By Michael Sale
Law Enforcement Education Coordinator (Canada) at American Military University
Late one busy morning, when I was the director of corporate communications for the Metropolitan Toronto Police, I encountered a young woman, standing in the reception area of the police station, looking around for someone to serve her. I looked around too, and discovered that all my colleagues were engaged; most were on the telephone answering calls and others were caught up in activities related to inquiries from reporters who had come to the office for information.
I was returning from one meeting to prepare for another and didn’t have a moment to spare. I could see, though, that this latest visitor was not receiving the level of service that we had all agreed upon in our commitment to the public affairs function. So I decided to help.
I introduced myself and inquired about the purpose of her visit. It turned out she was a university student, working on a paper about police media relations. I invited her into my office and spent about 40 minutes answering questions and providing her with copies of news releases and clippings, annual reports, and our organizational policies and procedures that described our everyday news operations within the police department.
She ran some ideas by me for her assignment and I offered some suggestions that included references to every-day lessons learned managing routine news with regular interruptions created by crises of every kind. Lastly, I gave her my business card and encouraged her to call me if she needed additional help or if we had failed to cover some important issue during our conversation.
Two weeks passed by and I never received another call or inquiry. Then one afternoon, I became curious about her assignment and how it had all come together. So, I decided to call her.
It is at this point in my story where I should point out that our police force was transitioning to several new business practices as a result of a series of organization reviews and proposals for staffing and new ways of doing business. The public affairs office had not escaped being examined and altered. Several functions were cut out of the unit and attached to other departments within police headquarters, resulting in a presumably more efficient communications office with a mandate to employ modern methods to enhance internal and external communications with a wide variety of stakeholders.
I was given the mandate of implementing these changes and, even though I had considerable experience as a police officer in public affairs, I was constantly seeking external assistance from professionals in the field to assist us with the development and introduction of new programs and methods. I had been having difficulty accessing a national public relations association.
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And then I made that telephone call to the young woman who had come to my office seeking help.
She wasn’t home when I called; her father answered the phone. Most people would have responded with an “I’ll call back later,” but I am not known for being brief. Forty minutes later, I was still on the telephone with her father and we had covered subjects ranging from weather to police work. Then I mentioned my difficulty accessing the public relations establishment. It turned out he was past president of the professional association I was trying to access and he was the owner of a significant, highly successful, public relations and communications firm.
What had been problematic for me was a cinch for him. He opened doors that I could never have imagined existed and I was able to acquire new information and knowledge that I could use to maximize the performance of the office I led.
For me, this whole experience reinforced a very important lesson about life; we never know who we might meet and we can never know what opportunities may develop. I know that when I helped that student, I did so with a genuine concern for the service to which she was entitled. In this instance, when I followed up, I was rewarded in ways I had not imagined.
Great customer service has immediate rewards as well as less immediate impacts that we may not immediately see. Doing a job well creates positive connects that may benefit you and your organization well into the future. Approach every day with your best effort and you put yourself in the best position for professional success.
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About the Author: Michael Sale served 30 years as a member of the (Metropolitan) Toronto Police, retiring as an inspector in 2002. Over the course of his career, he served in a variety of uniform field units in addition to a series of public affairs assignments at police headquarters as a cadet, constable, sergeant and staff sergeant, culminating in a promotion to inspector and an appointment as director of corporate communications for the largest municipal police force in Canada. He is a graduate of the 169th Session of the FBI National Academy and has been an active member of the FBI National Academy Associates for the past 23 years. After retiring from Toronto Police, he served as a manager of facilities and emergency management for the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. For the past five years, he has been the Canadian representative on the law enforcement outreach team at American Military University.
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