Now! That's What I call customer Service!

Now! That’s What I Call Customer Service Julie Strange & Cathay Crosby | MLA 2009

“ customer service”

the experience

zero

priceless

the basics customer focus moments of truth empowered staff

empower your staff

“ charged a 50-cent late fee while turning in a book that her late mother had checked out of a Harrison Public Library branch.”

Welcome to Nordstrom We're glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them. Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules. Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.

on your customers

acknowledge them

active listening is key

talk to them!

Engage your customers Embrace them as co-creators embrace customers as co-creators

set expectations

use all your tools

don’t be a barrier, find a way

Anything else I can help with? Good luck on the test! Have a good night!

(An update on) email reference as a quality service to Maryland library patrons

Patrons asked more questions about library policies.

Patrons asked more factual questions, including questions that begin with “Can you answer…?”

F2F people seem more engaged in the interaction

Charlotte Ford, Ph.D., “Questions Asked in Face-to-Face, Chat, & E-mail Reference Interactions” Three key differences

Maryland AskUsNow! Email Reference A passion for excellence in a Zen state of mind Maryland AskUsNow!

Basic Email

The service is assigned a simple email address provided on the library web site. If user wants to submit a question, they can just click on the link, which in turn launches the user's email software (such as Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, etc.) The user then fills out the email and sends it to the library via the user's email software.

Web Forms

User fills out a form on the library web site and clicks a button to send it via email to the library.

Two commonly- used types of email reference

Comparison of email reference service: web form, email address, both or none *Note: Enoch Pratt/SLRC was grouped with public libraries 2 1 10 21 34 Academic Libraries 1 0 4 2 7 Special Libraries (a sampling) 0 0 2 1 3* Regional Libraries* 1 0 6 17 24 Public Library Systems None Both Email Address Web Form # of libraries (systems/locations)

Simple email (wide open to any type of question) -  and 

Could necessitate clarification more often  .

Tracking timely responses can be challenging - 

Stats are usually broadbased -  or  - depending upon what the library system needs

Email links depend upon patron’s email client (i.e. Outlook? Web-based?). Patron might have to cut & paste address in. 

Email versus web forms: email

Form’s fields helps think more specifically about question -  and  - (depending upon how this is used)

May be too specialized for patron use (an email form for every department and/or service) - 

Tracking and follow up - 

If QP is used

Keeps everything in one place 

Scripts are easy to configure and use 

Training focuses on the same software 

Reports are consistent with chat and easy to generate 

No additional expense if chat is already used 

Dependency on QP software (maintenance, troubleshooting, updates)  and 

Email versus web forms: forms

Sample

our email of our library.

“ I am looking for an answer. Is filling out this form worth it?” If I spend x amount of time filling out their form, will I get y in z minutes?

An estimated weekly number of reference–related emails received by 14 Maryland libraries Note: These figures reflect typical weeks during January – April 2009. 55 Library 9 Public Libraries 55.571 Avg. per week: 389 Total: 10 Library 10 40 Library 8 88 Library 7 12.5 Library 6 70 Library 5 77 Library 4 7 Library 3 28 Library 2 1.5 Library 1 # received / week Academic Libraries 1.214 Avg. per week: 8.5 Total: 2.5 Library 3 1 Library 2 5 Library 1 # received / week Special Libraries 9.714 Avg. per week: 68 Total: 11 Library 2 57 Library 1 # received / week

Hello Cathay Crosby, The Library of Congress first began using email as a reference tool in 1994. For further details, you can review the following timeline of major milestones in the Library's use of the Internet to share resources with the public: < http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/libsci/faq.html#11 > According to the timeline, on November 7, 1994, the Library's National Reference Service (NRS) began a pilot project to respond to reference queries received over the Internet at the email address lcref@loc.gov (no longer active). Many questions were referred by NRS to email accounts maintained by other areas of the Library. Later, in the summer of 1995, the National Reference Services established lcinfo@loc.gov (no longer active), a centralized Internet email address for online inquiries to LC. The Library's current Ask a Librarian service (< http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ >) did not debut until June 2002. I hope this answers your question. If there is anything else that I can do, please let me know. Sincerely, The Digital Reference Team Library of Congress “ The Library of Congress first began using email as a reference tool in 1994. ”

The Essential Personality Piece

Elements to a good answer

Opening Greeting

Acknowledgement

Answer

Teach to Fish

Closing

Answer Checklist

personable interaction is essential

Resource not immediately available

Librarian needs time to locate info

Technical problems

Abrupt disconnect

Email reference as follow-up

It’s here to stay

Web forms seem to be preferred

Good for follow-up

Key Recommendations:

Use two (or more) resources in your answer

Have a team schedule for timeliness

Methods and training for answering offer consistency

Why email again?

Julie Strange [email_address] http://strangelibrarian.org Cathay Crosby [email_address] Anything else we can help you with? www.askusnow.info/presentations