Multnomah County Library Presents Think Yes Customer Service - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Multnomah County Library Presents Think Yes Customer Service Initiative Oregon Reference Summit Presented by Rita Jimenez, Neighborhood Libraries Director and Sarah Oliver, Troutdale branch Administrator

Why does great customer service matter? 2

#1 priority stable funding Picture by Jason Barnette Photography 3

Successful ballot measures Library district measure passed Picture by Columbia City Blog 4

OCLC report: From Awareness to Funding 2018 5

OCLC report: From Awareness to Funding 2018 Voter enthusiasm about library staff ● Librarian ratings have gone down: ● Staff were rated as friendly and approachable 67% in 2008, now down to 53% in 2018 6

Context in 2010 ● 2 new branches with single desk model ● New RFID stations ● Employee survey – 92% of staff wanted customer service training 7

Marketing study Data showed friendly staff 2 nd highest enticement for our patrons 8

Our 5 Service Principles ● Think yes! attitude ● Patron-oriented service ● Friendly, welcoming attitude ● Proactive, personalized customer service ● Team players [internal customer service] 9

How do we do it? ● Integration ● Communication / Change management ● Training 10

Weave ● Into the fabric of everything we do ● Into all library training ● Into HR processes 11

Think Yes Task Force ● Front-line managers & staff ● Developed and delivered trainings ● Early adopters who support communication and change management ● Think Yes Ambassadors in each work group 12

Culture change ● Takes time and patience ● Organizational development experts say it takes 5-10 years to make a culture change ● Support middle managers 13

Communication ● Focused conversations with every work group on service principles ● Monthly staff newsletter with Think Yes column ● Management updates ● FAQ ● Intranet site 14

Training ● All staff get trained during new employee orientation ● Training resources available at: http://multcolib.org/MCLThinkYes 15

Celebrate your successes! ● Service star recognition ● Staff meetings & newsletter ● Emails 16

Some challenges: ● Some operations staff may not feel fully included. ● How do busy library staff juggle helping patrons on the phone with those in front of them? ● Mobile technology and roving model. The pull of the desk and chair is strong. ILS not mobile-ready. 17

On the ground - managing a Think Yes! library & the Think Yes Evolution Project Presented by Sarah Oliver Branch Administrator 18

What works well Single service point model ● We’re all “librarians” ● Nimble approach ● Collaboration 19

What works well Review customer service scenarios with staff - Communication, Collaboration & Care: Connection ● Think Yes! Lens ● Celebrate excellent service ● Collaborate on troubleshooting challenging service situations ● Care for yourself and colleagues 20

What works well Encouraging and supporting staff professional development ● Make time for Connection ● Create opportunity for and support Collaboration: ■ peer-to-peer learning ■ staff-to-patron learning 21

Make time for fun! 22

What can be challenging ● Introvert - Ambivert - Extrovert ● The desk ● Shifting sands of staffing 23

Think Yes Evolution Project 24

Process and Survey 3-step process: ● Staff meeting - orientation ● In-person patron survey - 3 days ● Staff meeting - results 25

Patron Survey ● Were library staff friendly and welcoming? ● Were library staff available for you? ● If you talked to library staff today, were they helpful? 26

What has worked well ● Front-line and management staff collaboration ● Successful pilots at a smaller location as well as our largest location ● Engaging staff who don’t normally work in our branches 27

What has been challenging ● Time-consuming process ● Many pieces, many players ● Communication challenges 28

What we are learning ● Patrons love the library and library staff, including our “self-service” patrons ● Knowing the questions ahead of time is not an automatic motivator ● Missed service opportunities: ○ Greeting patrons ○ Mobile service 29

Small Group Discussion 1. What type of customer service expectations and/or customer service training does your library have? 2. What changes would you like to see at your library in these areas of expectations and training? 3. What are your biggest takeaways from today’s session? 30

Questions 31

Thank you for coming! Rita Jimenez, Neighborhood Libraries Director – ● ritaj@multcolib.org Sarah Oliver, Troutdale Library Administrator - ● saraho@multcolib.org For more information visit: ● http://multcolib.org/MCLThinkYes 32