Annabelle P.

Acedera
Xavier University

user

When a Complaint is a Gift

Conference on Library Management in the 21st Century
Escaler Hall Ateneo de Manila University
29-30 March 2004
1
 Overview
• Introduction
user – Library quality
– Service quality
• Service ethic
• Feedback
– What is feedback?
– Feedback in library service
– User feedback
– Methods of gathering user feedback
• “A complaint is a gift”
2
 Library Quality
user • Traditional library measures
– Quantification
– Emphasis on size: budget, staff,
collection, facilities
– Number of users, workload
indicators, amount of library use

Disadvantage: Do not indicate how well

libraries serve library users or how
libraries might change or improve their
service
3
 Service Quality

user • Service ethic

– Historical and traditional foundation
of librarianship
– Desire to be helpful and provide good
service

“Service was what we were and what

we did” (Gorman, 1999)

• Know best what users need

4
 Service Quality
Commercial environment
user
• Focus on the customer
– Emphasis on “Customer first”
– Customer expectations, perceptions,
needs, demands
• Customer sole judge of quality
• “The customer is always right”

5
 Service Quality
Library environment
user “Libraries are in the service business.
The most important product they have is
service. Without service, libraries are
indistinguishable from museums or …
they are a combination of a maze and
morgue for books. Service is a
pervasive ethic of the profession of
librarianship.”
(Gorman, 1999)

6
 Service Quality
Library environment
user • Focus on the library user
– “People come first”
– Identifying what the library wants and expects

• Library users are the reason for having a

library

• Library users may not always be right but

they have a right to express their opinion

7
We need to acknowledge that care of the
user is a priority. Second, we have to turn
that acknowledgement into action. We have
to not only talk the talk, but walk the talk.
In the user-centered library, quality service
and user satisfaction are goals shared by all
staff …
(Wilson, 1996)

How can we satisfy the needs of

our library users?

8
 Feedback
• What is Feedback?
user – Customer opinion sought & evaluated
– Response to services or functions

• Feedback in library service

– From the perspective of the library
– From the perspective of the library
user

9
 Feedback in Library Service
Determinants of feedback in library service
user
• How much? • How responsive?
• How many? • How well?
• How economical? • How valuable?
• How prompt? • How reliable?
• How accurate? • How satisfied?

(Hernon, 2001)

10
 Feedback in Library Service
Components of the “How…? Questions?
From Library and User Perspective
user
• Library • Users
– How much? – How responsive?
– How many? – How well?
– How economical? – How valuable?
– How prompt? – How reliable?
– How accurate?
– How satisfied?

 How…?s from User Perspective

11
 User Feedback
user
Categories
• Formal & Informal
• The Q words: Quality & Quantity
• Direct & Indirect
• Proactive & Reactive
• Actively & Passively solicited
• Solicited & Unsolicited

12
 Gathering User Feedback:
Methods
user • Surveys
– Questionnaires
– Telephone
– Mail
– Web based
• Interviews
– On-site interviews
– Telephone
• Focus groups
13
 Gathering User Feedback:
Methods
user • Unobtrusive data
– Using existing data: circulation
statistics, performance reports
• Direct observation
– Actually see what users do and not
what people say
• Suggestion boxes, comment cards
• E-feedback
– Telephone
– Email
14
15
 Why Focus on Complaints?

user Paradigm shift

• Primary means of direct
communication with user
• Complaining users are still
library users
– Put yourself in the shoes of the
library user
• Inexpensive
16
 What is a Complaint?

user • Negative meaning

– Dictionary definitions
 Pain, annoyance, illness, accusation, moan
and groan, give someone a hard time, find
fault
– “Bad reputation”
• Positive aspect
– View as a challenge
– Statement about needs and
expectations
– Opportunity to improve

17
 Complaints as Gifts
Complaint-as-gift philosophy
user • Positive benefits of complaints
– Strategic tool
– Teaches value of listening
• Turning Complaints into Compliments
– Be receptive to negative comments
and handling personal criticism
– Understand why users complain
– Develop and maintain a positive &
professional attitude
– Communicate back to complaining
library users 18
 Establishing
Complaint-Friendly
Policies
• Establishing policy statement
– Procedures for handling
complaints

• Complaint and Compliment system

– Availability of forms
– Problem report forms for staff use
– Analysis to identify patterns
– Action plan
– Publicizing results & initiatives

19
“Treat every complaint as ‘a gift’
that should be cherished
because a dissatisfied customer
spends time pinpointing what’s
wrong and gives us a chance to
improve…”

Barlow & Moller, 1996

20
 Time for Action – ABCDs of
User Feedback
• Ask
• Believe
• Communicate
• Do something
Satisfied
Customer

THANK YOU

21
 References
Barlow, Janelle and Claus Moller. A Complaint is a Gift:
Using Customer Feedback as a Strategic Tool. San
Francisco: Berrett Koehler, 1996.
user
“Editorial: Service Quality in Libraries and Treating
Users as Customers and Non-users as Lost or Never-
Gained Customers.” Journal of Academic Librarianship
v. 3 issue 3(May 1996):171-72.
Gorman, Michael. “Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins or
technology and the Future of Library Service in
Academic Libraries.” In People Come First, edited by
Dale s. Montanelli & Patricia F. Stenstrom, p. 1-12.
Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries,
1999.

22
 References
Hernon,Peter and Danuta A. Nitecki. “Service Quality: A
Concept not Fully Explored.” Library Trends v. 49 issue
4(Spring 2001):687-708.
user Kyrillidou, Martha and Kaylyn Hipps. “Symposium on
Measuring Library Service Quality.” ARL Bimonthly
Report 215 (April 2001):9-11
http://www.arl.org/newsltr/215/octsymp.html April
2001. (March 3, 2004)
Phipps, Shelley. “Beyond Measuring Service Quality:
Learning From the Voices of the Customers, the Staff,
the Processes, and the Organization.” Library Trends,
vol. 49 issue 4(Spring 2001):635-661.
Quinn, Brian. “Adapting Service Quality Concepts to
Academic Libraries,” Journal of Academic Librarianship
(September 1997): 359-369.

23
 References
Weingand, Darlene E. Customer Service Excellence: A
Concise Guide for Librarians. Chicago : ALA, 1997.
user Wilson, Lizabeth A. “Glacier or Avalanche? Shifts in the
Electronic, Education, and Library Landscape.” In LOEX
of the West: Teaching and Learning in a “Climate of
Change, edited by Thomas W. Leonhardt, p. 9.
Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, 1996.

24