Jill Stover turns out to be my hero just about every time she posts something. Here’s an excerpt from her thoughts about building relationships with our customers:
As librarian-marketers invite patrons to co-create their services with them (a modern marketing phenomenon), and as patrons take it upon themselves to define the library brand and promote the library through word-of-mouth, they actually become a part of services we provide. Therefore, when we “sell” library services to patrons we’re actually selling a part of our patrons’ creativity, ambitions, and accomplishments. In effect, we’re selling a relationship.
Not only does Jill implicitly highlight the importance of incorporating customer input into the development and design of library services, but she also highlights the value of establishing a brand, some kind of identity for the valuable services that a library provides.
On top of that, she also point out how the day-to-day, word-of-mouth interactions forge our relationships with our customers and our communities. As with almost any other organization, a library’s relationship with its customers is shaped by how we handle the everyday circulation transactions and reference interviews. Simple things like a smile, or eye contact, or even just making an effort to show genuine interest in a customer’s concern really go a long way, and they really help us go the extra mile in answering a difficult reference question, or finding that book that says it should be checked in. These interactions are what make the likes of Kurt Vonnegut, Maya Angelou, and Garrison Keillor extol the virtues of our institutions.
On a related note, check out “Learn a Customer’s Name and Build Loyalty” from Service Untitled. If I’ve established a good rapport with a regular customer, I make an effort to learn his or her name, and I usually make an effort to use it when appropriate. Remembering and using the name also helps me build a more personal relationship with a customer, and I’m able to follow-up about some of the things that they’ve asked me about, say, in reference interviews.
For example, I helped a customer find information about touring Italy, and the next time I saw him, I was able to ask him about how planning his trip was going. It’s a small gesture, but it’s still one that helps me represent the library as a friendly service organization that is eager to help him — an organization that appreciates the opportunity to help him.
On the flip side of this, it’s worth noting the times when customers make an effort to appreciate us. I remember an older couple (two of our regulars) who came in simply to return books and then to say to the people at the Help Desk, “We’re going to our house in another state for the summer, but we wanted to thank you for the wonderful service you provide.” There’s also a gentleman who comes in to use the computers in the early morning just after we open, and about every three weeks or so, he brings a couple boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts. He never makes a big deal out of it — he just smiles and says, “Here, these are for you.”
Sometimes it’s the small gestures that make the biggest impact, both on how we do our jobs and on how we feel about our jobs. Admittedly, it’s just a kind word or a even simply donut — but it makes me feel good that at least a few of our customers don’t take what we do for granted.
