The Melody of Your Business
I love music. One of the things I appreciate most about it is that it gives me a way of expressing myself when I’m at a loss for words. One of the best examples of this is a song I added to my wife Jill’s playlist a couple of months ago. Originally written and performed by Leon Russell in the early 1970s, “A Song for You” has been covered more than 200 times. The version I shared with Jill was performed by Karen Carpenter. (Am I giving away my age?)
Several phrases in the song are pure genius at expressing emotion, but one resonated with me as our business continues to scale through massive growth. The lyric in question is, “if my words don’t come together, listen to the melody, ‘cause my love is in there hiding.”
Of course, Carpenter is singing to her lover, but I keep returning to the sentiment that sometimes we don’t always show our best selves in life and business. The song lyric reminds us that while the specific incident or words weren’t perfect, it’s the melody, or the patterns of our behaviors, that enables us to recover and receive grace from our loved-ones and customers.
It happens all the time in our business. We stumble or handle an incident badly, but our customers generally afford us grace because the melody of our business is strong enough to endure a few bobbles.
In business, we earn that grace over time by delivering consistently and dependably. The opposite is also true. We all have experiences with businesses when we consistently feel taken advantage of. In such situations, the melodies of those businesses strike sour notes for us, and eventually we respond with ire and not grace.
Perhaps the best example is our collective experience with telecom or cable providers. The fees continue to go up, the quality of the service continues to go down, and when we need to interact with someone, it’s not very often described as a “song.” Their melody is that we’re a number, they can take us or leave us, and they can’t be bothered to help us because there is no “love in there hiding.”
Unfortunately, parking is one of those “utilities” that could easily get lumped into the same category as telecom or cable providers because it is so demanding and so widely unknown and misunderstood.
Because parking looks simple but is in fact difficult to execute properly, parking professionals must work ten times harder to establish a melody of love with our parking public. We must find ways to help them "hear” the melody of our work, including by presenting clean, well-lit facilities with rates that seem fair and equitable for the convenience, location, and occasion.
If you think about it, we’re all trying to establish a melody for our customers that resonates with them. For parking operations, we’re all trying to hit the right notes of ease, convenience, and repeat business. Like a good song, positive experiences make impressions that lead to loyalty and business we can count on repeatedly.
How we treat our customers when they don’t do the right thing creates impressions, too. In fact, some members of the public have made avoiding paying for parking their personal Olympic sport. In such cases, we should strive to find ways to make them appreciate that we mean business, without being mean or draconian. The way we get them back into compliance will also tell them all they need to know about us as a business.
As “songwriters,” the parking industry is not operating from a position of strength. One could even say we’re writing with one arm tied behind our backs. This disadvantage requires a deft touch when we consider our approach and our services. In parking, trying hard isn’t enough. Rather, exceeding consumer expectations is the starting point for crafting the right melody for customers.
The next time you walk your facilities or assess your procedures, consider the melody that they are likely to impart to your customers. Is it sweet and gentle or harsh and halting?
BRIAN WOLFF is President & CEO of Parker Technology. He can be reached at brian.wolff@parkertechnology.com or visit www.parkertechnology.com.
