December 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 81

customers (i.e., the users, community
members) and almost all agencies
invest some resources accordingly.
However, fewer provide the same
impetus to nurturing and serving their
internal customers: their staff.
I have always believed the most important person is the customer, but the
most important customer is your staff.
Disney offers the perfect example: In
Orlando, there is a myriad of theme
parks that offer similar rides, entertainment, characters and food, yet there is
only one Disney. Disney Parks consistently have the highest visitation numbers and guest satisfaction ratings, even
though its average ticket price is higher
than other parks.
The secret to the consistently " magi-

training and staff development processes. Starting with onboarding processes
followed by ongoing training for all
full-time, part-time and seasonal staff,
measuring performance and iterating
based on those, these agencies have realized that surviving and thriving is not
about the parks, programs or place, but
rather about the people.
San Diego County implemented a
countywide initiative, called HEART
(helpfulness, expertise, attentiveness,
respect and timeliness), that's focused
on providing exceptional customer service. This is embedded throughout the
organization with visible signs that every employee has bought into it, and it
is reinforced throughout the facility (as
seen in the picture at right).

Moment of Zen: Build a culture that trains and
values your internal customer: your staff. As they say at
Disney: " Your frontline is your bottom line. "
cal " guest experience that differentiates
Disney from the others is a culture that
prides itself on training and celebrating its people. Starting with the initial
onboarding process, called Traditions,
Disney's Cast Members (staff) are
trained with a consistent philosophy
focused on guest service excellence and
values-based leadership.
How does the magic of Disney translate to park and recreation agencies?
Gold Medal agencies, such as Carmel-Clay Parks and Recreation in Indiana, Chicago Park District in Illinois
and Westerville Parks and Recreation
in Ohio, are examples of agencies that
are looking to emulate the Disney-like
culture of guest service focus by embarking on multiyear customer service

Use Data and Technology to
Enhance the Customer Experience
As much as customer service is perceived
as a feel-good soft skill, sustained
excellence in customer service is as much
about excellent service as it is about
measuring and tracking performance
and constantly improving behaviors
based on that.
By merging data and technology,
agencies are better able to improve the
customer experience and feedback, as
well as improve engagement among
community members who might otherwise not be heard.
The city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, another CAPRA-Accredited, Gold
Medal-winning agency, has focused on
data and metrics to better understand

the customer experience. The key performance indicator (KPI) that has been
most tracked in all internal and external
customer feedback is the net promoter
score (NPS), which simply assesses customer loyalty by asking their " likelihood
to recommend a program, place or facility to a friend. " There seems to be a correlation between high NPS and customer
retention: NPS leaders experienced an
increase of 5.3 percent in retention rates
compared to the others.
Data can go beyond customer experience as a tool for addressing safety and
security concerns. Best-in-class agencies
in Indiana, Idaho, Michigan and Florida - such as Carmel-Clay, Idaho Falls,
Kalamazoo and Miami - are among a
growing list of agencies using technology to monitor and respond to customers in real time. HAPPiFEETtm (www.
keephappifeet.com) is an app that allows
customers to share positive feedback or

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December 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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