
From Cars to Customers: Redefining the Human Side of Parking
Leigh Thomas
October 2024
There is a garage in Albuquerque that has recently planted a green wall. In the online article, there are photos of volunteers laughing while up to their elbows in large green leaves. When I read the article, I couldn't help but smile along! Green walls are one of many ways parking facilities can intentionally make their spaces comfortable, visually appealing, and safe for their customers. The Albuquerque Garage Green Wall article reminded me that in the parking business, humans are customers, not cars.
In the podcast published on July 11 titled "From Perception to Protection: Revolutionizing Safety in Parking Garages," TPN's Clyde, Krista, and Trina discuss safety in parking garages. In the episode, Clyde made a statement that jumped out at me about the minimum lighting standards: "Those were designed for cars and not people," he said, to explain that lighting standards might not be sufficient to meet all customer’s visual needs. Humans drive vehicles to get to their meetings, appointments, and vacations. They drive to church, the bank, and the beach. Humans often need to park their vehicles to deal with life's stuff. Therefore, in the parking industry, we provide a valuable service to humans, not cars!
In this energetic podcast, the TPN staff examined many parking garage topics, including safety, lighting, and the obnoxious horn alarm at the exit that disrupts pedestrian sidewalks. Clyde shared some insightful customer service stories from his vast memory. As I listened to the podcast, it became clear that our focus should not be solely on the cars – where they will park, how long they will stay, which ones need to be charged – but on the humans who are parking them. The podcast underscored the need to shift our perspective from 'How will the cars park?' to 'How can I help my customers park their cars?'
If our goal is to serve humans, then we, as parking operators and managers, need to excel at customer service. Every employee who interacts with customers in your garage should receive training, encouragement, and feedback about their customer service habits. A comprehensive customer service training program is essential for every parking facility, equipping employees with both the hard skills (equipment, procedures, policy awareness, etc.) and the soft skills (listening, empathy, kindness, etc.) they use daily. What training is happening in your facility? Are you investing in updating technology, training your employees on that equipment, and modeling healthy customer interactions?
Managers, your role is crucial. Are you demonstrating patience and competence in a way that, if emulated by your employees, would significantly improve customer service? Remember, safe and secure employees will offer safety and security to your customers! And, safe and secure customers are returning customers. And who knows, those employees and customers might even be inspired to plant green things on the walls...
You might improve customer satisfaction by planting vegetation in your facility or upgrading the lighting throughout — these are worth the effort! However, there are many ways you can help your customers have a great start or end to their day by meeting their needs—not those of their car. Here at TPN, we encourage you to take some time at your next staff meeting to acknowledge your employees' work to serve customers and give them the knowledge and resources they need to do their jobs exceptionally well!