In the business world there is a life cycle for every product or service that is provided. Some things are instantly outdated whereas other things take some time to reach the end of the cycle. This curve is visible as you look at the various products and services. It drives the creative processes and requires innovation to keep on the cutting edge of competition. When applying this concept to the fire service, there are many similarities in the life cycle process and the bottom line is that the services we provided in the past are no longer sufficient to meet the new demands of our customers (taxpayers).
The traditional model uses five stages with the last stage being the point where companies reinvest their effort and resources into starting over again. The intro stage is when the product or service is introduced, customers don’t know about the product and without marketing this is where many things fail. The growth stage is self-explanatory… customers recognize a product or service and it becomes popular. The maturity stage is where the product or service has reached its overall potential. The decline is where the customer stops appreciating the product or service and it becomes outdated. The harvest stage is where the company continues to reap the benefits of the product or service as it is phased out.
How does this apply to the fire service? It is simple…. we are in the same cycle with one exception. Our career field cannot just sit back and reap the benefits of outdated services. Our reputation is built on the services we once provided and without a renewal phase, our service is doomed to fail. The way I see this cycle, we cannot wait until our reputation has run out before we look for ways to improve our services. Creating comprehensive fire prevention programs, becoming active in the community and looking for ways to consolidate our services is how we will continue to stay on the top of our community. Take a lesson from Phoenix Fire Department and treat our community like we would treat our families. Look outside of the traditional box to find better, more efficient ways, or new ways to serve the public. Adapt to the current economy and work within the boundaries that we are given but remember what makes our service the best….. our resourcefulness and love of the job!
Filed under: General Subjects Tagged: Business, Business and Economy, Business Services, career field, Communication, Company Officer, Coping skill, creative processes, Critical thinking, Customer, Education and Training, Emergency service, Employment, Fire department, Fire Officer, fire prevention programs, fire service, firefighter, firefighter training, growth stage, Human resources, intro stage, leadership, Management, maturity stage, People skills, Performance, Phoenix Fire Department, Product (business)
