Defining the Best Customer Experience

Presenters: New Zealand/Auckland community libraries

This wasn't the most dynamic program. Mainly I wanted to go to hear the New Zealand accents (not really!) but they brought up some good points. These libraries completed a research study on determining the best possible customer experience - kind of like our 2nd floor feasibility study. They surveyed people, did focus groups, and got lots of input from the community.

Their findings were fairly staightforward. That the public likes library staff that are welcoming, friendly and helpful (although very few patrons were ever actually greeted when they entered the libraries- just the regulars); they liked the free collections and resources; safe and friendly meeting spaces; and dedicated programs and resources for children. Other learnings were that library staff placed more value on services and products than customers; and policies and procedures were barriers.

Trying to move forward with this information, the libraries began a holistic program toward creating the best possible customer experience. They called it "Walk in our customers shoes" where the staff worked in small teams to go to places like libraries, stores, restaurants, etc. to view the place through a customer's eyes. They collected tons of data and at that point set up initiatives for their own libraries to move forward.

It seemed the most valuable change in creating the experience was the staff buy in of the idea of creating a customer-centered library. The staff really 'got it' by walking in the customers shoes and as a result the libraries go big buy in on changes that were implemented. I thought the presenters' comment that being customer-focused is different from being friendly was interesting and something to explore a little in our own libraries. Another more memorable comment was that you don't get a good customer experience out of the procedure manual.

Overall it seems the changes they made were practical and doable - though they really didn't get into any detail about what the changes were. Just that involving staff in the process of identifying what changes needed to be made was transformative for their staff and library.