providing excellent customer service in the law library

HOLD THE PICKLES

hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you

Vanessa Uribe, El Dorado County Law Library

Kelly Browne, Sacramento County Public Law Library

our presentation

• What to Take Home

• Objective

• Our Current Situation and How We can Make the

Best of it

program inspiration

• Zingerman’s Delicatessen, Ann Arbor Michigan

• ZingTrain

• In Person Customer Service Training

bringing it back to the library

building a culture of customer service

1. TEACH IT

2. DEFINE IT

3. LIVE IT

4. MEASURE IT

5. REWARD IT

service culture assessment

number one: teach it

Discussion:

•Engage people in open-ended questions:

• Why is great customer service so hard to find?

• Why is it even important?

• Is customer service a skill you are born with?

• Can it be taught? (5-90-5)

case study: Sacramento County Public Law Library

Teach it!

• By example . . . From Top Down

• Training Materials/Documented Procedures/Workshops

• If we are not 100% satisfied with a patron interaction, we discuss it and develop a consistent way of handling it

• We also teach the Patrons!

Jon Greacen, No Legal Advice from Court Personnel . . . What Does that Mean? 34 Judges Journal 10 (1995).

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luckily,

the

policies

are also

available

on the

wiki . . .

ALWAYSreviewpreviousquestionsand ongoingpatron researchduringreferenceandcirculationdesk handoffs!

number two: define It

Question:

• What does great customer service look like at your organization?

defining it........continued

Two Parts:

•The Positive: The steps to providing great

service

•The Negative: The steps to handling customer

complaints

defining great customer service: three steps

1. Figure out what the

guest wants

2. Get it for them

3. Go the “Extra Mile”

defining it........continued

Step 1: Figure out what the guest wants

Open-ended questions, restate request, be an active listener

10/4 rule

Step 2: Get it for them

Accurately

Politely

Enthusiastically

Step 3: Go the “Extra Mile”

What is an Extra mile?

Definition: Doing something for our customers that they did not ask

us for

five steps to effectively handling customer complaints

1. Acknowledge the complaint

2. Sincerely Apologize

3. Take action to make things right

4. Thank the guest

5. Document the complaint

a note on fairness:

Fairness is on another planet

case study: Sacramento County Public Law Library

Define It

• When the patron feels you have made your best effort to help them. They will be appreciative even if you can’t really help in the end.

• Defined by a satisfied customer, even if they ended up with something different than what they thought they wanted.

what does great customer service look like?

• Two words: Eye contact!

• Drop what you’re doing! Come around to the other side!

• Affirmation of frustration

• The default answer is “yes!” We have something . . .

• If it doesn’t exist . . . make it!

• Make research a team effort with the patron

• Bring in a colleague

• Never point! Where is the Copy Machine? Lead the patron

to it while explaining copies are 15¢, it takes $1s & $5s . . .

• Encourage them to come back to the desk if they have any

more questions

the “extra mile”• No such thing as “that’s not my job.”• Make the experience of coming here as painless as possible

• Parking Maps• Lists of area services like ATMs, payphones, notaries, process

servers, etc.

• Check the public library catalog for the call number and holdings

and Amazon for the price to buy it

• Teach people how to use their phones vibration feature instead

of just saying “turn off your phone.”

• Show a young woman who was being followed an alternate exit

from the building to ensure her safety

• Show how to change the footer in a Word document

handling complaints

• We are HUGE fans of the 5 steps to handling complaints . . .

Because they work!

• The Importance of Backing Up Your Staff

fairness

And now for a word on those patrons with mental illness . . .

• All individuals should be given the same amount of respect, attention, and assistance, and as such, should be required to follow the same rules to the same extent as all others, regardless of any form of disability.

• It is a disservice to our patrons to not have structure or to arbitrarily enforce the structure due to the belief that a patron has some form of mental illness.

• All individuals, regardless of mental illness, are capable of understanding limits, as long as they are presented clearly and consistently.

number three: live it

“We need to distinguish between the values and visions to which we give lip service and those that are truly the basis for our actions”

- Sam Keen, Hymns to an Unknown God

systems should support great service

Why have systems?

• Systems should lead to better service!!!!

Mission/Vision

Values

Culture Systems

Results

case study:Sacramento County Public Law Library

Live It

“I see exemplary customer service every day in the law library and find that it is just who we are and what we do.”

“The teaching techniques already mentioned also help build or reinforce our customer service culture – we talk about it so much that good customer service is part of our everyday routine at this point.”

creating a culture of excellent customer service

• Trust• Communication• Respect• Put your own ego aside

systems in the way

What is the purpose of the system?

Is the purpose still valid?

No: change the system

Yes: can you provide excellent customer service in another way?

Ex: Policy that patrons cannot use their own discs in library PCs.

Is the purpose (security) still valid?

No: change the system

Ex: Non-Sacramento County residents may not borrow material.

Is the purpose (source of funds) still valid?

Yes, but can provide excellent customer service by selling flash drives and showing how to download from subscription databases

number four: measure it

• Systems role in customer service

• In order to gauge how well systems are operating, you have to measure

their effectiveness

Examples of customer service measurement tools:

• “Code Red”

• “Code Green”

case study:Sacramento County Public Law Library

Measure It

• Uh . . . We’re not so good at this.

• We just couldn’t face another form.

number five: reward it

• Professional Advancement

• Group Rewards

QUESTION:

What does your organization do to reward great customer service? How can they do it better?

case study:Sacramento County Public Law Library

Reward It

• Performance Evaluation

• Annual Report

• Certificates

• Donation Box

• Recognition from Peers

• Recognition from Patrons

• Group recognition

• Emails to “ALL”• Kudos!

customer service in law libraries

Listserv Questions:

• What are the differences between CS in public libraries

and law libraries?

• What are the barriers to providing great customer service

in your library?

responses!

•Mental health issues/problem patrons

•Burnout and “compassion fatigue”

•Patrons have unrealistic expectations of staff

•Patrons and staff “not speaking the same language”

(legaleze)

•Staff perception of patrons

•Need more real-world training (“I need a social work degree”)

other observationsSimilar themes between public and law libraries

• Need more training• Inadequate facilities and signage• Communication problems with patrons (language, library

jargon)

Big Differences

• PL: Place greater “blame” on staff than patrons, very concerned with blind adherence to library policies getting in the way of service

• LL: Focus/”blame” on patrons and their personality and “lack of understanding”. Few concerns with policies and library culture.

original training feedback

Extremely positive

Too Short- more time needs to be dedicated to CS training

“Systems in the Way” needs to be better highlighted

More time for role playing

Need to make sure that there is continuing education, forms in

library for staff, reminders,....etc

solutions?

Do you think the overwhelming focus on patrons is valid?

What can we do the bridge the “language gap” and better educate patrons about what we offer as an organization?

What can we do as a workplace to improve the customer service that we provide our patrons?

thank you!

Vanessa Uribe, El Dorado County Law Library

edlawlibrary@gmail.com, 530-621-6423

Kelly Browne, Sacramento County Public Law Library

kbrowne@saclaw.org, 916-874-7427