customer relationship management for managers in libraries
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Customer Relationship Management for Managers in Libraries. Matt Anderson UNC-Chapel Hill. CRM. Many organizations invest heavily in Customer Relationship Management Customer Relationship Management (CRM) “is a strategy for optimizing the lifetime value of customers” - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Customer Relationship Management for Managers in Libraries
Matt AndersonUNC-Chapel Hill
CRM
• Many organizations invest heavily in Customer Relationship Management
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) “is a strategy for optimizing the lifetime value of customers”
• Source: Todman, C. (2001). Designing a data warehouse: supporting customer relationship management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Page 8.
CRM
• One of the main parts of CRM is getting to know the customer…
• What inquires do customers make?• Why do customers become unhappy?• What do they do when they are unhappy?• What can we do to improve the situation?• How can we communicate with customers?
CRM in Supermarkets
CRM in Supermarkets
• CRM research in supermarkets has led to a wider range of products and services like:
• Pharmacies• Banks• Clothing• Music• Tools• Automotive supplies
CRM in Libraries
CRM in Libraries
• Businesses using CRM often use knowledge discover processes like data mining, surveys, et cetera.
• It isn’t always necessary to collect vast amounts of information on library patrons to understand them.
• Library employees become close with patrons simply by doing their job.
• As a manager in a library, you probably have access to the information you need to serve your patrons better.
CRM in Libraries
• The following questions will address your library’s relationship with its patrons.
• The questions should give you ideas on how to serve patrons more effectively.
Your Patrons
Your Patrons
• How many patrons do you know at your library?
• Think of five patrons who use your library.• How often do you see them?• How often do you communicate with them?
Your Hiring Practices
Your Hiring Practices
• What are the key service qualities you look for when you hire an employee?
• Are these consistent no matter what the position is?
• Do other managers at the library look for the same service qualities when deciding whom to hire?
Your Employees
• Who at your library is the best at giving good service to patrons?
• Who are the top three at giving good service?• Do the top three know that you feel this way?• How do you encourage them to give good
service to patrons?• Name a change in training or policy that could
make the rest of your employees perform at a higher level.
Your Employees
• Name three things you do for employees of the library to make them feel special.
• Do you know all their names?• Do you know their family members’ names or
what kind of pet they have?
Your Technology
Your Technology
• What kinds of technology does your library use?
• How do these enrich the patrons’ experience?• Do your employees have enough training and
education to assist patrons with the library’s technology or do they often have to get an expert to help?
Your Website
• Does your library have a website for patrons?• What are some examples of information your
patrons might be looking for when they visited your library’s website?
• What are two things that your library’s website could add that would improve the patrons’ experience?
Your Contact Methods
• How does your library contact patrons?• What information might a patron receive via
email?• What information might a patron receive via
postal mail?
Your Demographic Groups
Your Demographic Groups
• What does your library do to meet the needs of people over the age of sixty?
• What does your library do to meet the needs of children?
• What are two other demographic groups that your library is actively trying to serve?
Your Visuals
Your Visuals
• As far as displays, furnishings, library arrangement, et cetera, what is something you could do to make your library’s interior more visually pleasant?
• What is something you could do to make your library more visually pleasant from the outside?
Your Feedback
• How do patrons give feedback?• Through how many people do patron requests
or complaints travel?• Give an example of a patron telling you what
the library needs.• How did the message get to you?• Could the communication have been
improved?
Your Service-Oriented Problems
• What is a mistake that your library has made with regard to serving a patron or patrons?
• Was there an apology for the inconvenience?• Was there an attempt to try to fix the problem?• Was the problem resolved?• Were the patron or patrons satisfied with the
attempt to resolve the problem?• How do you know?
Your Colleagues
• Do you belong to organizations where you can swap ideas about service to patrons?
• What types of service improvements have you heard about from other libraries or organizations that you could implement in your library?
Your Patrons’ Expectations
Your Patrons’ Expectations
• Give two examples of ways that your library exceeds patrons’ service expectations.
• Give two examples of additional ways that your library can exceed patrons’ service expectations.
Conclusion
• This was a brief look at how library managers can use CRM ideas to improve relationships between the library and its patrons.
• Hopefully, it’s given you a few ideas that you can implement soon at your library.
Additional Sources Consulted• Anton, J. (1996). Customer relationship management: making hard
decisions with soft numbers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.• Brown, S.A. (2000). Customer relationship management: a strategic
imperative in the world of e-business. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons.• Fjermestad, J. & Romano, N.C. (2006). Electronic customer relationship
management. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp.• Mitchell, J. (2003). Hug your customers: the proven way to personalize
sales and achieve astounding results. New York: Hyperion.• Rajola, F. (2003). Customer relationship management: organizational and
technological perspectives. Berlin: Springer.• Wagner, W. & Zubey, M. (2007). Customer relationship management: a
people, process, and technology approach. Boston: Thomson.