Time to Evolve

Suburban Evolution 

According to the dictionary, a city is simply defined as a center of population, commerce and culture.  Cities have been called the highest form of social organization – with complexity of road systems, transportation, building laws, markets, food and water distribution, educational systems, etc.  The complexities of which did not occur over night but moreover as the result of years of human development. 

While the origin of cities dates back thousands of years, our city, dates back less than fifty years and yet the complexity of our system has experienced unprecedented smart growth since its inception.  For over forty years, whether we have realized it or not, Foster City has been engaged in a process of “urbanization”.  To which the efforts to date have achieved extraordinary results on behalf of us all. 

Progress and grow.  That’s what cities are challenged to do on a perpetual basis.  And much like a business, it needs to continuously improve on its processes, find ways to more effectively achieve its objectives, communicate the quality of its service offerings, protect, maintain and grow its customer base and exceed the expectations of the market.  Plain and simple, the most profitable businesses are those businesses that continuously provide services or goods that people need or value and moreover, want. Make no mistake, Foster City is in the business of customer service and our clients are the residents, businesses, and visitors.

We as a City need to consider what we can do to improve or build upon our reputation for customer service. In point of fact, if we do nothing our service level will atrophy over time and our ‘brand’ equity, the cache associated with living, working and playing here, will diminish.   We need to perpetually reinvent and reinvest in ourselves to bolster the Experience and Economy. We must provide service at high levels and must create a culture that fosters loyalty by all stakeholders not just our residents.  

In business, there is great effort to create and maintain such a culture that inspires. Many books have been written about the subject, however it can be distilled down to a simple philosophy. Successful businesses create a culture of innovation; the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs or existing market needs through more effective products, programs, processes, services, technologies or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. 

They do so to be able to offer the greatest experience to their customers as they know that that experience directly translates to the health and vitality of their organization and its place within the market they serve and the customers they service.   A good experience creates loyalty and repeat visits by the customer. A great experience creates referral that drives new business opportunities.  Average or negative experiences have an unequal and exponential opposite effect. Cities are not immune.

Residents choose to live in a city for various reasons which manifest themselves in their experience – that perceived quality of life. Foster City provides excellent customer service in all its departments, Police, Fire, Public Works, City Administration, and Park and Recreation Dept., and CityHall Staff. We are second to none in many areas and the citizens sing our praises. Current residents speak highly of our city and this helps attract new families who want to relocate here. However a City is not defined solely by what it does well but rather by what areas it needs improvement and in recent times, there are emerging clear areas which require greater focus to provide the level of service we know we are capable of delivering. 

The philosophy of a City needs to be sharply honed so that its governing documents can reflect the policies, principles and priorities of operating.  As we look ahead to the next ten years, the needs of our ‘customers’ and the demands placed on our own business – the City -- and its practices – the complexities associated with delivering the services associated with managing our infrastructure and enhancing our operating methodologies -- will be taxed to a point of diminishing returns.  A renewed commitment and revitalized focus on ‘customer’ satisfaction, client service and relationship management needs to flow through all aspects of our City’s interaction with the public.

I believe there currently exists a need for us to review and better understand the policies that have guided us to date.  Over the past years, we have enjoyed great successes, however we have experienced great challenges of late in particular areas of our city’s operations due to outdated policy and processes, many of which have truly outlived their useful life and which now are having a negative impact on the experience which we have so painstakingly stood behind for so long. 

It would be easy to blame it all on outdated ordinance structures, but that would be disingenuous.  We as a City must accept responsibility and take action to proactively retool our organization to better serve the needs of our customers.    Whether it be simple modifications to ordinances and codes anticipating future demands or creating processes to allow for exception as we transform ourselves. 

Over the course of many years, I have learned that there is really no such thing as achieving perfection, however, perception is reality and often the quest for excellence, and absolute commitment to quality and service create opportunities that truly can alter the future course of any endeavor. 

Our staff is capable and talented.  Together with our partners we can raise the bar and achieve even greater successes through our commitment to excellence and service.

In closing there are two competing coffee shops, both are national brands. When I walk into one they greet me by name and take the time to know my beverage of choice. When I walk into the other they take their time even if I am the only customer and they act as if they are doing me a favor by allowing me to drink their coffee. I choose to buy my coffee from the former and refuse to meet friends at the latter. They are both capable of making good coffee but the former has better customer service and the latter leaves a bad taste in my mouth in spite of the quality of the coffee.  Cities are in the business of service and our service and quality of life is not so far superior that business or residents will suffer our processes or demeanor to enjoy our coffee. We compete for business and residents and it is time to find ways to say Yes and stop pointing to rules that say No.