There is a reason those who work in our industry are considered experts in parking. It is a complex business and those who think there is ‘nothing to it” are simply wrong. I have just read a piece Astrid posted on parknews.biz called “How to Improve your Office Parking.”
It starts out benignly enough:
Poorly designed and managed parking lots can be detrimental to your business. If getting in and out of them is frustrating, then your employees’ morale could drop before they even walk into the building. Visitors may form an undesirable opinion about your business if your lot is an inconvenience.
Your parking lot is sometimes people’s first impression of your office. If it’s frustrating, unsafe or disorganized, potential clients may think the same thing about your company. On the flip side, an excellent parking lot can improve morale, decrease security risks and impress clients.
It then gets to the nitty gritty:
The article goes into detail as to how to assign individual spaces (older people nearer the elevator) and perhaps those salespersons who have done a better job closer in. It talks about angle parking vs straight in (angle better for visitors.) It suggests that you use parking management software to assign spaces to your tenants (that way you don’t get blamed for it). There seems to be no other reasons for parking management software.
I love the part about installing video cameras to ‘prevent crime’ in the garage. And be sure you install enough so there are no blind spots. Increase visibility by have bright lights, but not too bright, you don’t want dark shadows. Oh and be sure to have a place where parkers can wait if they have lost their keys (huh). They must assume that like the Federal Government you have an unlimited budget.
Boss Magazine’s editorial team would do well to have interviewed someone with a background in parking. After all, what could go wrong.
JVH
