much of an impact such a program will have on office personnel, assume for now that the current office staff will be able to handle the program initially.
The fire prevention office also could be instrumental in implementing and carrying out the program. Once the program has been in effect for awhile, the budget needs would be easier to project.
The success of the program greatly depends on the support of the whole department. Feedback from all personnel is vital–at the very minimum, feedback should be obtained during the initial planning stages and, of course, during implementation. The program should be flexible enough to be adapted to minor changes but not too flexible so that it loses focus on its purpose.
As with any change, there may be some resistance. Everyone must understand that the use of the comment card is not just for the sake of change but that it is a good way to reach out to the citizens and let them know that we agree with and care about what they think and feel. This is their chance to tell us what they expect from us, how we are doing now, and how we can improve. This is also a good opportunity to let the public tell us the areas in which we are doing a good job and to express appreciation to specific persons or companies.
The program would also serve as a great incentive to get out among the public more and do a good job when we are out there. It would assist in clarifying misunderstandings with the public that otherwise might go unnoticed by the department but not by customers and their friends, and their friends, and so on.
Any resistance in the department eventually will be replaced by a better understanding and increased trust between the fire department and the customer. The new avenue of communication that opens will help the fire service grow in a positive direction. n
References
Dunckel, Jacqueline, Brian Taylor. Keeping customers happy (N. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Self-Counsel Press, 1990).
Gale, Bradley T. Managing Customer Value (New York City, NY: The Free Press, 1994).
Grant, Nancy, Ph.D.; David Hoover, Ph.D. Fire Service Administration, National Fire Protection Association, 1994.
Hanan, Mack, Peter Karp. “Customer satisfaction,” American Management Association, 1989.
Johnson, Jeff, chief, Tualatin Valley (OR) Fire and Rescue, 1995.
Murtagh, Jim. Fire Service Administration (Jim Murtagh Press, 1995).
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JEFFREY S. SMITH is a five-year member of and engineer/paramedic with Clackamas County (OR) Fire District #1, temporarily serving as training officer. He has been a paid firefighter for 11 years. He has been a volunteer firefighter for five years, currently with the Boring (OR) Fire Department.
