Library Circulation Student Assistant training

1. Customer Service

2. What's in this
Slideshow?
• Worst & Best Practices in Customer
Service
• Uninviting vs. Welcoming Behaviors
• 10/5 Rule
• Average vs. Awesome Initiative
• Resetting the Clock
• Empowering the Staff

3. Worst & Best Customer Service
Worst
• Think about the worst customer
service you've
ever experienced.
• Why was it so bad?
Best
• Think about the best
customer service
you've ever experienced.
• Why was it so good?

4. Customer
Services
Best Practices
Be approachable
The 10/5 Rule
Taking Initiative
Resetting the Clock
Empowering the Staff

5. Be
Approachable
• Maintain a customer-
centered attitudeMaintain
• Cultivate welcoming
behaviorsCultivate
• Avoid uninviting
behaviorsAvoid

6. Uninviting vs. Welcoming Behaviors
Uninviting Behaviors
• ripped or stained clothing
• F*ck Ithaca Tee-shirts
• face is buried in a book or
a computer monitor
• Not wearing nametags
• Frowning
• Eye-rolling
Welcoming Behaviors
• neat and clean appearance
• Smiling when customers make
eye-contact
• wearing nametags
• Saying "Hi" & "Have a nice day"
to customers

7. The 10/5 Rule
10 feet away,
make eye-contact
5 feet away, say
“Hi” and offer help

8. The 10/5 Rule
Observe customers even if they're not
approaching the desk
•Maybe they’re confused or unsure which way to go
Observe
Notice body language and social cues
•Maybe they’re nervous about asking for help
•People hate to be seen as helpless or incompetent
Notice
Offer help before they askOffer

9. Taking Initiative
a. That which initiates, begins, or originates; the first step in some
process or enterprise; hence the act, or action, of initiating or
taking the first step or lead; beginning, commencement,
origination.
b. to take the initiative: to take the lead, make the first step, originate
some action.
"initiative, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018,
www.oed.com/view/Entry/96070. Accessed 28 September 2018.
initiative, n.

10. Average vs. Awesome Initiative
Average
• When asked for directions, tell
the customer where to go
• Complete tasks when told
• When asked a question,
answering “I don’t know.”
• Do what’s required
• Follow
• Get paid
Awesome
• When asked for directions, get up
and take them
• Complete tasks before being told
• When asked a question, answering
“I don’t know but I’ll find out.”
• Do a little extra
• Lead
• Get a raise, get promoted, get
references for grad school or
professional employment

11. Resetting the Clock
• Imagine every time a customer comes
up to you, a stopwatch starts
• Most of the time, customers are gone
in seconds
• More serious issue may require full-
time staff, but the clock is ticking away
• Remember what it's like to wait
forever in a waiting room when you
don't know what is going on

12. Resetting the Clock
• Inform the customer at every step
• Check-in on the customer if there's a
delay
• Help the customer feel respected & their
time valued by taking responsibility for
their satisfaction

13. Empowering the Staff: Things
You Can Do
• Override blocks in Alma
• Allow customers to print/copy 10 pages
in an emergency
• Make recommendations to change
procedures
• Waive fines in Alma (Student Supervisors
only)