Diamond Parking Newsletter - Fall 2018

DIAMOND

Dialog G r o w i n g To g e t h e r.

FA L L 2 0 1 8

ANATOMY of

CUSTOMER SERVICE In each edition of our Diamond Dialog, we feature examples of our employees exceeding customer expectations and going the extra mile to deliver top notch caring customer service and memorable experiences.

Why? Because at Diamond Parking, notes President Jon Diamond, providing exceptional customer listening service is at the core of Diamond’s longevity and success in the parking

Excellence

value relationships

provide solutions

respect

industry. “Its what sets us apart from our competitors. We have always relied on training and empowering our employees to care about our customers, care about the company, and care about communication themselves.” To emphasize, Jon’s point, we’ve asked a hand-picked team of customer service champions to share why they believe that every understanding interaction with a parking customer or business client is a unique opportunity to go above and beyond.

Thomas Malone City Manager, DPS, Spokane The first thing I do is listen. What is the customer saying? What do they want? Next I follow up and ask how can I help. From that point, I make sure that we are always having a two way interaction. I believe that customer service is founded on two way conversations. How else can we address their concerns or questions? I also think that a prompt response goes a long way in letting them know that I do care about them and want to provide solutions quickly. My goal is to treat everyone the same to achieve successful outcomes. Success equals consistency in exceeding customer expectations and consistency creates respect and dignity and educates our clients and customers that we are a 100% customer service oriented company.

Continued on inside

We hope you enjoy reading our latest newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE - Customer Service Excellence

- President’s Letter

- Canadian Corner: Art Mural in Edmonton

- Ahead of the Curve: License Plate Recognition Technology

Ahead of the Curve LPR Automates Parking Management Diamond Parking is utilizing License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology to manage parking enforcement for the fast growing cities of Bellevue and Redmond, located east of Seattle. Diamond’s Regional Manager, Patrick Seward, explains that LPR systems employ special plate reading cameras atop vehicles that are linked to advanced on board computer software to automatically identify vehicle license plates. When the scanned plates are evaluated against a real time database, legally permitted parkers as well as non-compliant vehicles are immediately identified. “LPR technology significantly improves operational efficiency. Overhead costs decrease while revenues increase. The cameras determine parking compliance automatically rather than relying on a visual check by patrol officers. The information includes GPS

coordinates of all scanned vehicles which helps measure big picture parking densities, identify congested parking areas and violation hot spots.” Patrick says Diamond has outfitted a fleet of fuel efficient vehicles including the traditional 3 wheel Interceptors with advanced LPR technology. “Municipalities such as Bellevue and Redmond are using the data to determine usage patterns, assess current on street parking ordinances and to assist in planning future comprehensive parking operations.”

from the

President’s Desk

Canadian Corner

Congratulations to our “customer service champions” that are featured in this issue of our fall Diamond Dialog. They speak for all of us in our belief that exceptional Jon Diamond customer service is the cornerstone of Diamond Parking Services. Each day our teams come to work as well trained customer service professionals ready to respond with a positive, can do attitude.

Imagine an art mural 140’ long by 40’ feet tall.

At every level, we encourage our employees to openly share suggestions and ideas about their work. We provide structured ways to make their thoughts, feelings and observations known. We help them understand that their input is valued and benefits the company as a whole. As a result, our empowered employees are able to create a feeling of true customer service that ultimately yields much greater customer loyalty.

Empowering employees is the dream of many companies. At Diamond, we have turned that dream into an everyday reality. When our highly motivated, well-trained internal staff interacts with our success minded external clients and customers, we build a foundation that ensures long-term steady, reliable growth.

Hard to miss, right?

“We were approached by artist Annaliza Toledo, cofounder of Edmonton’s annual Rust Magic International Street Mural Festival, www.rustmagic.ca, to donate space for a large format mural,” says Jeff Mah, City Artist: PichiAvo Manager, Edmonton, Alberta. Jeff states that Annaliza outlined the amazing artists that she had secured to create a one of a kind mural, the size of which we had never seen in Edmonton. “The canvas was a south facing wall adjacent to one of our downtown properties. The mural has been a major attraction since it was completed in late summer. It continues to draw parkers to our location across from Rogers Stadium and has further advanced the transformation of our downtown core into an international destination.”

Painted by two Spanish artists, Annaliza notes that the mural was recently certified as the largest street art in Edmonton, a distinction that she is very proud of. “Since the festival began in 2016, we have commissioned 40 murals painted on buildings and in public spaces that have dramatically changed the city scape. All are in high traffic areas and highly visible. Diamond Parking has been very supportive.”

Photo: Kevin Tuong

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Anatomy of Customer Service Excellence

Continued from front page

Michael-Paul Cummings

Annie Vargas

Area Manager, DPS Eastside Operations

Office Administrator, DPC, Vancouver, BC

I try to do the right thing every time even if it means doing something extra. I like to say that I am making an investment in our customers’ emotional capital. Think of it this way, we make a deposit into a customer service bank account and then when we need to make a withdrawal, and we will, because errors and mistakes happen, we’ve got a solid balance of emotional capitol already invested. In our business, image is everything. When we control our image through customer service excellence, we manage our customer’s perceptions and expectations of who Diamond is and what we are committed to as a parking company. Reality matches perception in our customer’s minds. At the end of the day, I always ask myself in any customer interaction, “How would I want to be treated?”

I try to treat our customers the same way that I would want to be treated. Letting them talk first allows me to listen closely to their questions or concerns. When they see that I am really listening to them, the opportunity to work together emerges.

In their eyes, it distinguishes us from our competitors.

It also goes a long way towards earning their repeat business. I also think it’s important to remain calm and focused. Another key for me is knowing that I have the support of my team in my customer interactions. When the unexpected happens, and I don’t have all of the information needed for quick resolutions, I have the confidence to rely on my team members to help provide the right answers.

Ray Geringer

Todd Saville

Operations Manager, DPS, Eugene

Operations Manager, DPS, Spokane Number one for me is putting our customers first as well as remembering the importance of internal customer service. We are only as strong as our team.

When our team members believe in the value of customer service excellence they will pass that belief on to our customers who in turn will keep coming back to Diamond as well as refer us to associates, friends and family. It’s a proven fact that in any business, empowered staff is committed, loyal and conscientious and because they feel confident that their input will be valued, listened to and acted on, they often serve as strong ambassadors for the company.

My overall goal is to always be courteous, attentive, respectful and respond quickly. Letting our customers know that we want to earn their business will keep them returning, increase our revenues and expand our brand image. caring

e valu relationships

My previous retail background was focused on always putting yourself in the customers’ shoes.

I rely on this approach every day striving with our team to create a culture of customer firsts. Each customer or client interaction is different. However if we put them first, listen and engage, we will reach a satisfactory solution. I also believe that a quick response to questions and concerns goes a long way towards managing expectations and outcomes. We have a visible brand in our area and it’s vital that our parking customers as well as our landlords and business owners that we support make Diamond their go to parking company.

provide solutions communication

respect understanding

listening

– 1 90 0 L O CAT I ONS – 1 54 ,89 3,7 98 Combine d Hours of Ex per ienc e –

Diamond Anniversaries We want to congratulate those employees who are celebrating 10 or more years with Diamond Parking.

Thank you for your dedication!

40+ Years Daniel Geiger

Spokane

We welcome your comments: Diamond Dialog is published by Diamond Parking. For comments and suggestions please write to us at: dialog@diamondparking.com.

41 years

30+ Years Cheryl O’Reilly

Diamond Feedback

Seattle Attended

33 years

Roger R. Pagaduan

Honolulu

28 years

Robert L. Turley

Home Office

22 years

Kevin Campbell

IT Services

22 years

20+ Years

15+ Years Yonas Tegegn Demessie

Seattle Attended

19 years

Lance Morrison

United Parking

17 years

Linda S. Fait

Medford

17 years

Bernardo T. Tagaca

Honolulu

16 years

Tesfaye F. Debebe

United Parking

15 years

Steven R. Smith

Eugene

15 years

To learn more about the Diamond Difference visit www.diamondparking.com

Scan code with a smart phone

Employment Opportunities Diamond Parking is a full-service parking operator which prides itself on the quality of its employees. We do everything possible to accommodate our clients and make sure each and every client is satisfied.

Such exceptional service can only be delivered by hiring the brightest and hardest working people in the industry.

If you are interested in joining Diamond Parking, please visit www.DiamondParkingCareers.com.

Diamond Parking is an equal opportunity employer.

10+ Years Donna M. Richardson

Tacoma

14 years

Ahmed A. Farah

Seattle Attended

13 years

Rodney D. Larsen

Salt Lake City Airport

13 years

Abiy Aramde

United Parking

12 years

Henock Y. Gebremedhin

United Parking

12 years

Ismail Hariff

Vancouver

12 years

Jason Terada

Parking Services, Canada

12 years

Matthew L. Gibson

Bend

11 years

Cheryl R. Coleman

Honolulu

10 years

u o Y k Than

A ctionline WHAT DO YOU THINK? Your observations, ideas and

opinions are very important to us. Whether you are a landlord, customer or employee, you can use Actionline to provide comments, suggestions or observations; to ask questions, voice concerns, report situations, or to forward information that you feel may need attention.

Actionline is served by an independent communication services firm. Through this service, you may provide your personal contact information and receive a response directly from Diamond Parking. Or, you may provide your personal contact information, request to remain anonymous to the company, and receive a reply through the Actionline service.

You may contact Actionline by e-mail at ask@actionline.com, by telephone at 1-800-426-0426 (day or night, toll-free) or by using a postage-paid mailer available at any Diamond Parking field office.

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In Our Next Issue Vancouver BC is experiencing record growth.

Meet Operations Manager Mindip Janda and discover his key role and approach in acquiring new business locations.

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dialog@diamondparking.com

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1 MISSION

HELPING YOU REALIZE YOUR PROPERTY’S FULL POTENTIAL.

Bring us your parking challenge.

We’ll find the best solution.

EXPERIENCED.

MENU OF OPERATIONS:

We draw on the substance and depth of decades of experience to assist property owners and building managers to develop comprehensive plans for maximizing their parking potential.

Monthly Parking

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Event Parking Valet Parking

Enforcement & Checking Services

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Staffing

WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED. From parking facilities in every conceivable size of commercial buildings to major hotels, shopping centers, hospitals, sports arenas, multilevel garages and ‘Park N Fly’ facilities – we’ve done it.

And we can excel for you too.

For more information on how we can manage your lot email: info@diamondparking.com

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To get started, call 877-647-4707 or visit www.calltopark.com

www.DiamondParking.com • 605 First Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98104 • 1-800-340-PARK