1. Read the scenario
2. As a group, discuss possible solutions to the scenario as the person designated. Pick a reporter to write down these ideas for your group. Write down the key points on a flip chart sheet.
3. When the large group gets back together, the reporter will present your group’s solutions to the larger group.
TOM AND THE COPY MACHINE
INSTRUCTIONS: READ AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW.
Tom is setting up the meeting room for the next group when he is paged to the front desk. As he approaches the desk, he spots a very angry customer, waving sheets of paper at the circulation staffer at the front desk.
“I pay taxes and this is what I get – a rotten copy machine that crumpled these sheets of paper after taking all my quarters! Who fixes these machines? I’ve been waiting at least 15 minutes!”
The circulation staffer gestures to Tom and tells the customer that Tom will be able to help him. Tom takes a deep breath, smiles at the customer and says, “I’m sorry you’ve been having a problem with the copy machine. Sometimes they can be temperamental. Let’s go over the machine you used and see what I can do.”
The customer huffs and puffs, but does walk with Tom to the copy machine, saying “I expect to get my money back for these lousy copies! You should have better copiers in your library!” Tom says, “I’d like to ask your help for just a minute. Would you explain to me exactly what you did when you used the machine that crumpled these pages?”
The customer eagerly explains every step he took while Tom listens and nods his head. When the story is finished, Tom asks the customer if he noticed any red light blinking on the copy machine. “No! I don’t have time to notice lights on any machine!” Tom explains that he thinks the copier malfunctioned and that the blinking red light might have been the signal. He tells the customer that he thinks he can quickly fix the machine. “Do you have time to wait for the fix? Then you can make some correct copies.” The customer says, “Well, I only have a little time. But I’ll wait if you can really fix it!”
Tom goes to work on the machine and makes several adjustments. As he works he talks with the customer about machines and how he likes to tinker with them. Once he finishes the adjustment, Tom asks the customer to make some new copies at no charge. He asks, “Are these new copies okay with you?”
The customer nods his head. Tom asks, “Now, does this solve your copy problem?” The customer nods his head. Tom says, “Is there anything else you need today?” The customer says, “No, I really needed you to fix this machine because I didn’t want to drive down the copy center at the shopping mall. I only had a short time to copy these. Bye!” The customer hurries away and Tom takes the crumpled papers and tosses them in the trash.
Questions
1. What was the first thing Tom did to help diffuse the angry customer? What were other methods Tom used to calm the customer?
The first thing Tom did was to apologise to the angry customer and to assume that the problem was with the temperamental photocopier, not the customer. Tom listened and nodded his while the customer explained what he had done. Tom explained what he thought was the problem and while he managed to fix the photocopier, engaged the customer in a conversation. Tom provided the photocopied papers free of charge and asks if they met the customer’s satisfaction. He asked if there was anything else he could help with before the customer left.
2. How did Tom find out the exact problem? Identify steps he took with the customer.
Tom found out the exact problem when he asked if the customer had noticed a red blinking light on the copy machine. The customer hadn’t noticed it, so Tom had to look for it before he was able to fix the problem. When Tom asked if there was anything else he could help the customer with, he found that the customer had only had a short time to photocopy the papers and hadn’t wanted to drive to the copy center at the shopping mall.
3. At the conclusion of the scenario, was the customer satisfied with the result? How do you know?
We assume the customer was satisfied with the result because Tom didn’t charge him for them and he nodded his head when Tom asked him if his problem was solved.
4. How could Tom have received some recognition for his transition with the customer?
The customer could have thanked Tom for fixing the photocopier and giving him free copies.
One library tech's insight into the world of libraries - working the way up from top to bottom - on the way to take over the world!
Monday, January 29, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
Customer service self-assessment
Please answer each question by checking the appropriate response.
Do you…
Do you…
| Frequently | Sometimes | Never | ||
| 1. | Project an open, positive, friendly attitude toward every individual? |
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| 2. | Respond to complaints in a courteous and sympathetic manner? |
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| 3. | Use effective and attentive listening skills? |
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| 4. | Follow the transaction through until the customer is satisfied? |
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| 5. | Apologize even when it's not your fault? | |||
| 6. | Provide timely responses to requests? |
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| 7. | Provide assistance without being asked? |
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| 8. | Respond positively - what can you do, not what you cannot do? |
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| 9. | Speak clearly at all times? | |||
| 10. | Show you are courteous? Say "Please" and "Thank you"? |
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| 11. | Maintain a non-judgemental attitude toward customer's questions? |
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| 12. | Communicate on the level of the customer? |
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| 13. | Acknowledge others for providing good customer service? |
Monday, January 15, 2018
Customer service sample scenarios
1. You are serving someone in person and the phone rings. What do you do?
Should probably excuse yourself briefly from serving the person you’re already serving, apologise for the interruption and answer the phone and find out briefly what the caller requires. If the caller needs to be dispatched through to another library worker, do so. If you need to deal with them directly, ask them to wait briefly while you deal with the original patron waiting for your services, before returning to the phone call and dealing with it appropriately.
2. You are on the phone and someone comes to the desk. What do you do?
Acknowledge the library patron with a nod or smile, and try to finish the call. If the call is going to take some time, interrupt the caller and place them briefly on hold, before apologising to the library patron and finding out what their business is. It could be something simple and quick that they need that could get done before returning to the call.
3. You approach a customer service desk in a department store and two clerks are talking to one another. How do you feel? What would you like them to do?
Most people like to be acknowledged when they’re in a store and to feel that they’re at the centre of the clerk’s attention. Seeing two clerks talk suggests that they’re not concerned about business. Understandably when there is a brief period of ‘downtime’ general chit chat is expected to occur, but in general for most of the day, this shouldn’t be one of the main priorities someone has. Therefore, clerks should always be aware of what is going on around them, and if they need to have their conversation interrupted to make business, that should be the case.
4. You have tried to help an angry customer, but you feel that you have not completely addressed his or her concerns. What do you do?
Ask them if there is anything else that you can help them with. Ask them if they would be willing to submit feedback – anonymously if necessary – on how they feel that you have performed, or would have liked you to perform. If you feel that you’re not the appropriate person to deal with their concerns, ask them if they would like to talk to your supervisor. If the supervisor is available, introduce them. If they are busy, ask for the customer’s contact details and ask if it’s convenient to be contacted to discuss the situation further.
5. Someone has asked you to “bend the rules” in his/her favour. What is your first response?
No one should have the rules bent to their favour. If one person does, they could either expect the rules to be bent for them in the future, when they would like them to be, or all the time, or even tell other people, and therefore numerous people come to the library expecting rules to be bent in their favour. Therefore it’s necessary to abide to the rules as most as possible, with exceptions in special cases. There can sometimes be unfortunate circumstances that require the rules to be bent, and these circumstances need to be kept an eye on.
Should probably excuse yourself briefly from serving the person you’re already serving, apologise for the interruption and answer the phone and find out briefly what the caller requires. If the caller needs to be dispatched through to another library worker, do so. If you need to deal with them directly, ask them to wait briefly while you deal with the original patron waiting for your services, before returning to the phone call and dealing with it appropriately.
2. You are on the phone and someone comes to the desk. What do you do?
Acknowledge the library patron with a nod or smile, and try to finish the call. If the call is going to take some time, interrupt the caller and place them briefly on hold, before apologising to the library patron and finding out what their business is. It could be something simple and quick that they need that could get done before returning to the call.
3. You approach a customer service desk in a department store and two clerks are talking to one another. How do you feel? What would you like them to do?
Most people like to be acknowledged when they’re in a store and to feel that they’re at the centre of the clerk’s attention. Seeing two clerks talk suggests that they’re not concerned about business. Understandably when there is a brief period of ‘downtime’ general chit chat is expected to occur, but in general for most of the day, this shouldn’t be one of the main priorities someone has. Therefore, clerks should always be aware of what is going on around them, and if they need to have their conversation interrupted to make business, that should be the case.
4. You have tried to help an angry customer, but you feel that you have not completely addressed his or her concerns. What do you do?
Ask them if there is anything else that you can help them with. Ask them if they would be willing to submit feedback – anonymously if necessary – on how they feel that you have performed, or would have liked you to perform. If you feel that you’re not the appropriate person to deal with their concerns, ask them if they would like to talk to your supervisor. If the supervisor is available, introduce them. If they are busy, ask for the customer’s contact details and ask if it’s convenient to be contacted to discuss the situation further.
5. Someone has asked you to “bend the rules” in his/her favour. What is your first response?
No one should have the rules bent to their favour. If one person does, they could either expect the rules to be bent for them in the future, when they would like them to be, or all the time, or even tell other people, and therefore numerous people come to the library expecting rules to be bent in their favour. Therefore it’s necessary to abide to the rules as most as possible, with exceptions in special cases. There can sometimes be unfortunate circumstances that require the rules to be bent, and these circumstances need to be kept an eye on.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Customer service
What is customer service?
- Staff interacting positively and delivering the product the customer expects.
- Customers will depend on the type of library.
- School: Teachers, students
- Public: General public, parents, adults, children, etc.
- College: Students, lecturers
- Special: Specific individuals who would benefit from the library
- Listen and act
- Show positive behaviour
- Acknowledge good customer services
- Approachable
- Attentive
- Helpful
- Considerate
- Treat others how you wish to be treated
- Open body language
- Eye contact
- Comfortable relaxed tone
- Full attention
- Listen without interrupting
- Ask questions
- Maintains eye contact
- Leans towards the customer
- Smiles appropriately
- Ignores (meaningless) distractions
- Gives total concentration
- Uses encouraging sounds or motions
- “Uh, huh”
- “I see”
- “All right”
- Nods head
- Restates customer’s request
- Clarifies customer’s request
- Does not interrupt customer
- Does not finish customer’s sentence
- Gives accurate information
- Responding positively
- Checking understanding
- Respectful
- Patient
- Treat all customers as individuals
- Be sure to mention what was done right
Monday, January 1, 2018
Respect in the workplace
There are four different types of sexual harassment; disabled, emotional, racial and sexual.
The most common emotions a victim of harassment feels are humiliation, fear, anger, and intimidation. They will question “What did I do to deserve this?”
The difference between a formal and informal review or inquiry is that with an informal review, all parties agree on solutions, and an formal review is more like a court proceeding, complete with statements and witnesses.
If a man or woman works in a workplace predominantly full of workers of the opposite sex, who doesn’t approve of photos of half naked women or men, the photos can be taken down. They should feel comfortable in their workplace. Photos of this nature should be placed somewhere where no one can see them, or are forced to see them.
Emotional harassment is not covered by the law. This type of harassment can be redressed by suing in a civil court case, therefore contact a lawyer.
The most common emotions a victim of harassment feels are humiliation, fear, anger, and intimidation. They will question “What did I do to deserve this?”
The difference between a formal and informal review or inquiry is that with an informal review, all parties agree on solutions, and an formal review is more like a court proceeding, complete with statements and witnesses.
If a man or woman works in a workplace predominantly full of workers of the opposite sex, who doesn’t approve of photos of half naked women or men, the photos can be taken down. They should feel comfortable in their workplace. Photos of this nature should be placed somewhere where no one can see them, or are forced to see them.
Emotional harassment is not covered by the law. This type of harassment can be redressed by suing in a civil court case, therefore contact a lawyer.