February 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 55

To p F ive Over lo o k ed bes t p rac t ices

Customer Service
an annual fundraising workshop to encourage
fundraising efforts and provide best practices
to individual park friends groups in the county, as well as park board members. The foundation's flexibility in accepting donations is due in
large part to the park authority's willingness to
be open-minded.
" There are many ways to contribute - the
foundation is poised to accept many different
types of revenue streams, " says Roberta Longworth, executive director of the foundation.
" For instance, the ability to have a memorial for someone or to honor someone or something special-typically it's a tree memorial
or bench memorial. There's also the ability to
honor someone's life with a specific fund, like
a trail building fund if someone really loved to
run. We're seeing more and more of that, as
well as the ability to donate cars. Of course, we
work with the park authority to encourage the
donation of property and support to continue
the maintenance of that property. " The funds
then go to many different programs, including scholarships for summer camps for children in homeless shelters, giving them some
normalcy while allowing their parents time to
seek employment.
Community partners can also include other
providers of city services. The Lee's Summit Park
Board partnered with a local school to build a
new community center across from an early
childhood development center. The mutual enterprise resulted in $1 million in savings through
the shared land and infrastructure.
" Our partners leverage our resources and in
turn we leverage their resources....You have to
maintain a very close relationship with these other providers, " Lovell says. " As we have discussions about what is coming up for them or for us,
we can begin to find those common points where
we can work together on a project. "
Noting that the public water utility maintained
fenced, mowed land all around the city, the Lee's
Summit park system offered to improve the sites
and take over mowing duties if dog parks could
be established there. " It turned out to be one of
the most popular things we've ever done, " Lovell
says.

Future Challenges
Best practices are constantly being replaced by
even better practices. Technology is proving to

1. Train Management Staff First. Management must be knowledgeable in the expectations and skills required of their staff.
This is where you must begin for success. You cannot train
front-line staff and expect results if your management has not
bought into the process and is not leading by example.

2. Invite Customer Feedback. In the service industry, complaints and
comments are a good thing. Often, we get stuck continuing the same
processes that may be difficult or frustrating to our customers. Of those
customers who complain, up to 70 percent will continue to do business
again if the complaint is resolved quickly, according to the STARS Customer Service DSP Training Facilitator's Guide by Tarp Worldwide. Asking
for feedback and acting on the responses from customers builds trust
and loyalty, and demonstrates your interest in serving the customer.

3. Create a Robust Rewards and Recognition Program. Giving staff
praise for a job well done isn't always best done by a letter in a personnel file. In order to have a complete system of recognition and rewards
for staff, many other elements must be included. Options should be
available for internal, external, and on-the-spot recognition. Staff should
be able to recognize others within the organization at all levels (staff to
management, volunteers to staff, division to division), not just in a topdown approach. Customer feedback about individual employees should
be shared with staff as soon as possible, and management should recognize staff on the spot when " caught " providing exceptional service.

4. Incorporate a Secret Shopper Program. Correctly done, a secret
shopper program can be a comprehensive component of your customer
service management system. The information can be used for coaching
staff and focusing on skill development over time through the questions
secret shoppers ask. Observing change over time helps the organization understand when the culture of customer service begins to develop, and can lead to recognition and rewards for positive feedback.

5. Plan for Sustainability - When considering a comprehensive customer service plan, attention must be paid to continuing education in
order to help create a culture. A team of customer service representatives from all areas of the business can help keep the focus by providing reinforcement of the training materials. These reinforcements
are where the foundation is strengthened to avoid peaks and valleys
in levels of service. Training gives staff the tools; reinforcements provide the resources to continue learning and practicing. To be successful, reinforcements should be timely, at least every four to six
months, and new-don't repeat the same information each time.
BY Emilie Danco, Central Services Coordinator
with the Park Services Division at Fairfax
County Park Authority, Fairfax, Virginia
w w w . NR P A . ORG

FEBRUARY 2011

Parks & Recreation 53

February 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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