Fire Rescue International (FRI) for 2012 has concluded in Denver, the host city this year. FRI is the annual conference of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). It was a good conference but it showed the sign of the times in two ways- the education topics and the (smaller than usual) vendor show. First, the topics were all timely: the dismal budget situation departments face… doing less with less vs. doing more with less… challenges of keeping up with technology and the cost associated… and my presentation on Customer Service. I purposely capitalize the C and the S because Customer Service is no longer the nice to have icing on the cake. It is very necessary in terms of survival. One to two decades ago, it was rare for public safety levies, initiatives and propositions to fail. Today, it is the norm. Fire stations are closing and public safety personnel are being laid-off. The public sector is painfully learning the lessons from the private sector: competition and value for the product. If your organization is NOT marketing, re-branding and providing outstanding customer service, you will fail. Realize that the underlying public sentiment is still, “it’ll never happen to me”. You have to reach the voting populous that may never have personal need or contact with your department. When asked to spend their hard-earned tax dollars on fire services, law enforcement, roads and freeways, water treatment and sewer treatment plants, schools, community colleges, etc… you bet there is competition! This is not “smile training” customer service we are talking about—it is survival Customer Service.
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