1. Customer Service: Beyond the Basics A Service of Catawba County Government

2.  During this training, you will click the left mouse button or press the space bar to advance through the slides.  You are welcome to explore the material at your own pace.  After the training, you will be asked to complete an online survey to help us determine how to improve staff training. Thank you for participating.

3. Focus of Previous Customer Service Training Our previous customer service training has focused on: The emotional interaction between the employee and the customer We have discussed:  The meaning of excellent customer service  What our customers need from us  How to work with “difficult” people

4. Staff Definition of Excellent Customer Service  Staff has defined excellent customer service as:  Taking care of the person in front of you with a smile  Being kind, empathetic, and a good listener  Giving them more than they came for (go the extra mile!)  Helping them to feel satisfied so that they want to come back

5.  We have also discussed the emotional component in providing excellent customer service.  The portions of your definition that are emotional in nature are highlighted in.  The portions of your definition that are emotional in nature are highlighted in red.  Taking of the person in front of you with a  Taking care of the person in front of you with a smile  Being  Being kind, empathetic, and a good listener  more than they came for (go the extra mile!)  Giving them more than they came for (go the extra mile!)  Helping them to so that they  Helping them to feel satisfied so that they want to come back

6.  In another training session, we discussed what our customers need from us using the results of the Gallup Corporation’s studies about customer engagement. (From First, Break all the Rules, Buckingham & Coffman, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1999.)

7.  These customer expectations are hierarchical in nature. This means that the lower level needs must be met before we can achieve success in meeting the upper level needs. They are:  Level 1: Accuracy When we make a promise, we keep it!  Level 2: Availability Using the library must be convenient for our customers.

8.  Level 3: Partnership Our customers need to feel understood and that we care about their needs.  Level 4: Advice “Customers feel the closest bond to organizations that have helped them learn.” (“First, Break All the Rules” p.131)

9.  We learned to work with difficult customers by:  Practicing active listening skills  Focusing on the facts  Putting away our emotions  Asking questions to find out what the customer really wants  Using creative thinking skills  Being as flexible as possible

10.  We learned that conflict with coworkers is not always a bad thing. We learned to work with difficult coworkers by:  Focusing on behaviors, not attitudes  Looking at processes, not people  Focusing on results

11. Now, Beyond the Basics  Providing excellent customer service also means fulfilling the library’s mission. Catawba County Libraries inspire the joy of reading, life-long learning, cultural appreciation and creative thinking, and promote economic development and individual growth through comprehensive resources, a knowledgeable and responsive staff, innovative technologies and welcoming facilities.

12.  Let’s break down the library mission and consider what each element means for us as library staff. The library (CCLS) inspires: 1.The joy of reading 2.Life-long learning 3.Cultural appreciation 4.Creative thinking

13. How do we do this?  By providing:  Responsive collections for all of our customers  Literary based programming for readers of all ages  Booklists that call attention to great reads or excellent research materials  Reader’s Advisory service

14. By providing (continued):  Displays that highlight all of the cultures that make up our diverse community  Free computer workshops to learn basic technology skills  Access to NCLIVE and other online resources  Meeting space for community groups  Library service that is dynamic and fluid: responding and changing quickly to meet community needs

15. The mission also states that CCLS: 1.Promotes economic development 2.Individual growth How does the library promote economic development?

16.  Libraries contribute to core local economic development strategies through:  Early Literacy  Workforce Initiatives  Small Business Support

17.  Early Literacy initiatives:  Promote reading  Prepare young children for school  Help raise their levels of education

18.  Our library system has begun using the “Every Child Ready to Read” (ECRR) materials developed by the American Library Association to help teach parents and caregivers how to help young children develop pre-literacy skills.

19.  Workforce initiatives include:  Programs that increase the skills of the labor force  Career training  Help for people in finding employment

20.  Our library system:  Offers free basic computer training to help customers learn to use technology  Owns career development and job search materials for customers to borrow  Has computers for customers to use to complete job applications online, develop professional resumes or type cover letters

21.  Small business support includes:  Helping to strengthen this business sector by providing:  Business information resources  Workshops & training for both new and existing business owners

22. What do do on a daily basis that helps the library to achieve its mission? What do you do on a daily basis that helps the library to achieve its mission?  Your work is so important to achieving the library mission!  Everyday you create the emotional connections that bring our customers back to visit again and again.  Then, you promote all of the wonderful services that a public library has to help our customers lead better lives.

23. But you can do more. Tell our customers about. Tell our customers about The Big Read.

24.  The Catawba County Library System will serve as the lead partner in the 2008 Big Read.

25.  The book selected is The Bridge by Doug Marlette, a Pulitzer prize-winning political cartoonist and author. Photo by Erica Berger

26. Marlette will make five public appearances in Catawba County on Friday and Saturday, April 18 th & 19 th, 2008.

27. You can help to engage our customers in The Big Read by creating interest and excitement about this project! Hint: How often do your customers ask you to recommend a good book to read?

28. First of all, read the book!

29. Second, try to attend a book discussion or another related program. When you have read and discussed the book, you will feel more confident in recommending it to your customers.

30. And finally, make sure that you keep a list of the related programs close to your work station so that you can talk with your customers about the programs.

31. Click on The Big Read to find out more about the partnership and the project. The Big Read The Big Read Click on Doug Marlette to find out more about the author and his book. Doug Marlette Doug Marlette

32. Just for fun, see what you have learned. Answer the following questions to test your knowledge. No grade will be taken and no one will know how you did. Relax and have fun.

33. Which one of the following agencies is a partner in The Big Read. Which one of the following agencies is not a partner in The Big Read. Please click on your choice for the correct answer. Catawba County Library System Lenoir-Rhyne College Hickory Museum of Art Library Hickory Public Library Catawba Valley Community College

34. Correct answer! Click on the arrow to continue the quiz.

35. Hickory Museum of Art They are not a partner in The Big Read. No, the correct answer is:

36. Availability Partnership Accuracy Assurance Advice Which one of the following terms are not one of the four levels of customer needs defined by the Gallup Corporation?

37. Sorry, wrong answer. The correct answer is: Assurance. It’s not one of the four levels of customers needs. The four levels of customer needs are: Accuracy Availability Partnership Advice

38. Correct! Assurance is not one of the four levels of customer needs.

39. James McBride Doug Marlette Kaye Gibbons Kathryn Stripling Byer Who is the author of the 2008 Big Read book?

40. Whoops! The correct answer is Doug Marlette.

41. Excellent! You have answered the question correctly. The author of The Bridge is Doug Marlette.

42. Please choose true or false for the following question. Customer service involves an emotional connection between the customer and the employee. True False

43. You are correct. Customers come back because of the emotional connection that they make with library staff.

44. Incorrect. Customer service does involve an emotional connection that is made between the customer and the staff person.

45. Which of the following phrases is not part of the mission of the Catawba County Library System? Promote economic development Inspire life-long learning Inspire the joy of reading Teach reading skills

46. You are correct. Our staff do not teach reading, but we do recommend good books for our customers!

47. Oops. That phrase is part of the library mission. The only one that is not part of our mission is “teach reading skills.”

48. Please choose true or false for the following question. Conflict is always a bad thing and should be avoided at all costs. True False

49. Uh-oh. Wrong answer. Conflict is not always a bad thing! But most of us are uncomfortable with conflict. We can learn to use it to improve our work environment.

50. Great answer. Conflict is not always a bad thing and can actually help us to improve our work environments.

51.  Ok. Last question. What can you do to help achieve the library’s mission? Tell library customers about The Big Read. Read The Bridge by Doug Marlette. Attend a program related to The Big Read. All of the above.

52. Excellent answer!

53. Thank you For all that you do each day at the library. You are the reason that the Catawba County Library System is so successful in achieving its mission. End of Training