The document discusses customer feedback and complaint handling in libraries. It provides examples of complaints that may arise in libraries and factors that can influence the number of complaints. The document also outlines management's commitment to complaint handling, methods for collecting customer feedback, and the process for addressing complaints in a positive manner to improve customer satisfaction. Effective complaint handling is positioned as a key part of customer service.

2. "NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY, SOONER
OR LATER YOU'RE GOING TO FOUL UP.”
" NO LIBRARY CAN PROVIDE SERVICE WITHOUT
MAKING AN OCCASIONAL ERROR.”
(Robinson, 1984)

3. COMPLAINT
CONTAINS AN ITEM WHICH OFFENDS SOMEONE
OR DOES NOT CONTAIN AN ITEM WANTED BY
ANOTHER.
(Robinson, 1984)

4. EXAMPLES OF COMPLAINTS
•STAFF ARE NOT ALWAYS JOLLY, EMPATHETIC, ATTRACTIVE, AND
COMPETENT.
•THE BUILDING MAY BE TOO WARM OR TOO COOL.
•RESTROOMS MAY BE DIRTY AND FURNITURE UNATTRACTIVE AND
UNCOMFORTABLE.
•PATRONS AND STAFF MAY BE TOO NOISY FOR THOSE WHO VALUE QUIET.
(Robinson, 1984)

5. RESULTS IN HANDLING COMPLAINT
•EXIT OPTION - SOME PATRONS WILL STOP USING THE
LIBRARY
•VOICE OPTION - TO EXPRESS DISSATISFACTION IN AN
ATTEMPT TO CHANGE THINGS
Hirschman, Albert O. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty; Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations,
and States. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970, pp. 4, 30, 31, 33, 37.
(Robinson, 1984)

6. “When the exit option is limited, patrons are more
likely to complain. When patrons believe that
voice will be effective, they will postpone exit.
The library which hopes to attract and retain
patrons should reduce the cost and increase the
rewards of using the voice option.”
(Robinson, 1984)

7. THE LIBRARY’S RESPONSE
The complaint, regardless of source or
subject, should be seen as a normal part
of providing a complex, sophisticated and
expensive service to the public.
(Robinson, 1984)

8. TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF
OPINION
NOT AN ADMISSION OF FAILURE, GUILT, ERROR, OR INCOMPETENCY BUT RATHER
A RECOGNITION THAT COMPLAINTS ARE INEVITABLE;
THE LIBRARIAN MUST BE PREPARED TO DEAL WITH
COMPLAINTS THOUGHTFULLY AND WITH DUE
PROCESS.
(Robinson, 1984)

9. CAUSE THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS IN
LIBRARIES TO INCREASE.
• CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN GENERAL - Consumers are better
educated, more sophisticated and more demanding than they
have been in the past.
• PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE INCREASINGLY COMPLEX AND ARE MORE
DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND OR USE WITHOUT GUIDANCE.
• BECAUSE OF MANY SHARED NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES, including
those appearing in the media, consumers may be suspicious
of organizations that provide products and services
(Robinson, 1984)

10. RESPONSE OF LIBRARIES
•TRADITIONAL RESPONSE: "AD HOCISM“ - Complaints are dealt with
as they appear, without planning and without any
particular attempt to recognize that complaints are a
regular, continuing part of providing service to the
public.
•APPROPRIATE RESPONSE - Complaint handling should be an
activity which continues to affect individual patrons
on a daily basis.
(Robinson, 1984)

11. FEEDBACK COMMITMENT LEVELS
Metric-
conscious
Active
“listeners”
Reluctant, complaint
(Timm, 2011)

12. (Timm, 2011)

13. MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT
“The single most important ingredient
in creating an effective complaint
handling program is management
commitment.”
(Robinson, 1984)

14. MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT means
•RECOGNIZING THAT MAXIMIZING PATRON SATISFACTION
IS THE CORNERSTONE OF LIBRARY SERVICE
(Robinson, 1984)

15. TWO WAYS TO INCREASE SATISFACTION
•TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE SERVICE - Eliminates the
dissatisfactions which cause complaints.
•TO IMPROVE COMPLAINT HANDLING. - Identifies problem
areas to be corrected and helps to eliminate
complaints in the future
(Robinson, 1984)

16. MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT means
•RECOGNIZING THAT MAXIMIZING PATRON SATISFACTION IS THE
CORNERSTONE OF LIBRARY SERVICE
•THE RECOGNITION GIVEN PATRON SATISFACTION IN
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND BY MANAGEMENT
REACTION TO PATRON OPTION.
(Robinson, 1984)

17. MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT means
• RECOGNIZING THAT MAXIMIZING PATRON SATISFACTION IS THE CORNERSTONE OF LIBRARY SERVICE
• THE RECOGNITION GIVEN PATRON SATISFACTION IN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND BY
MANAGEMENT REACTION TO PATRON OPTION.
•DISCUSSIONS OF APPROPRIATE COMPLAINT HANDLING TECHNIQUES SHOULD
BE PART OF THE ORIENTATION/TRAINING PROVIDED NEW STAFF MEMBERS,
BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND NONPROFESSIONAL, AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO
RECEIVE EMPHASIS IN STAFF MEETINGS AFTERWARD.
(Robinson, 1984)

18. MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT means
• RECOGNIZING THAT MAXIMIZING PATRON SATISFACTION IS THE CORNERSTONE OF LIBRARY SERVICE
• THE RECOGNITION GIVEN PATRON SATISFACTION IN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND BY MANAGEMENT
REACTION TO PATRON OPTION.
• DISCUSSIONS OF APPROPRIATE COMPLAINT HANDLING TECHNIQUES SHOULD BE PART OF THE ORIENTATION/TRAINING
PROVIDED NEW STAFF MEMBERS, BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND NONPROFESSIONAL, AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO RECEIVE
EMPHASIS IN STAFF MEETINGS AFTERWARD.
•THE LIBRARY SOLICITS REACTIONS RATHER THAN MERELY REACTING
TO UNSOLICITED COMPLAINTS.
(Robinson, 1984)

19. CURRENT TREND
“WHEN ISO 13485 HIT THE SCENE, THEY TALKED ABOUT
FEEDBACK RATHER THAN COMPLAINTS.
THEIR FOCUS WAS ALL ABOUT SOLICITING FEEDBACK AND BEING PROACTIVE IN HOW YOU APPROACH
POST-MARKET SURVEILLANCE.”
(Spear, 2017)

20. “CUSTOMER FEEDBACK”
IS THE BIGGER UMBRELLA UNDER
WHICH COMPLAINT HANDLING SITS.
(Spear, 2017)

22. THE PROCESS (Tousley, 2019)

23. (Tousley, 2019)

25. (Tousley, 2019)

26. (Tousley, 2019)

27. (Tousley, 2019)

28. SURVEYING METHODS TO COLLECTING
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
1. RESPONSE CARDS – Offers the ability to gather data from a large
number of customers at al times or specific times
2. SURVEYS – Benefits include certainty and immediacy of the reaction,
the ability to record longer answers, the specificity of the
interaction and the assessment, and the opportunity to ask
follow-up questions
3. SUGGESTION BOSS – involves comments, both signed and anonymous, that
presumably make respondents more willing to be honest in their
appraisal
(Torado & Smith, 2004)

29. SURVEYING METHODS TO COLLECTING
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK (continued)
4. CLIPBOARDS AND OTHER PUBLIC METHODS – Where threads can develop where one
respondent notes what other respondents have written and adds to it
5. COMPLAINT FORMS – Necessary for those situations when customer wants to
challenge a library policy or procedure and that concern must be
routed up the chain of command
6. MYSTERY SHOPPERS – Can provide valuable information about customer
service in the organization
(Torado & Smith, 2004)

30. SURVEYING METHODS TO COLLECTING
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK (continued)
7. FOCUS GROUP – Includes regular users as well those who do not use the
library. It can relay information needed about needed services and how
to improve existing services
8. OBSERVATION – used to gather specific, accurate information about how
scripts are being used, how interactions such as greetings and closures
are occurring, how processes might be followed, and how conflicts are
being handled.
9. INTERVIEWS - an expanded, targeted approach to identifying customers who
have been serves and requesting an in-depth interview for assessing
their levels of satisfaction with customer service they received.
(Torado & Smith, 2004)

31. (Spear, 2017)

32. (Spear, 2017)

33. REFERENCES
• Robinson, W. C., & Illinois Univ., U. G. S. Of L. And I. S. (1984). Complaint Handling In The Library. Occasional
Papers Number 166. Retrieved From
Https://Www.Ideals.Illinois.Edu/Bitstream/Handle/2142/3927/Gslisoccasionalpv00000i00166.Pdf?S
• Speer, J. (2017, December 5). How To Integrate Complaint Handling And Risk Management. Greenlight Guru
(2019). Retrieved From Https://Www.Greenlight.Guru/Blog/How-to-integrate-complaint-handling-and-
risk-management
• Timm, P. (2011). Customer service : carrer success through customer loyalty. 5th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.
• Torado, J. & Smith, M. (2004). Training Library Staff And Volunteers To Provide Extraordinary Customer
Service. New York: Neal- Schuman Publishers, Inc.
• Tousley, S. Customer Feedback Strategy: The Only Guide You'll Ever Need. Hubsopt (2019). Retrieved From
Https://Www.Hubspot.Com/Customer-feedback