Delightful Customer Service

A couple of weeks ago something terrible happened: my cell phone broke, making it useless for anything other than answering it. No outgoing calls (unless I knew the number, but I don't even know my own number), no email and worst of all, no texts. As a working mom, I use my phone for a lot more than uploading pics to Facebook--it's how I catch up on work on the subway and how I keep in touch with my son's babysitter (she's 17, so texting is our primary form of communication).

I thought I'd have to replace my phone, which wasn't something I was up for, and was happy to learn that certain stores will do this type of repair. One store, on 32nd street isn't too far from my dentist, so last week when I was early for an appointment I stopped in. I explained what was wrong and said that the phone was part of a family plan under my husband's name and that I hoped that wouldn't be a problem. The woman assisting me wore a name tag that indicated she was Kiana, the store manager. Kiana asked me if I knew the last four digits of his social (um, I don't even know my own phone number) and I said that I could probably find it out if I called him. I used their courtesy phones to call my husband, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't pick up since he was bringing our son to school.

After 4 tries I explained that he wasn't available. She asked for my phone and about 2 seconds later, it was fixed! She suggested that to avoid future inconvenience my husband could add me as an authorized user to the phone plan. I thanked her and joked that I now had thousands of voice mails and texts to catch up on and she invited me to take a seat in their waiting area if I wanted.

At any point during this process she could have turned me away. She could have even turned me away nicely and been entirely within her rights. Instead, she bent the rules a little bit to help me out. It absolutely made my day!

How do you show remorse?

On Saturday, I was pulled over for speeding. Not bad, considering I've been driving since 1987. Bad, considering I was driving much faster than I should have, didn't even notice that I blew past a state trooper and am now $150 lighter, not including any surcharge my insurance may assess.

Strangely, all I could think about was library fines. Eric, David Perry and I recently collaborated on an article about our move to get rid of daily overdue fines. One quote we included is:

An unpopular law will be broken, whether or not there is a penalty. Speed limits are probably the best example of this situation in the United States—a large proportion of drivers exceed the speed limit much of the time. Draconian measures can affect driving speeds, but enforcement at that level is difficult and expensive. Library fines appear to fall in the same category. Borrowers will comply with due dates unless they are inconvenienced enough to believe that keeping the item longer is justified. (Shontz, 1999, p. 84)

The trooper approached the car and said, "Ma'am, do you know why you are being stopped?" I told him I figured I was probably driving too fast. He said, "Ma'am, I was going 75 and you flew past me. Is there a reason you were driving so fast." I said no. I was totally freaked out and knew there was no excuse for it. He pushed the issue, though, asking, "is there a reason why you passed a marked state police car?" Honestly, I didn't notice it. So I said that, which I'm sure made me sound even stupider and less remorseful. I was thinking about our users, so I figured there was something he was expecting me to say. When I talk to a user about a fine I want to hear that they have learned their lesson. By being honest, I just sounded kind of bold and arrogant about the whole thing, even though that wasn't really how I was feeling. But Trooper Diolte probably thinks I have no regard for the law.

When I help a user who has a library fine, am I waiting for some coded acknowledgement on their part before I waive the fine? Could it be that those users who provided that coded acknowledgement do so randomly and the others are out of luck. Clearly, I wasn't on the same wavelength as Trooper Diolte (if I were, I would have received a warning). Is being on the same wavelength as someone who is in a position to waive your fine simply a matter of luck?

I actually have learned my lesson, and I feel like this experience shocked me sufficiently to keep me from excessive speeding for the next 23 years. On my return trip I stayed within 5 miles of the posted speed limit, which is about 20 mph slower than what I was caught for. And, instead of getting to my destination in 4 hours I got there in 4 hours and 15 minutes, with an extra quarter tank of gas, at less risk to my family, and without the risk of further financial penalties. I'm sure this will inform the next interaction I have with a user who doesn't seem to get it, because maybe they actually do.

Foiled! (and not in the holiday leftovers kind of way)

This was my first winter break in New York City. We didn't go anywhere this year and I elected to work the last week of December.

I learned one thing this week:

1) Do not make a two-page long "to do" list and expect to get it done in one week.

Why won't it get done? Because:

a) a blizzard will strike and keep you prisoner in your Brooklyn apartment on Monday
b) some of the colleagues you need to work with to solve a problem will get sick and not come to work
c) students will also get sick and not come to work
d) students will also get stuck in other states while waiting to catch flights back to blizzard-blown NYC
f) you will get sick and feel miserable
g) Aleph will crash on Wednesday
h) the Wiki will also not work
i) the Ariel server will also go down

In all seriousness, though, Aleph crashing couldn't have happened at a better time (during a break). We're also old pros at this by now; Circulation staff could do offline circ and come back online with their eyes closed. Patron inconveniences were few (considering the huge crash in November 2009).

As for the things remaining on my "to do" list, they will have to wait for January.

Happy Holidays Bobst Library! Better luck for 2011 (please)!

Disney

I have a confession to make: There is an email that's been in my in-box since July 21, 2010. It's from the Disney Institute, and it asks me, "Are you ready to D-think your organization?" The D in D-think looks like the one from Walt Disney's signature. I can't bring my self to delete it.

Disney is a company known for excellent staff development and superior customer service. They offer a one-day seminar (held at the Disneyland resort) entitled "Disney's Approach to Quality Service." Lest you think that this is aimed only at theme park employees, the first line of the course description says:

No matter where you dine, shop, or travel, there’s always one thing that you always expect to find: quality service. So, why should your customers [or users] expect anything less?

If I could waive my magic wand and say, "Bibidy Bobidy Boo," I would zap us all to Disneyland to take this course.

I was reminded of this email that I can't part with because of the reference to one of Disney's strategies in the book, The No Asshole Rule, by Robert Sutton,which I'm reading for a class. First off, this is a great little book on workplace civility that I highly recommend. Well, the Disney reference talks about dealing with irate theme park guests. Basically, the passage suggests that, when dealing with angry or upset people, the best strategy (both the most effective and the one that will keep you from going crazy) is to neither blame yourself or the upset (or irrational or hostile) person:

Years ago, a former student of mine took copious notes during her new employee orientation classes at Disney University. Her instructors emphasized that although 99% of guests are nice, the real test is when you are encircled by an angry family of eight who are all hollering at you about all the things that have gone wrong. The new [employees] were instructed to avoid getting angry at or blaming the nasty guests. They were asked to imagine all the awful experiences the family suffered that whipped them into such a hostile state (e.g. to imagine that their car broke down or they just got soaked in the ran) and to not take their anger personally (as it isn't your fault).

Cast members were also reminded to see the abuse as something that wouldn't last long (because most other guests are nice) and that it "didn't need to ruin your day" because, if they "just kept smiling" and treat people as VIPs," it will create friendly interactions with other guests, and might even turn the family that is hollering at you right now into nicer people. (Kindle location 1601)

So, there's a little piece of Disney wisdom. As I was reading this I was thinking about my own experiences on the front lines, with not only library users but also ice-cream buyers and Macy's shoppers. About 10 years worth (and at Macy's there's no such thing as an off-desk project, although I must admit that when I scooped ice cream I often volunteered to dishwash to get a break from the front line), a lot of which wasn't exactly exemplary service. Take it from someone who used to be pretty surly: Things are a lot more pleasant for the service provider if you don't take it personally and treat users like a VIP.

Sharon Thomas

Today I came to the sad realization that November 15th would have been Sharon Thomas' 16th anniversary at Bobst. Since March I have been sending anniversary cards to celebrate the hire date of all of our colleagues in Access Services. I don't get to send one to Sharon. If I did, I'd thank her for her years of service and commitment to doing an excellent job. I'd also thank her for her continual interest in learning, and specifically for her interest in the Service Excellence Initiative. Service Excellence was a lot of work, and there were times that thinking about Sharon's level of engagement in the program gave me the energy to keep moving forward.

At Sharon's funeral I learned that my understanding of Sharon was pretty much shared by everyone she met: she was a genuinely positive person who cared about other people. I certainly saw this in every encounter I had with Sharon and it made me happy to learn that this is simply how she was--in all aspects of her life. In her eulogy, Sharon's minister talked about how it's easy to be nice to people you like and a whole lot more challenging to be nice to people you dislike. Sharon was nice to everyone. Being nice to everyone doesn't always come naturally but since Sharon's funeral I certainly keep it mind more than I used to. I guess you could say that Sharon is still challenging me to be a better person.

Some problems are NOT here to stay!

This semester, we've seen more patrons loaded into Aleph, patron barcodes being loaded into Aleph, and single sign-on for ILL accounts. These three things may seem small, especially to our users, but for us, they've had a big impact.

Here in ILL, we used to get maybe 20 users a day who needed to have accounts created, updated, or corrected. In the few weeks since Sydney and I sat down with Barnaby Alter (Web Developer), David Perry (Database Administrator), and Scot Dalton (Systems), our routine patrons login problems have disappeared. Another great thing to come out of this was David's load of Medical, Dental, or Law status into a specific field in Aleph, allowing the ILL staff to determine whether the patron has ILL with us or with another library.

It was amazing to work with this group of people toward a common goal: to get things to work correctly. The work was collaborative, we all brought our own skills to the table, and relayed each others' concerns in a way that was exemplary teamwork.

This experience has encouraged me to reach out to others outside of Access Services more often, to look for opportunities to work with others, even if it's just a 2 minute phone call. I've noticed, also, that when I reach out to them, it opens a door for them to reach out to me. They've been calling me with questions, questions that were not asked before probably because they didn't know I existed or what I did, or if I was the correct person to ask.

For all those who are looking to build bridges between Access Services and other departments of the library, I encourage you to start building by actively seeking opportunities to communicate. Communicating is the only way to put our names and jobs and skills on the map for other people, the only way for them to know that we are the right people to ask and that we have the answer they are looking for.

Communication, Transparency, and Holistic Service

As supervisor of Offsite Storage, a department that works regularly with so many different part of the library, I’ve always had to do a lot of communicating across the divides. Since becoming a part of Access Services, this aspect of my job has become even more pronounced.

I think this is largely due to Offsite Storage becoming more high-profile during the planning of the 2010 Renovation and its resultant need to coordinate related workflows with a larger number of faculty and staff members than ever before.

But I have also come to see it as part of a larger context: the push toward a new “Holistic Service Model” as discussed at the last Division of Libraries meeting a few months ago.

One of the themes that comes up a lot when discussing the “Holistic Service Model” - and which also came up a lot during Access Services' year-long Service Excellence Initiative - is transparency.

Personally, I find that good communication goes hand-in-hand with transparency. Good communication should be as clear as possible in its aims and in the information it is providing. However, this is much easier said than done!

What seems clear to one person might be totally confusing to another. It can be hard to step outside yourself and your own experience, especially when you’re deeply entrenched in the nitty-gritty. This is something that most of us have probably struggled with at one point or another, either at work, at home or in the outside world. It's also something that can always be improved upon. Sometimes all it takes is just that little extra bit of self-awareness and kindness.

Also, making it known that information is out there for all to find - on the Wiki, for example - is easier... done than done? What I mean is, no matter how well-organized and accurate a Wiki page may be, you can never be sure that its intended audience will take the time to consult it. Sometimes this sort of knowledge-gap can be fixed by a simple private e-mail or phone call, too.


I guess I'm taking the long way 'round to saying this:

The “Holistic Service Model” isn't just about making things better for library users, but for ourselves as well. I like to think of Offsite Storage as a good testing ground for this philosophy, since we don't usually deal directly with users but are nonetheless always interested in ways to provide better service - via coordination, communication, transparecy, and plain old friendliness! - to coworkers and colleagues. And I like to think that by doing so, we are indirectly improving upon service to all users anyway!


Now if only I could succeed in setting up simple and transparent mini-workflows during my upcoming maternity leave... :)