Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal February 2008 Volume 6(1)

Customer care

Are they being served?

Can libraries learn from other service professions such as the retail industry? Neil Paterson decided to find out in an investigation of customer service policies, processes and practices.

As a relative latecomer to the library profession I have been struck by many of the similarities in delivery of customer service between the retail and library sectors. I was trained in customer service techniques and behaviours during my previous 13 years of employment in the retail sector and have often wondered about the practicalities and appropriateness of carrying over those skills and learnings into my library work at Elmwood College in Fife. Is the provision of high quality customer service the same whatever profession you work in?

Having completed my Pg Dip in Information and Library Studies with the Robert Gordon University in 2006, I was then presented with the opportunity to continue onto an MSc. Here was an opportunity to examine and contrast the customer service policies, processes and practices of retailers and libraries objectively. I proposed to investigate the approaches of both high street retailers and further education libraries and see if there were any approaches from the retail sector that could be adopted or adapted in college libraries.

A multi-pronged approach was taken to gather information from the retail sector, the published library literature and the college libraries themselves.

Firstly, as I am still employed at weekends by one of the major high street retailers, I sought and gained permission to use their customer service policies and practices as retail exemplars, supported by similar information gathered from other high street retailers’ web-pages.

Secondly, a literature search for current library approaches to customer services resulted in very little being uncovered from the college sector. Much of the published research was from abroad, particularly America, India and New Zealand, and often originated from within the university sector. What emerged is a well-defined customer service model that exists within the literature as outlined below:

The library’s approach to customer service should be aligned with that of the parent institution. Mission and Vision statements for the library should have been developed.
Library managers should demonstrate, instill and develop a culture of high quality customer service within their library.
Policies and procedures should have been developed in consultation with all the library staff to ensure that a feeling of staff ownership is encouraged.
All staff should then be trained in the emerging customer service techniques and behaviours.
Libraries should seek to engage and gain feedback from their customers during at all opportunities
Customer service policies and procedures should be reviewed on a frequent basis to adapt to meet the changing needs and expectations of customers.

Lastly I arranged interviews with the library managers of three colleges to discuss their approaches to customer service: Aberdeen, Borders and Lauder. All were extremely helpful and they provided rich and valuable data to analyse within the research project.

My research identified that the retail sector adopts a very similar approach to the good practice service model. While this model and customer service techniques can indeed be applied in the library sector, it quickly came to light during my college visits that this approach is not always taken within further education libraries. What was noticeable, however, was that this does not appear to have affected the satisfaction ratings all the libraries were receiving from their customers. In fact the customer relationship within those institutions that only partly followed the good practice model was as strong as those who followed it exactly.

It emerged that in a larger college the good practice model is followed to ensure consistency of customer service standards in all customer-staff service transactions. A more formulaic approach is required to ensure customer service levels are kept at a high level. However, in smaller colleges some do not feel the need to encumber themselves with policy and procedure documentation but have instead taken personal ownership of maintaining the culture of high quality customer service. Staff behaviours and their ongoing personal commitment to customer service set the quality standards. By working closely with their smaller customer base they are continually re-assessing their levels of service and can respond quickly to the changing needs and demands of their customers.

High quality customer service does exist within further education libraries. The proof is in the positive feedback and strong relationships many libraries have with their customer base. Libraries should continue to develop their awareness of their customer needs and expectations and can indeed draw from the examples within other service professions, such as the retail industry.

Neil Paterson is Learning Resource Centre Assistant, Elmwood College, Cupar, Fife.

Information Scotland Vol. 6(1) February 2008

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