Customer Service Training
An email went out to all library personnel that they were to attend a mandatory meeting yesterday that would review customer service. I hope the irony is already swirling around your head, as (let's face it) many librarians have the same attitude as your local DMV worker. Unlike other offices I have worked in, what the library staff as a whole lacks in gossipy bullcrap is more than made up for with social ineptitude. Some might find their direct communication style refreshing, as you certainly can't accuse the librarians of wasting your time with chit chat. That said, their "directness" has recently come under fire and the peeps in power decided it would be good to remind them of some simple Do's and Do Not Do's of basic customer service:
Do
Acknowledge people with a word or nod
Make eye contact
Ask May I help you?
Listen to what they are saying
Do Not Do
Ignore people
Sigh or roll your eyes
React angrily to their questions
My favorite is, of course, "react angrily to their questions". I would love to see one of the library staff just lose their shit and get all nasty with a student or client. Another piece to the presentation were sections utilizing ridiculous examples, script style, which were not only hard to follow as there was only one speaker, but they were also lame (provided is one of the actual "anger" examples I took notes on):
Librarian: Can I help you?
Student: Yes, I was looking for a book.
Librarian: Do you know what book?
Student: Well, I was reading from an article in my class, it was an article by Robert Smith, but I can't remember the book.
Librarian: (frustrated) Can you remember the title of the article?
Student: No
Librarian: (screaming) WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD LEARN HOW TO WRITE THINGS DOWN SO YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR!!!!!!!!!!
We also learned that students, staff, faculty and other community members are all the same! A member is a member, no matter who they are. Diversity rules! So, we have to treat all our members the same. In my mind, this means that somewhere along the line, some librarian somewhere was taking a member's ID card and said something like:
Librarian: Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Johnson. We can't help you.
Mr. Johnson: (community member, looking around confused): But, I have a membership here. All I want is to know where the journals are kept.
Librarian (quietly sneering): Yes, but you see I can't help you.
Mr. Johnson: Why is that?
Librarian (leaning closer): Mr. Johnson, we don't help your "kind".
A little customer service refresher is good for everyone from time to time. But taking a bunch of grown adults and giving them a customer service lecture obviously geared towards sales clerks and, well, customer service support specialists was a hilarious waste of time. My boss and peer were seated on either side of me and we all got a nasty case of the church giggles through the presentation, and especially during the video.
We watched a video in which a male actor, let's call him Phil, chewed the scenery while fantasizing about different scenarios in which he either had bad or good customer service. Set in a diner, his primary example was a loud-mouthed, hospitable southern woman of generous size. She zipped all over the restaurant, talking to folks and serving them while Phil pointed out how much he loved the place. "That's Mary," he said at one point far too articulately, "the food's okay, but I come here because of her. Just look at her!" Mary, in an equally scenery chewing performance, was basically yelling at the other actors, "Y'ALL WANT SOMMORE HAESHBROWNS?!?! (To an exiting couple) Y'ALL COME BACK NOW, 'YA HEAR?!?!" At one moment in the presentation, Phil talked of the importance for people in customer service situations to use the customer's name. If my bank, who has all of my most sensitive information uses my name, that's cool. I mean, they can look at my social security number for pete's sake. But if my local librarian says "thank you Mr. Moore" not because she knows me but because she read it off my membership card, I will leave the library totally creeped out.
Aside from all the over-the-top examples Phil gave was the fact that the sugary sweet kind of customer service he was explaining would hopefully not be found in a library. People aren't there to chat. They're not there to socialize. They're there to study and research particularly in a university library. If every time I checked out a book for my thesis and the student assistant said, "How's the research going, Mr. Moore?", I would be inclined to give them a bewildered head tilt, not feel placated by their false attempt at sincerity.
Do
Acknowledge people with a word or nod
Make eye contact
Ask May I help you?
Listen to what they are saying
Do Not Do
Ignore people
Sigh or roll your eyes
React angrily to their questions
My favorite is, of course, "react angrily to their questions". I would love to see one of the library staff just lose their shit and get all nasty with a student or client. Another piece to the presentation were sections utilizing ridiculous examples, script style, which were not only hard to follow as there was only one speaker, but they were also lame (provided is one of the actual "anger" examples I took notes on):
Librarian: Can I help you?
Student: Yes, I was looking for a book.
Librarian: Do you know what book?
Student: Well, I was reading from an article in my class, it was an article by Robert Smith, but I can't remember the book.
Librarian: (frustrated) Can you remember the title of the article?
Student: No
Librarian: (screaming) WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD LEARN HOW TO WRITE THINGS DOWN SO YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR!!!!!!!!!!
We also learned that students, staff, faculty and other community members are all the same! A member is a member, no matter who they are. Diversity rules! So, we have to treat all our members the same. In my mind, this means that somewhere along the line, some librarian somewhere was taking a member's ID card and said something like:
Librarian: Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Johnson. We can't help you.
Mr. Johnson: (community member, looking around confused): But, I have a membership here. All I want is to know where the journals are kept.
Librarian (quietly sneering): Yes, but you see I can't help you.
Mr. Johnson: Why is that?
Librarian (leaning closer): Mr. Johnson, we don't help your "kind".
A little customer service refresher is good for everyone from time to time. But taking a bunch of grown adults and giving them a customer service lecture obviously geared towards sales clerks and, well, customer service support specialists was a hilarious waste of time. My boss and peer were seated on either side of me and we all got a nasty case of the church giggles through the presentation, and especially during the video.
We watched a video in which a male actor, let's call him Phil, chewed the scenery while fantasizing about different scenarios in which he either had bad or good customer service. Set in a diner, his primary example was a loud-mouthed, hospitable southern woman of generous size. She zipped all over the restaurant, talking to folks and serving them while Phil pointed out how much he loved the place. "That's Mary," he said at one point far too articulately, "the food's okay, but I come here because of her. Just look at her!" Mary, in an equally scenery chewing performance, was basically yelling at the other actors, "Y'ALL WANT SOMMORE HAESHBROWNS?!?! (To an exiting couple) Y'ALL COME BACK NOW, 'YA HEAR?!?!" At one moment in the presentation, Phil talked of the importance for people in customer service situations to use the customer's name. If my bank, who has all of my most sensitive information uses my name, that's cool. I mean, they can look at my social security number for pete's sake. But if my local librarian says "thank you Mr. Moore" not because she knows me but because she read it off my membership card, I will leave the library totally creeped out.
Aside from all the over-the-top examples Phil gave was the fact that the sugary sweet kind of customer service he was explaining would hopefully not be found in a library. People aren't there to chat. They're not there to socialize. They're there to study and research particularly in a university library. If every time I checked out a book for my thesis and the student assistant said, "How's the research going, Mr. Moore?", I would be inclined to give them a bewildered head tilt, not feel placated by their false attempt at sincerity.
posted by Infused Confusion at
8:20 AM
1 Comments:
I don't know, man. I worked at the reference desk of the Knight Library for one term and at a bookstore for several months and I've had the conversation over looking for a book without knowing the title way too many times.
Bookstore customer: Uhm, so like, I heard about this book on TV, but it was like, the last few minutes of a show and I was just channel surfing and I don't remember the title/author's name/subject but it sounded really great. The author had brown hair. Have you heard of it?
I wish I were exaggerating. I've heard those actual words come out of people's mouths.
However, it sounds like your training was absolutely ridiculous.
Fun times.
By
Copy Editor, At
3:56 PM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home