Karen Hyman, South Jersey Library Cooperative
Columbus Public Library, Columbus, NE
- After today’s session you will…
- see from the customer’s point of view
- focus on user needs and expectations
- development & implement things that support a customer centered library
- operate the library for the convenience of your customer
- make customer service a way of life
- What makes a library really great?
- money?
- size?
- luck?
- use?
- Really great for whom?
- Customer’s have choices
- Movies on demand
- WiFi @ Starbucks
- Cell phones & PDAs
- The big fear
- libraries (and what they can offer) will be irelevant and invisible to the majority of people
- New opportunities to…
- provide value-added service
- embrace new roles
- be a “third place”
- take the library to new people
- fail to take advantage of new opportunities
- provide poor service in new and irritating wasy
- Value added equals
- current
- relevant
- in tune with customer needs
- beneficial from the customer’s point of view
- defined by the quality of the result
- Service can be your competitive edge
- intelligent
- responsive
- personal
- Quote from OCLC Perspectives report
- Customer service basics
- first, do no harm
- everyone here is an expert on customer service because everyone here is a customer
- get a grip
- Of course there are other strategies
- you can change riders
- you can get a committee to study the dead horse
- you can benchmark how other companies rise dead horses
- you can declare that it’s cheaper to feed a dead horse
- you car harness several dead horses together
- But after you’ve tried all of these things, you’re still going to have to dismount
- change
- some people love change
- excitement
- anticipation
- curiosity
- some people hate change
- dread
- disorientation
- loss
- nobody gets to choose how they feel
- dealing with change is a learned skill
- all predicitions haev equal value
- we can all join each other on the edge of the unknown
- Step one: Care
- Caring
- some people just care
- some people just don’t
- most of us fall in the middle
- caring and not caring is contageous
- blaming is the enemy of caring
- everything flows from caring
- the key to quality customer service is creative problem solving
- the key to quality problem solving is having a problem
- most care more when we…
- know and like the other person
- don’t feel tired
- don’t feel threatened
- aren’t having a bad day
- get support and rewards for caring
- take pride in caring, or appearing to care
- try caring
- can improve your day
- uses your skills
- can increase energy
- can be fun
- you’re paid to care
- make it a habit, and caring gets easier.
- caring begets attention, attention begets curiosity and curiosity is the fount from which all knowledge flows
- Step two: Think like a customer
- why don’t we think like customers?
- we work at the library
- we don’t understand the customer
- we’re not trying hard enough
- we don’t focus on results
- we hear but don’t listen
- we think we know better
- we don’t see options as options
- when you think like a customer you…
- put yourself in their place
- make it your business to see results for the customer
- make customer service a way of life and a part of every decision
- step three: see the problem(s)
- to define problems from the customer’s perspective…
- somebody wants something and they’re not getting it
- somebody’s getting something they don’t want
- step four: change your approach, not the customer
- why not change the customer?
- what do you do with someone who…?
- why can’t people…?
- shouldn’t people…?
- people used to…?
- children used to…?
- Because you can’t!
- ditch the rules
- have a bonfire for the signs
- root out negatives
- solve problems when they happen
- work as a team
- what are the rules?
- do we really need this rule at all?
- can we say the same thing in a more positive way
- share expectations and look again
- to change your approach
- provide customers the opportunities to do what you want
- skateboard rack
- baskets for books
- try doing what they want
- express checkout
- eating in the library
- when it comes to customer service…
- every choice has a down side
- err on the side of customer services that is positive, welcoming, and empowering for the consumer
- step five: abandon victimhood
- is your library a culture of victimhood?
- we never get any more money
- we never get any respect
- why are we always the last to know?
- nobody understands all the great things we do
- we always have to clean up after these slobs
- Victimhood…
- obscures facts
- is powerless
- is personal
- saps your energy
- takes you nowhere
- Try telling the same story in a different way
- Step six: Organize your library to support quality service
- to support quality service
- easy to use continuous communication system
- morning briefings
- library blogs
- whiteboard in staff area
- email to customers
- newsletters, recommendations
- flexible, helpful, friendly signage
- create systems that support consistent great service
- make it fun
- create a supporting culture for risk, flexibility, curiosity, etc.
- set specific targets & measure results
- Deliver the goods
- step seven: walk through everything
- walk through every process
- in the building, on the web, phone
- to share the customer’s experience
- to see what works and what doesn’t
- to get your vendors on the customers’ side
- to five vendor responses
- the default is…
- go to another source for support
- help notes explain that in section. 1.A.3(b)7
- it works here
- nobody else has complained
- in your library
- what makes it easy to find things
- what makes it difficult to find things
- what alerts or obscures possibilities
- what makes navigation a breeze or a chore
- easy/alerts to possibilities
- very open, spacious, neat, etc
- shelves well organized and documented
- overhead signs in adult stacks
- natural light, large windows
- large signs on soffits
- difficult, obscures possibilities
- lobby is dark & dull
- “NO” signs in the library
- nothing hits you when you walk in
- no encouragement to ask for help
- etc…
- self service library
- easy and intuitive
- helpful & friendly signage
- alerts to possibilities
- direct online interaction
- self-checkout
- drive-up window
- 24/7/365 access
- step eight: Get the book into the customers’ hands
- if books are the brand, what could you be doing with books that you’re not doing now?
- reduce processing time
- grab-and-go collection
- buy when it’s fast and affordable
- float the collection
- Netflix model
- Weed!
- merchandise the collection
- Through merchandising you can
- transform the library experience
- find out what sells
- sell what you want to buy
- find out what nobody will read as part of the everyday process
- make it easier for your public to discover materials, “impulse buy”
- make it a little harder for your staff to find specific titles
- [photos of merchandising examples]
- Step nine: Transform the library experience
- find five things that would surprise and delight your customers and put them in the center
- a warm, inviting 21st century environment
- has a greeter
- comfortable
- allows food
- provides public computers & WiFi
- allows cell phones
- avoids too many rules
- the destination library
- enjoyable, friendly, fun environment
- comfortable seating
- extended hours
- hi tech, hi touch
- browsing, book clubs, author events
- drop in story hours
- supports personal use of technology
- community center
- fosters collegiality
- serve kids
- does your children’s area have a percentage of floor space that equals their percentage of circulation?
- play fair
- Step ten: Overcome overdues
- reexamining the rules
- pay when $10 threshold is reached
- Fine Free Fridays
- no overdues — but we love donations
- courtesy reminders — consider Library Elf
- multiple renewals
- new motto: “Late is great!”
- step eleven: take the library to the people
- have an online application process and mail the card with the library info
- provide live online services
- put satellite libraries in the community
- experiment with mobile communication to cellphone & PDA
- [screenshots of examples]
- Step twelve: Make something happen
- did anything happen?
- depends on results for the customer, not the library
- depends on fit with everyday life of the customer
- how many things have to “go right” for this to work?
- focus on results for the customer will help you to…
- chose among the flawed options
- avoid “compromises” that produce no results
- handle the down side of a great choice
- do the extra work that makes a real difference
- 5 things you can start today
- look at the rules and remove or restate
- look at what people want & find ways to deliver it. ask them and listen when they answer
- walk through your building and fix what doesn’t work for the customer
- incorporate customer service into every decision and problem solving process
- treat every customer like a person
Breakout groups: Five things your library can do to surprise your customers
- Suggestion box
- free paperback for every $1 in fines paid
- address customer by name
- more color in the library (too much tan)
- MySpace page
- check out off items: GPS, Projectors, Laptops
- WiFi
- “Check Us Out” sign
- Gaming Night
- AccuCut machine for public use
- No fines
- Allow cell phones
- Automatic reminders
- Recommendations in the OPAC
- Put holds in an ordered queue
- More classes for the public
- Audio book during a knitting circle
- Open 5-midnight one night
- 5-cent fine on unfriendly staff
- Live mystery at the library
- DVD checkout length as book
- group computer space
- public fax machine
- food allowed area
- fine free day
- cake pans
- door greeter / roving staff member
- allow food
- emphasize the e-resources
- teen hangout
- “We settle bar bets”
- new baby program
- book delivery program
- movie nights
- Director “open door”
- treat drawer
- no rural membership fee
- background music