Volume 2, No. 11
Coordinator's Corner: Customer Service
Recently, I attended a workshop on customer service and wanted to share some information that was provided there that is directly relevant to serving virtual (as well as in-person) patrons.
The first point I'd like to share from that workshop is that customer service is a process, not a one time event. The customer service you provide on KIN24x7 impacts every other agent. If you have a positive interaction, that will set the stage for a positive mindset with that patron the next time they log in. If you are perfunctory, mechanical, or condescending (Trust me, I've seen all of these), you are setting the stage for a negative mindset with that patron for the next agent who attempts to help them...that is if they ever use our service again.
Another point is to remember, when using any kind of technology where body language or voice intonation is absent, to take care when selecting which words and wording to use in messages. This goes for email, chat, IM, or text. Consider this scenario: A person comes up to the reference desk, and the librarian begins to help them. The phone rings, the librarian picks it up and says, "Hold" and puts the person on hold. That's it, just "Hold." I've seen this procedure in several transcripts and don't recommend it as an option either online or in-person. In one conversation, the patron replied "hold what?". Although mechanical, a use of the canned message telling the patron that you're working with someone else and you'll be right with them would be preferable. Thanking the patron for holding when you come back would be a good idea as well.
Hanging up last is also a good practice to follow. This allows the patron to follow-up with any clarifications he or she may need. It is the patron who should decide when they have enough, not the librarian. Likewise, when the patron says "Thank you" and disconnects, the librarian is not obligated to keep searching.
An interesting point the presenter of the workshop shared (sorry, no source citation) was that the perception of time is multiplied by three when a person is on hold on the telephone. So, if a person is in reality holding for 30 seconds, it feels like a minute and a half. A similar situation occurs when a person is waiting for a reply in chat. This is why it is so important to keep your patron updated on where you're at in your search or in serving them. A simple "still looking" or "I'll be with you in a moment" goes a long way in keeping the patron's anxiety or aggravation to a minimum.
Another point that the presenter brought up is the difference between "transferring" and "connecting" a patron to another librarian. It's subtle, but I can see what he means. I think KIN24x7's scripted message of "Another subject expert would be better able to answer your question. Please hold one moment, and he or she will be right with you" does a good job of being polite and efficient.
Finally, dealing with difficult people was discussed. Some people are difficult by nature or by choice. These are the people who may use profanity to get a reaction. These people are unavoidable, and the easiest way to deal with this is to ask if they have a question with which you can help, and if not, tactfully end the conversation. Other people are difficult because the service they receive is below their expectations. These are the difficult people we should do our best to help. They may have emotional baggage from an experience earlier in their day or earlier on KIN24x7. The presenter stressed that one has to deal with the emotional issues of a difficult patron first ("I'm sorry you feel that way.") before dealing with the logic ("What can I do to help you.").
Overall, I think most of the librarians serving patrons via KIN24x7 are doing very good work. You are conversational, professional, and efficient, and I deeply appreciate everyone's commitment and dedication to serving our customers. I would just say that we all know there are difficult persons to deal with in everyday life, in our libraries, and on KIN24x7. Don't let yourself become one of the difficult people your patrons have to deal with in their lives.
Don Boozer
KnowItNow24x7 Coordinator
"This room is locked from entry until configuration is confirmed."
Many of you have seen this message and were nice enough to provide screenshots of when it occurred. The developer has looked at this and it appears that what is happening is that patrons are leaving when the software is configuring the room. Since the patron has left, the software can't configure it (since there is only one participant, i.e., the librarian, in the room). There is no "fix" to this since the software is simply not able to configure a room with one participant. Now that we know this, librarians may simply End Conversation and code these as Disconnects. If there are any questions, please email support@knowitnow.org.
Introducing the QuACK Blog
In an effort to keep KIN24x7 librarians updated as to the activities of the new Quality Assurance Committee for KnowItNow24x7 (QuACK), the QuACK Blog is now active! QuACK members will be posting information, including Meeting Minutes, to the Blog. You can link to the blog by going to provider.knowitnow.org/blog/617. There's even the opportunity to subscribe to the blog's RSS feed there as well.
The primary charge of QuACK is to identify those librarians providing excellent reference service on KIN24x7. By sharing transcripts, others can learn techniques and tips to enhance their own customer service (both online and in-person). The committee will be coming up with evaluation criteria and beginning to post exemplary transcripts in the next month or so. Stay tuned!
Reminder: Some Memorandums of Understanding Still Outstanding
Thank you to the forty institutions, departments, and/or branches who have already filled out and submitted their Memorandum of Understanding. As mentioned in previous newsletters, each public library (along with several special libraries and services) are being asked to fill out the new KIN24x7 Memorandum of Understanding to both confirm their existing participation and for KIN24x7 to have verification of each library's current commitment and contact information. Detailed instructions for filling out the MoU are at provider.knowitnow.org/node/348 and the document itself is available at the Documention page or by directly clicking here.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Don Boozer at support@knowitnow.org or 216.623.2960. Thank you for your cooperation.
Statistics: April 2009
Below are the Top 30 Answering Individual Public Library Accounts for April 2009. Each of these individual accounts (including librarian# where applicable) is followed by the number of sessions handled by that account.
- Cleveland PL - Gen Ref (lib01) - 941
- Cleveland PL - Sci Tech - 839
- Cleveland PL - History - 833
- Cleveland PL - Soc Sci - 656
- Cleveland PL - Literature - 452
- Akron Summit County PL (lib101) - 214
- Cleveland PL - Business - 165
- Toledo-Lucas County PL (lib40) - 146
- Dayton Metro Library (lib35) - 121
- Lorain PL System (lib08) - 116
- Cleveland PL - Gen Ref (lib79) - 114
- Columbus Metro Library (lib28) - 91
- Logan County District Library (lib166) - 89
- Lima Public Library - 87
- Cleveland PL - Fine Arts - 83
- Mansfield/Richland County PL - 77
- Worthington Libraries - 72
- Ashtabula County PL - 67
- Elyria PL - 67
- Euclid PL - 67
- Columbus Metro Library (lib31) - 65
- Cuyahoga County PL - Parma Snow - 60
- PL of Youngstown & Mahoning County (lib46) - 60
- Columbus Metro Library (lib39) - 59
- PL of Youngstown & Mahoning County (lib43) - 58
- Cuyahoga County PL - Parma Hts - 56
- Cleveland PL - Foreign Lit - 54
- Cuyahoga County PL - Bay Village - 53
- Twinsburg PL - 52
- Birchard PL - 51
Every librarian's contribution - whether public, AfterDark, academic, special, or email - is absolutely vital for KIN24x7. Thank you to everyone who serves our patrons. You are KIN24x7!
A Sampling of April KIN24x7 Survey Comments
The following are a random sample of comments, both kudos and constructive criticism, from the Patron Surveys from April:
- Kudos
- 1) The thing that I like most about this service is that it helps the students and kids, but it makes them work and think. If people can help others to learn an answer, or anything, in the end it will be worth more than just giving them the answer and learning nothing. If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, if you teach a man fish he will eat for a lifetime.
- 2) Librarian148 was an excellent libranian to answer my question. They were EXTREMELY professional and answered my question with lightning speed!
- 3) This thing is AWESOME!
- 4) Thanks to librarian137! She gave me a lot of information about tractors. My class was studying John Deere in class.
- 5) i love homework now ROCK ON GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- 6) ad.conner was sooo friendly!! i really appriciate his help!
- 7) Wonderful service provided, yet again! Thank you so much knowitnow.org!!!
- 8) thank heavens for this service--I use it fairly often--librarians are treasures
- 9) i love your guys service. it is a quick and easy place to get info without taking a long time. your researchers give you stuff you can read and non of its bad. thanks for your service.
- 10) What a wonderful service. The librarian was very personable and well-spoken (well-written?). Thank you.
- Constructive Criticism
- 1) The person just ended my service without saying anything but "hold" and then it ended.
- 2) The dude i was chatting with totally left and didnt answer my question.
- 3) he just gave me an answer and no site to look it up i guess thats good but i like to look for things!
- 4) I wanted books and more than one site!!!!!!!!!!!!
- 5) Basically all they did was a google search. I was hoping for use of additional material. Also, they didn't really answer my question but referenced me to a government agency. Now the agency might answer my basic chemistry question but I was hoping not to use them for something like this.
- 6) I do think that they could be a little nicer to the student. I felt like it was just I need this, that, sign off. It would be nice if they could talk to the person a little bit or just say is this what your lookin for or something like that before saying I'm signing off now.
- 7) they weren't very friendly. i said thank you and they never responded.
- 8) I asked for help finding an article online..and was referred to my own school's website that showed me the hard copies of journals my school has..which I already knew, I needed an article online......and the woman helping immediately signed off the chat before making sure that's what i needed.
ONLINE RESOURCES OF THE MONTH: May is Official ... Month
May is both Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and Older Americans Month, in addition to including Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day. This month's online resources will give a taste of each of these:
- Press Release from US Census Bureau on Older Americans Month at their website.
- Asian Pacific Americans in the US Army at www.army.mil/asianpacificsoldiers/ - an in-depth look at the contributions and sacrifices made by Asian-Pacific Americans soldiers to the United States.
- Learn Spanish at www.studyspanish.com - a nice online set of courses to learn the Spanish language.
- Mother Goose's melody at www.archive.org/details/mothergoosesmelo00pridiala - Not exactly for Mother's Day, but a fascinating piece of history. Just click on the image of the book provided at the site to read a 1904 facsimile of the earliest known edition (1791) of Mother Goose (Note: Many of the poems are depressing. Caveat lector.)
If you have an online resource for any subject that you'd like to share with your KIN24x7 colleagues, post it at provider.knowitnow.org/node/352. You'll just need to login to the Provider page. Feel free to simply post links, a link and short description, or a link and full review of your resource. We'll highlight selected ones from the list here in this column in upcoming editions of the newsletter. Also, KIN24x7 agents are welcome to check out (or contribute to) the KIN24x7 AfterDark Wiki at http://afterdark.knowitnow.org/wiki/.
Don't Forget Your KINwear!
Our store at CafePress is always open. You can buy golf shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, "thinking caps," and even teddy bears with the KnowItNow24x7 logo on them. (They're great for gifts as well!)
KnowItNow24x7 Staff
Don Boozer, KnowItNow24x7 Coordinator
Brian Leszcz, KnowItNow24x7 Web Services Coordinator
Noah Himes, KnowItNow24x7 AfterDark Coordinator
Megan Mitchell, OhioLINK Liaison and Reference Librarian, Oberlin College
...and KnowItNow24x7 agents across Ohio!
The KnowItNow24x7 Newsletter highlights news, resources, and statistics for providers and fans of Ohio's 24x7 virtual reference service.
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