Hello Everyone,

There have been a couple of questions about awarding incentives and who can pick up incentives.  Here's some information to keep in mind:

Currently, there are 3 different ways customers can sign up: Individuals, Families, and Groups. If we break down into who is actually logging and who is responsible for the account, it lends itself quite naturally to who can pick up the incentives.

1. Individuals - Only one person is on the account.   There are no others associated or added to this account.  It's preferred they would be the only ones who would pick up his/her incentives.  It's very similar to how reserves work but not as strict and the potential for loss product is not high. 
2. Family - There is one primary account holder with the family account.  They should be able to pick up anyone's incentives if they are under their family account.  We could extend that to include anyone who is signed up as a member of the family as well.
3. Groups
1. Under 50 participants - Because we do not have a list of all of the active participants in a group, the Contact Person is the ONLY person who can pick up the incentives.
2. Over 50 participants - Outreach will contact these groups personally to arrange for incentive awarding.  The local library location may run into some issues with bigger groups, but OUT is going to help ensure the large groups do not deplete the stock at any location. The Contact Person is the ONLY person who can pick up the incentives.

What if...

• A family does not use the Family sign up? A mother is there with one of her children who has an account but does not have all of her children with her.  Should you turn her away?  Probably not.  The thing to keep in mind is each record has information related to those customers.  We can use this information to validate who they are.  If the daughter is eligible for incentives and the mother wants to pick up for her other children, you can use the "Ask, Don't Tell" method to validate information on the different individual accounts.   For instance, if a child has a birth date listed, the mother should know when her child was born.  They should also know their school, grade, etc.  Using this information is a great way to validate the relationship.
• A volunteer is not comfortable giving incentives to someone who is not on the account?  That's okay!  If you think of the FUNNEL, there are several levels below them that can help address the specifics of the issue.  So, if they aren't sure, they could talk to the staff.  If staff are unsure, they can speak to their Manager.  The manager could speak to OUT or PLA.  Just think of it as the old lady who swallowed the fly.  :D 
• When in doubt, volunteers and staff can always add a Note to the customer account. 
• When a customer has a note, their icon changes from to .  This instantly lets anyone know there is something special about this customer/account.
• Incentives are given to an individual who is not on the account and the individual who is on the account comes back in to receive their incentives?  Because of this, the system lists the incentives have been awarded already.  If this happens, it is completely okay for a volunteer to grab a staff member or for a staff member to just unaward the incentives and reaward them.  They can give the child a new fine waiver card and a new book.  The primary goal of Summer Reading is not to ensure incentives are dispensed once.  It's to encourage reading.  So if someone has an issue with their account, just use the customer service approach you would want used on you or your family.  Basically, you would want the library to take care of that for you.  I think our customers feel the same.  Unawarding and then awarding the incentives again doesn't take that much time and I doubt this will be a frequent enough occurrence that it would jeopardize our stock tremendously. 

Things to Keep in Mind

• Using Judgement - Some situations may involve more questions and a deeper ability to connect the pieces.  While this seems like a trivial task, it's important we encourage volunteers and staff to use the information associated with the customer's online account to get to the bottom of it.  If they are unsure how to proceed, asking coworkers or the manager is completely fine.
• Documentation - If a Volunteer or Staff member want to ensure they've made the right decision:  keep a record.  Simply adding a note to the customer account will help provide information later down the road.   Keeping this documentation is not only beneficial for those directly helping the customer, but we can view trends and patterns.
• Customers receive no great benefit from receiving another fine waiver or book.  They do not receive an extra entry into the drawing gifts, they simply get an opportunity to use another fine waiver or read another book they picked out.
• Remember the Goals of Summer Reading and the mission of the Metropolitan Library System - It's important to keep these things in mind when dealing with customers.  Summer Reading is a great opportunity to show our dedication and passion for helping people.   If we keep this at the forefront, our staff and volunteer force will be unstoppable.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know.