How to Deliver Great Library Customer Service

1. How to Deliver
GREAT Library
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Laurie Brown

2. Why should you care?

3. Funding Poll Question
How are you funded?
• Tax payer dollars
• Friends donations
• Corporate sponsorship
• Grants
• Private
• Other

4. “While customer service may
not equal advocacy, I’d argue
that it is certainly part of the
foundation upon which
advocacy is built.
Good luck doing advocacy
if you give crap service to your
customers!”
Peter Bromberg
Assistant Director of Princeton Public Library (NJ)
Advocacy

5. Advocacy
Would your
customers
FIGHT
to keep you
open?

6. Southampton Library

7. Southampton Library

8. Truly Engaged Customers
Can’t imagine
a world WITHOUT
your library.

9. Exceptional Customer
Service
is No Longer
OPTIONAL

10. Ch Ch Ch Changes!

11. Customers as Journalists

12. Customers as Broadcasters

13. Telling Stories
You tell people about
REALLY
Great Service

14. Telling Stories
You tell people about
REALLY
Bad Service

15. Telling Stories
NO ONE talks about
Satisfactory Service

16. Something to Talk About

17. Something to Talk About
GREAT
Customer Service
is created by SMALL acts
of
PERSONAL kindness

18. Maya Angelou
“I’ve learned that people
will forget what you said,
people will forget what
you did, but people will
never forget how you
made them feel.”

19. Never Generic

20. Your Choice
EXCEPTIONAL
Customer Service
is a
CHOICE

21. Customer Service Words
After a customer leaves your
library, what WORDS would
you like them to use to
describe working with you?

22. Your Words?
Fun

23. Your Words
What do they
LOOK and SOUND
like?

24. Long Memories

25. Long Memories
The Tale of the Cheese Stick Bearing Three
Year Old Juvenile Delinquent

26. Agent vs Gatekeeper

27. What Customers REALLY Want
!! !

28. 1. Accessibility
1. easy to reach, enter, speak with, or use.
2. that can be used, entered, reached,
etc.
3. obtainable; attainable: accessible
evidence.

29. Accessibility

30. Accessibility
• Is your phone
number easy to find?
• Is your phone picked
up before
three rings?

31. Accessibility
• What is your
parking like?
• Do you have street
parking?
• Do you have a lot?
• Is it cleaned in
inclement weather?

32. Accessibility
• Is your website
updated
frequently?
• Do you have a
Facebook page?
• Do you post on
Twitter?

33. Accessibility

34. Accessibility
• How long does it
take to answer an
email?
• Do you accept
texts?

35. 2. Availability
1. suitable or ready for use; at hand
2. readily obtainable; accessible

36. Availability

37. Availability

38. Availability

39. Availability

40. 3. Affability
1. pleasantly easy to approach and to talk
to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite
2. showing warmth and friendliness; benign;
pleasant

41. Affability

42. 4. Agreeability
1. to one's liking; pleasing: agreeable
manners; an agreeable sensation
2. willing or ready to agree or consent

43. Agreeability

44. 5. Accountability
1. the state of being accountable,
liable, or answerable

45. Accountability

46. Accountability

47. 6. Adaptability
1. capable of being adapted
2. able to adjust oneself readily to
different conditions

48. Adaptability

49. What do they have in common?

50. Adaptability

51. Adaptability

52. Adaptability

53. Adaptability

54. Adaptability Poll
My library has changed what we offer in the
last 5 years?
Yes
No

55. 7. Ability
1. power or capacity to do or act physically,
mentally, legally, morally, financially, etc.
2. competence in an activity or occupation
because of one's skill, training, or other
qualification
3. abilities, talents; special skills or aptitudes

56. Ability

57. Nice
Affability
+ Agreeability
= NICE

58. Easy
Accessibility
+ Availability
= EASY

59. Not This

60. More Like This

61. Customers Want This
PEOPLE
who are NICE
PROCESSES
that are EASY

62. Your Attitude…
will color every CHOICE
you make, every ACTION
you take and ultimately will
IMPACT your customer’s
experience MORE than
anything else.

63. Greetings

64. Whose Job is It? Poll
Whose job is it to greet the customer?
• Yours
• The person at the front desk
• Whoever is within 5 ft of a customer
• ANYONE, but mine!

65. Nice
NOBODY likes to hear
“NO!!”

66. How Not to Say NO!
1. Filter
2. What you CAN do

67. Filter the Request
• Is it ILLEGAL?
• Is it IMMORAL?
• Is it UNETHICAL?
• Is it IMPOSSIBLE?
• Is it UNSAFE?

68. If…
you answered “No” six times…
just say
“YES!!!”

69. Talk About What You
CAN DO

70. Welcoming?
Bruce Johnson Blue Skunk Blog

71. Welcoming!
Bruce Johnson Blue Skunk Blog

72. Can!
http://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/

73. Can!

74. Long Memories
The Tale of the Cheese Stick Bearing Three
Year Old Juvenile Delinquent

75. Can!

76. Can!

77. What Do You Say?
Your library is offering a special program
which sells out almost immediately. What
can you say to the customers who want to
come?

78. Popular Program Poll
• “Sorry, we don’t have any more seats.”
• “It really is a popular program. I wish
we had room for you. Can I put your
name on a wait list?”
• “Can we contact you in the future when
we have another program?”
• “Sometimes we get no-shows. I can’t
promise you a seat, but you might
want to show up that night.”

79. Reference Book Request
A customer wants to take out a reference
book. Your library policy does not allow this
book to leave the library.
What do you say to the customer?

80. Easy
Is your
SIGNAGE
EASY?

81. Easy
• Clear signage
• Helpful signage
• Signage in appropriate
places, but not too much
signage

82. Easy

83. NYPL Facebook

84. Birmingham Twitter

85. San Jose Pinterest

86. Newsletters

87. CRRL YouTube

88. Wake County YouTube

89. Instagram

90. Dealing with
Difficult
Customers

91. Loud Linda

92. Use a Third Point
Michael Hughes, Instruction Librarian at Coates Library at Trinity University

93. Tons of Teens

94. Engaging Teens

95. Homelesslibrary.com
The Librarian’s Guide
to
Homelessness: Compa
ssionate tools for
reducing problems.

96. Hostile Henry

97. Your Options
Reactionary
vs
Responsive

98. Stretch Time

99. How to Stretch Time
• Breathe

100. How to Stretch Time
• Breathe
• Understand that they may have
problems you are not aware of

101. How to Stretch Time
• Breathe
• Understand that they may have
problems you are not aware of
• Take notes

102. How to Stretch Time
• Breathe
• Understand that they may have
problems you are not aware of
• Take notes
• Get help from a co-worker

103. Take Care of Yourself
• Breathe
• Take a break
• Snack on healthy food
• Stay hydrated
• Get enough sleep

104. Service Recovery
• Listen

105. Service Recovery
• Listen
• Trust

106. Service Recovery
• Listen
• Trust
• Apologize with empathy

107. Service Recovery
• Listen
• Trust
• Apologize with empathy
• Take ownership

108. Service Recovery
• Listen
• Trust
• Apologize with empathy
• Take ownership
• Fix it immediately

109. Create a Service Guide
Make
the
Choice

110. Top 10 Service Guide
1. Have Trust — assume people are telling
the truth

111. Top 10 Service Guide
1. Have Trust — assume people are telling
the truth
2. Say Yes — make their day, find a way to
say yes if at all possible

112. Top 10 Service Guide
1. Have Trust — assume people are telling
the truth
2. Say Yes — make their day, find a way to
say yes if at all possible
3. Give Alternatives — If it’s not possible to
say yes explore other options

113. Top 10 Service Guide
1. Have Trust — assume people are telling
the truth
2. Say Yes — make their day, find a way to
say yes if at all possible
3. Give Alternatives — If it’s not possible to
say yes explore other options
4. Be Approachable — look up, smile, make
eye contact, and acknowledge

114. Top 10 Service Guide
5. Be Respectful & Kind — they’ll
remember how you made them feel far
longer than what you told them

115. Top 10 Service Guide
5. Be Respectful & Kind — they’ll
remember how you made them feel far
longer than what you told them
6. Be Flexible — don’t get hung up on the
rules

116. Top 10 Service Guide
5. Be Respectful & Kind — they’ll
remember how you made them feel far
longer than what you told them
6. Be Flexible — don’t get hung up on
the rules
7. Be Patient — don’t get frustrated
with challenging customers and don’t
be afraid to ask a co‐worker for
assistance

117. Top 10 Service Guide
8. Keep it Simple — do what you
can to make it easy for the
customer

118. Top 10 Service Guide
8. Keep it Simple — do what you
can to make it easy for the
customer
9. Be Positive — your mood is
contagious, spread some
happiness

119. Top 10 Service Guide
8. Keep it Simple — do what you
can to make it easy for the
customer
9. Be Positive — your mood is
contagious, spread some
happiness
10.Do the right thing — when in doubt
trust your guts

120. Questions?

121. Contact Me
Laurie Brown
Laurie@lauriebrown.com