Parking Management – Silent Deal Killer or Unsung Hero

As a property manager or owner, one of the first things that the guests of your building see is your parking facility; whether it’s a surface lot or multilevel garage.  It’s also the last thing they see when they leave.  Experienced property managers realize the importance of a convenient, clean, and safe facility.  Although a satisfied customer rarely gives feedback, a dissatisfied one may tell many other people about a bad parking experience.  Consistent negative feedback can be a disease, a silent killer if you will.  It can make the difference as to whether or not one of your tenants decides to renew their lease, or move to a different building.

On the other hand, positive feedback, or at least no negative feedback, tells a discerning manager that their guests and tenants are satisfied with their parking experience.  You may just find your parking facility is an unsung hero in the retention of your building’s tenants.

There is no one-size-fits-all in parking management.  Each building is unique.  And each facility is unique.  There are countless resources to help you determine everything from the right facility design to the optimal price to charge.  For most applications, there are some basic things to consider when managing your parking facility.  You may call it, “Common Sense Parking Management.”

First, if your facility can generate revenue, you should hire a professional parking management company.  If you try to manage your garage in-house, you will spend your valuable time on day-to-day parking issues that you could be spending on big-picture things. Meet regularly with the parking manager so you have a good feel for your parking operation.  Know the major issues that your tenants and their customers face on a daily basis and make sure that your parking manager addresses those issues.  And if you’ve hired a reputable company, there will be systems in place to account for the revenue and to audit the personnel in charge of collecting the revenue.  If that doesn’t happen, look for a different contractor.  You may have hired a good salesman, but not a good parking operator.

Second, your operator should maintain your facility well.  The amount of maintenance depends upon a lot of factors such as number of stalls, turns and type of use.  In general, there should be daily trash pick up, regular sweeping and annual pressure washing.  If you have stairwells or other concealed locations, which may lead to unwanted odors, make sure these areas are mopped with a disinfectant and deodorizer.  Quickly cover-up graffiti and other man-made eyesores.

Next, make sure your facility is safe.  Potential parkers/customers will walk great distances, to avoid parking at your facility if it is perceived as unsafe.  And when it comes to safety, perception is everything.  Don’t allow loitering in or around your facility.  Minimize all trip hazards.  If possible, lock access to stairways from the outside after business hours.  If you use security cameras, make sure they are working cameras and not just decoys.  You don’t want to give a false sense of security.  Replace burned out lights promptly.

Make sure your signage is thorough and accurate, guiding parkers correctly.  Disclaimers posted at your entrance stating your towing policy can be in small print, but directional signage meant for the person in a car who’s late for an appointment must be easy to read.  This means it should be at the appropriate height from the ground and with a font size as large as possible.  The sign should contain only essential information and be located where the customer can easily see the sign.  For example, a parking lot entrance off of a street with a 25MPH speed limit can have a small entrance sign reading, “Public Parking” and a directional arrow at the entrance.  However, the same lot on a busy street with many distractions requires an elevated “P” sign with large font (preferably lighted) so it can be seen from a few hundred feet away. 

Once inside your facility, parkers should be able to quickly find available space.  Depending upon the size of your facility, ground markings and/or light-pole identifier signs may be needed to help the customers find their cars when they return.  Ensure signage directing the customers to the exit are also located where the customer can see it.  I was recently trying to exit the top level of a local mall’s parking garage and circled the same two aisles twice before I found the exit ramp.  If an experienced parking operator who’s in no particular hurry is looking for exit signage and cannot find the garage exit, there is something wrong with the signage!

The issues discussed above may be considered “common sense.”  But there are countless parking lots and garages in which you may notice a lack of common sense in its design or operation.  The facility’s use may be different now than when it was originally designed many years ago, and probably just needs to be readdressed.  As the property manager or owner, put yourself in the shoes of your parker and do what you can to improve their parking experience, or better yet let your parking operator guide you.

By Jay Slotnick, Network Parking

Jay Slotnick has worked in the parking industry in both airport and urban locations for almost 20 years.  He can be reached at Network Parking for any parking related questions at 408-283-5068.