Customer Service

I was recently reading a blog post by John Van Horn from Parking Today Magazine. (https://www.parkingtoday.com/blog/2021/04/are-we-losing-our-ability-to-talk-to-one-another/). He asked the question, “Are we losing our ability to talk to one another?” He goes on to talk about improvements in technology in parking, as well as in the world around us and how that affects our ability to communicate with one another.  What John said sparked my interest and made me think a bit as his posts usually do.

I run the parking program in Paso Robles, California. Paso Robles has an interesting dynamic. Less than 30 years ago, Paso Robles was a small rural town that focused on dry farming and slow living. Then word started to get out that our Mediterranean climate and rich soil made Paso Robles a great place to grow wine grapes, and Paso Robles began to grow.

Today Paso Robles is a thriving tourist community, but still holds on to its small-town roots. We launched a parking management program in Downtown with paid parking in 2019 with extensive community outreach. Prior to 2019, parking was free, first come first served without any enforcement to speak of.

As the first Parking Ambassador for our Downtown parking program, I focus on the customer service side of parking. I enforce parking by walking on foot in our Downtown. I stop and talk to anyone that seems to want to talk. I am always happy to show someone how to use our multi-space meters or our parking app. We give warnings, not citations, to first-time violators.

Walking on foot around Downtown talking to visitors and locals is still my favorite part of my job. I like to hear where they are from, what they think of our Downtown, and how their day is going.

Now, nearly two years into our parking management program, we are working on expanding. We are adding hours and days to our paid parking. I am in the process of hiring some new Parking Ambassadors. What is my number one requirement for our new hires? To be able to communicate well and have good customer service skills.

John is right, so many of our younger generations are losing the ability to talk to each other. There is too much time using technology and not enough time spent interacting in person, face-to-face with each other. As we begin to get back to the new normal, I hope our younger generations, as well as some that have been around awhile, learn how to interact again.

Technology is great. It certainly makes my life easier, but I am happy putting away my cell phone, spending time outside enjoying the beautiful weather in Paso Robles, and having a conversation with a new person. If you have not visited Paso Robles, you might want to check us out. I hear the parking Downtown is convenient, the app is easy to use, and you might even get to have a conversation with one of our Parking Ambassadors!