Service Model Evolution
Submitted by larry.white on Tue, 12/28/2021 - 11:40
As our service environment changes, we need to examine how we can provide service in the most meaningful ways and build long-term relationships to the communities that we serve. I want to discuss a vision of how our customer service model will evolve of the coming year and provide a brief overview of what we want to achieve and why we are doing it.
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Hello, Larry,
I love this concept and I am excited to see the difference it can make in our communities and within our culture. This is a concept that is near and dear to my heart and I look forward to helping roll out this concept in any way that I can be helpful.
Thank you,
Laura
I would love to know more about the guest experiences model and how it will practically affect our daily work with library visitors. What specifically are the outcomes this is meant to achieve? How will success with implementing this model be measured?
Hello Larry,
I must express, I’m skeptical about this idea. I’m sure you’ve heard that a previous MLS Executive Director made the decision a few years ago to start using the term “library members” instead of customers in an effort to instill a deeper connection with our library users. However, this change was not received well by staff or the community, and despite your best intentions, I feel as if the change to “library guests” would have a similar effect.
To me, this language feels disingenuous. In the same way that “library members” made us sound like an exclusive club or a retail rewards program--two things the library obviously is not—“guests” makes us sound like a hotel.
I do agree with you though that the word “customer” doesn’t always accurately reflect what or who a library user is. One could argue that our relationship with our patrons is transactional, because in return for using the library, our patrons pay property taxes/an annual fee, return library materials, and follow our rules of conduct. But at the end of the day, we are still providing a free service, which means that we don’t have “customers” in the traditional sense of the word.
Where the root of my disagreement is is that I don’t think we need to have a perfect word for our customers/patrons/members/users/guests/etc. Our libraries are building long term relationships with our patrons and with our communities already, and I don’t think changing this one term will have any effect on that. We cultivate long-term relationships by treating our patrons with respect and dignity, by providing excellent customer service, by expanding the services we provide. There are tangible things we could be and are actively doing to improve our service model, but I don’t think saying “guests” instead of customers or patrons is going to have any affect other than reminding staff of the travesty that was “library members.”
I appreciate your openness to feedback and taking my humble opinion into account. As this change is being tested at one department and one location, I would also love to see a system-wide survey sent out to get more feedback on what frontline staff think about this idea.
Thank you,
Reagan
Hi,
Thanks for your comments and feedback. New ideas and concepts should always be met with questions and understanding of what is happening and why. But new ideas and concepts should not be discounted because they are new or something like it didn't work out previously. If that was the case, nothing would ever get started because something like it has failed sometime in the past. I will also say that the result of implementing a new idea or in this case a new service model is very much dependent on how sound the idea is and how well the organization embraces it and performs it. If the idea is not proven and/or the organization doesn't fully commit to it, nothing good will result from it regardless of the amount of effort or what it is called. The Access - Engagement service model was not full embraced and did not fully involve staff in the design and implementation. The fact that it is noted by staff as problematic for the mentioned reasons gives us direction on how to better implement future efforts. In this case, the GX model and terminology is well proven in many service industries (including libraries) and we are going to fully commit to it moving forward.
At this moment, as a system we are 37% down in terms of circulation and door counts than we were 4 years ago. That equates to a large loss of service recipients (whatever you call them): some out of that loss is our control based on covid and our responses, but some of it is the antiquated service model we are currently using and we need to try to regain or recreate guests with other members of the community to put us in a better strategic position to benefit the community. Our service environment has changed and our current model is not allowing us to respond effectively as it is too bureaucratic, too slow and has one size fits all responses. We need to evolve our service model to match the new conditions of the service environment we are operating in and waiting to find something that everyone can agree to do is not likely to occur and not a productive strategy, leaving the need unaddressed and the library in a strategically compromised position. The Guest Experiences (GX) model is the strategic direction I believe we need to move in to help recapture the community that we have lost since covid impacted us and also retain the community we still serve, so we will be implemented the model as a system as our strategic response.
We will pilot the model in locations and departments to find out what works best. Staff will be involved in the role out of the service model at each location and by that I mean helping define what GX looks like and how to implement and assess it. Each location will vary in what the service model looks like based on the needs and resources of each location. I will strongly encourage everyone to be involved in this process: research it, try to understand it, ask questions, be engaged in the implementation process, and most of all, have at least an open mind to the possibilities of what it can bring to the system and to the people who we serve and that work here.
There will be more opportunities to learn about GX and be engaged in the process. We welcome your participation and thank you for your efforts in helping the system move forward.
Hi,
It is our intent to have Guest Experiences (GX) enable locations to adapt service provision to each location's needs, allowing for variances in service responses as needed instead of having a one size fits all type of response. It is intended to create a closer relationship between the library community and the people we serve by building onto existing relationships to better understand what the community and each guest needs from us. It is meant to provide greater latitude of decision making and at the lowest level possible to staff, which will hopefully give staff more ability to respond to guests needs.
We are not certain of the assessment criteria yet for the model. We will be exploring that as we develop the role out of the program and with staff involvement. Assessments will definitely be tied to improving relationships with guest and the community and the difference resulting from those relationships.
Hope this helps,
Larry