OCLC Symposium

OCLC Symposium Friday July 10, 2009 Chicago

Keynote speaker Joseph A. Michelli, PhD, did his homework before speaking before a room full of librarians at the Symposium. He had read and studied the OCLC research report “From Awareness to Funding.” He cautioned that for libraries the future cannot be “more of the same” but that they need to connect with users through a transformative experience.

The library needs to learn what is relevant to the patron in their wants, needs, & desires. Listen to the patron and treat them as if they were important. The experience that they have at the library needs to transformative, one that allows them to learn and change.

Transformative drivers are those things you can do to create EBS, experiential based services. One is to begin by making the staff have a transformational experience as employees, treat them well. This starts by designing the employee experience from their selection, orientation, and reviews where we ask “How are we doing at helping you do your job?”

We need to build loyalty and engagement with the patron. To judge this, ask these questions. How satisfied are you with library services? How likely are you to continue to use these services? How likely are you to recommend them to a friend or relative?

The library needs to move itself from

Informational > Transformational
Institutional > Infrastructure
Nice > Necessary
Past > Future
Altruism > ROI

One example of customer service comes from the Ritz-Carlton a very simple approach – described as the three steps of service:
1) Offer a Warm Welcome (look up, smile and/or greet the person)
2) Fulfill the stated and unstated needs of the guest (be attentive to and observant of the patron)
3) Provide a fond farewell (say good-bye or come back soon)

If you want to learn more about Dr. Michelli check out his website. He has written three books The Starbucks Experience, The New Gold Standard, and When Fish Fly.