The document discusses the importance of customer service and focuses on Nordstrom's approach. It emphasizes that customers are the primary priority and reason an organization exists. Nordstrom aims to continually improve the customer experience through consistent excellent service. The document provides tips for libraries to implement such as choosing words carefully, listening to customers, and training staff to handle difficult patrons.
Fostering Friendships - Enhancing Social Bonds in the Classroom
Customer service in the library
1.
2. At one point or another during a day, we all are
“customers” somewhere or someplace.
We all know what
Good Service
‘looks’ and ‘feels’ like.
And, unfortunately, we all
know what bad service
‘looks’ and ‘feels’ like.
3. Now think about this…
Our customers are not an interruption of
our work.
They are the reason for our work.
11. Customers want to be taken care of and do
business with people that will help them
and make life easier for them.
12. “When Nordstrom considers how it can improve
service and results, it asks itself one question:
‘What would the customer want?’ ”
13. Everything Nordstrom does,
every aspect of its
business is
seen through the lens of the
customer, with the goal of
improving the experience
that a customer
has with Nordstrom.
14. A few more thoughts…
Create a culture of excellence in customer service.
Consistency … always with customer service.
Employees must be committed to excellence in
customer service for the long haul.
15. An interesting anecdote from
Nordstrom’s Annual Report to
Shareholders…the report
ALWAYS opens with:
Dear Customers, Employees, and
Shareholders
16. In our libraries we can teach staff to:
Choose words wisely…they have a great impact
Smile, be friendly
Listen carefully
Put yourself in patron’s shoes
Encourage staff to have a good attitude
Try to make connections with patrons
Train staff in how to deal with difficult people
17. We are here to serve the public, our patrons.
They are the reason for our work.
In conclusion we must all remember
18. Resources
“Brushing up on Patron-Service Skills,” Working
Knowledge, by Elisa F. Topper, (November 2005)
The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence: A
Handbook for Implementing Great Service in Your
Organization by Robert Spector and Patrick D. McCarthy
(Wiley, 2005).
Think & Do: Cultivating Customer Relationships training
materials at www.thinkanddo.us
Editor's Notes
Think about this for a few moments…let this sink in. Picture in your mind what good service looks and feels like. This could be at the grocery story, a shop at the mall, etc. And now picture a time when you have experienced bad service…how does that look and how does that feel. Bad customer service is not a pretty picture and usually leaves us feeling angry, mad, we may have a lot of different emotions. We definitely do not want any of our customers feeling this way…EVER!
Read this over a few times and let this sink in. What does this mean to you?
This is a saying that many of us have heard since childhood. But think about it again now….as it relates to your work in a library … and think about your customers… your patrons.
Again…think about this statement as it relates to working in a library and serving customers…patrons. It’s amazing how one small show of kindness to a person can change their whole outlook or their whole day. That’s a pretty awesome responsibility that we all have to one another.
I would like to use this book as a starting place in our discussion about customer service. “This is a book about creating a corporate culture that encourages and motivates employees to consistently deliver a superior customer service experience for their customers.” I think we can learn a lot from Nordstrom’s philosophy and apply it to our library world… inside our physical libraries, outside our physical libraries, and our presence on our library websites.
As we go through the next several slides, please think about how we can apply this philosophy to customer service in and outside of our libraries.
The Nordstrom philosophy is to Always put the customer at the center of what they do. As librarians do we do this or think this way?
Do we each do this as librarians?
Again, this is part of the Nordstrom philosophy.
** Share anecdote: “Change the Story”
I used to attend some summer workshops put on by Barbara Pederson, Education. She used this philosophy. For example, if someone is passing and speeding by you on the road while driving, perhaps it’s an emergency they are hurrying to. She even suggested, perhaps they really have to use the bathroom. Her philosophy was to Change the story.
When we stop and think about these statements and Nordstrom’s philosophy these are things we ALL want when we are on the receiving end as a customer. We all want things to be easier, not harder.
In our libraries, as we think about how we can improve our service to customers, we need to ask ourselves this same question: What would the customer want? …. Again, though, within reason! ;)
These are a few more thoughts from the Nordstrom Philosophy.
Notice where “customer” is in the salutation! Customer service as priority number one is pervasive throughout their business and culture.
