"BE NICE!"

The Looming Opportunity for The US Fire Service… Now????????????????

? Ben May

?20 years ago, I was surprised, fortunate and grateful to be appointed Fire Commissioner in a close Seattle suburb where my ‘day job’ was Vice President of Chateau Ste. Michelle wine company. I was a ‘hands on’ Commish because I loved it and just figured that’s what you did. I probably read Leo Stapleton’s book, Commish, and took it too seriously. Hey, it was my dream! ?

The Best PIO in the Business?

My passion for the fire service had taken me places I could never have imagined, even back then. My area of contribution and specialization was in marketing management, and for me, that meant telling folks about the fire department and the value it represents for the good citizens we protect.?Since my wine job gave me responsibility for the country, and internationally, I could go wherever I wanted if I was selling wine to hotel and restaurant companies. At the time, the only area of expertise in something vaguely resembling marketing was the position of PIO. I found out that the best PIO in the country at that time was Steve Jensen of the Phoenix FD. His title was, in fact: Assistant to the Chief for Public Affairs. So, I made it my business to meet Steve. I would fly into Phoenix, sell wine during the day to hotels and restaurants, then knock off in the late afternoon to meet with Steve. After our meetings I would spend the night in a Phoenix firehouse, going on calls through the night, but looking at things from a marketing and customer service lens. After doing this over a couple of years, I called Steve one day to set up another session. I was immediately put through to Chief Alan Brunicini, who I knew only through reputation.?

“Ben, Steve died this week. We are all shocked with this great loss. Just come on down and we’ll talk.” I was dumbfounded and so sad. Steve was the best and a tremendous guy. He left us way too early, and he was a genius in leveraging the PIO position into a full marketing and customer service arm for PFD.?

The Gold Standard of Fire Service “Marketing”

I met with Bruno and understood quickly the true great Chief he was. I continued my regimen with Phoenix but now meeting with Bruno, eventually reviewing the galley proof for Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service before it went to print, going on fire calls with his son John’s engine company through the nights.?Alan Brunicini understood marketing better than any executive I’ve known, and I’ve met plenty after 20 years in the private sector working for Disney. Specifically, he understood that the foundation of marketing effectiveness lies in superior, uncompromising customer or ‘citizen’ service. And that service is based on only one element: ‘the human element’ to quote an old DuPont ad. And the human element is the equation of relationships: the creation and care of people.?

“I Want it All”?

One day Bruno invited me to lunch at his favorite Mexican restaurant. I was in heaven, not just because I was with Bruno, but also because I could eat a vat of Guacamole! No lie. I’ve never been able to get full on even mountains of the stuff. There was Bruno in his Hawaiian shirt and me in a pinstripe suit pontificating to him about marketing strategies.?He just looked at me perplexed. He took a small napkin, drew a pie chart, and divided it into each area of our service. He left the biggest area open. “Ben, this is non-emergency service. I want it all! And Ben, it starts with just being nice." That’s when the light bulb went on. Bruno was espousing Community Risk Reduction in 1995, well before Vision 20/20. Probably even before Chief Tony Mcguirk in Merseyside UK created the template for it. So, what does all this mean? Opportunity!?

Positioning Our Brand for a “Blue Ocean” Strategy

In 1981 a groundbreaking book appeared in the marketing lexicon: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout: two advertising executives from Ogilvy and Mather. The concept was one of those blinding flashes of the obvious and one that ‘set the table’ for brand differentiation and brand equity for the next half century. And it’s still going. The concept is very simple. Your product or service- your brand- might be what you want to say about it, but it’s position-the way the customer sees and thinks of that product or service is the reality of what your product is and does. It’s not what you say. It’s what they feel. This doesn’t mean that your marketing strategy is faulty. It just means that knowing your customer is critical. Twenty years later in 2004 two professors of marketing, Renee Mauborgne, and W. Chan Kim, expanded the positioning concept in their ground-breaking book: Blue Ocean Strategy. Same idea of positioning but more specific guidance on how to stay ahead of any competitors by owning the position. The authors’ own words define it perfectly: “the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost to open up a new market space and create new demand. It is about creating and capturing uncontested market space, thereby making the competition irrelevant.” So how does this apply to the fire service and Community Risk Reduction? Everything! But it's even easier for us. The demand is already there. When Chief Bruno said: “I want it all!” that was classic Bruno. A man of few words and always on target. See, Community Risk Reduction means” who ya gonna call first?” The fire department! We control the positioning and CRR makes it so, especially now when we control the data!?

Relationship Breakdown in Society

Today, there is a complete breakdown in customer service in this country, driven by the bottom-line and a dearth of people to fill those jobs that if nothing else, let people know they’ve been heard. Being heard, by the way, is a big deal! So why the opportunity for the fire service? It’s a matter of simple geography and logistics supported by the foundations of our culture and values.?

?The ‘Map’ of Opportunity for the Fire Service:?Community Risk Reduction

I've always been fascinated by maps, and I’m sure there are many like me who, well, just think they are cool in their beauty, diversity, and the information they can give us. When we review any map of a public jurisdiction the fire department protects, at least in the cities, there are a manageable number of homes protected by each fire station. Specifically, as of February 2022 there were 27,172 fire departments with 51,771 actual stations according to the National Fire Department Registry.?In fact, our ratio is 2-3 times denser than McDonald’s or Starbucks respectively. That is significant if we know what to do with it. The specific ratio is 15,000 residences per station. Community Risk Reduction is all about maps: data maps. Thanks to the progress of our digital age, we now can slice and dice the populations we protect the same way marketers segment the populations they target. The difference with us is that our market is everybody and the quality of our service is always the highest. We don't segment our markets according to socio economics. But now we can now segment our markets according to the needs of our citizens, from their specific medical conditions to those of their pets! And if we can’t help, it’s our new business to know who can and get that service to the citizens in need courtesy of the FD, speaking of positioning.?

?“The Lonely Crowd”

Since I’m spouting on about books, humor me for just one more. In the late sixties required reading in sociology class was David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd. The book and the concept are even more applicable now than back then!

?Look at the suicide rate in the US, coupled with depression, anxiety, and addiction, not to mention the insanely ludicrous proliferation of guns and mass shootings. People are hurting especially after the isolation of the pandemic. We are just now grappling with the results: more alienation and loneliness. People continue to be alienated. So, what does this have to do with the fire service? Everything. Customer service is based on ‘serving.’ You must have a relationship not just to serve but to grow the business. Transactional button pushing on a cell phone will only get you so far, not to mention the primitive audacity to ask you to fill out a survey before the service is rendered! What to do?! Do something to show that you care. Start with being nice and how can we help? Where does it hurt? I understand. Let me see how we can help. The message: you are not alone.

The Answer Lies in Our Service: How We Deliver it and Who Will Lead it

Community Risk Reduction is now an operative part of the fire service lexicon. However, its operation and implementation depend on how each jurisdiction interprets the definition, and then, how that department implements it. This is happening but probably not as fast or as well-coordinated as it could. One of the reasons is because there are probably only a handful of actual positions called: Community Risk Reduction Officer. One of the early adopters was the Charlottesville Va. Fire Department with the establishment of Joe Powers as Deputy Chief of Community Risk Reduction. Fortunately for the profession Joe created the position, and a model/position description for how to do it effectively. He is one bright light bulb in our business, with superior intelligence to see the future, and create a realistic strategy to make it operative now! That's what he did for Charlottesville. Other examples include Spokane Valley, Washington and Mesa, Arizona. But these are few and far between. This resembles the same trajectory of the PIO, not too long ago, as it is becoming a permanent and expanded position such as Battalion Chief or Assistant to the Chief for Public Affairs, soon to be credentialed through CPSE. The position can certainly be a civilian position with the right background, expertise, and true passion for the fire service.?NFPA 1300 outlines the vision and mission of CRR but does not create a FD position description for the responsibility to do the work.

The Opportunity is Now

This is a pivot point in our business. Other pivot points include fire prevention and education from our original mission of only fire response, or the critical inflection point of EMS in the 70’s and HAZMAT soon after. CRR is nothing more than the natural progression of our mission but keeping that mission at the center of who we are: to save and protect lives and property wherever that mission leads. Now it's leading us to Community Risk Reduction.?Let’s formalize it for every department so we can continue to fulfill our oath: 24/7. Since the market won’t wait for us, let’s get ahead of the curve and lead?