September 13, 2008 Customer Care : Current Trends and Practices

August 4, 2008

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

The Ortigas Center Library Consortium (OCLC) Inc. in cooperation with Rizal Technological University in line with the 29th anniversary celebration of the Manila International Book Fair invites you to a forum on “Customer Care Service: Current Trends and Practices” on September 13, 2008 from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. at the Meeting Room 5, SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City.

The forum has the following objectives:

v To know the current trends and practices in customer care

v To re-orient participants to the value of service to customers

v To improve services by knowing the positive and negative feedbacks of the customers

Non-members will be charged P150, members P100, and undergraduate students P50.00. The forum fee is inclusive of snacks and certificates.

For inquiries and reservations, please contact the following: Ms. Lesil Lorete M. Tindoc and Dr. Angelina P. Resurreccion at telephone no. 534-8267 loc.129, or email us at: angelina_resurreccion@yahoo.com and eagle_llmt@yahoo.com.

We will be grateful if you can post a copy of this invitation on your bulletin board, and share this information with other librarians and friends.

Looking forward for your participation.

Thank you very much.

Below is a brief highlight about customer care and the importance of the topic.

Customer Care: Current Trends and Practices

Sponsored by Ortigas Center Library Consortium (OCLC), Inc.

September 13, 2008, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM, SM Mall of Asia , Room 5

Introduction

Some years back Customer Service in many libraries is a section where library users or customers (students, faculty, administrators, alumni, and community) go to air their complaints about poor service, defective books, or problems with lost books, rickety chairs and tables and even leaks in the roof.
Today, customer service in libraries still handle complaints, but that is only one of the many important jobs performed by librarians for their institutions, because today’s customer service sections are very marketing oriented. The focus is customer satisfaction.

Satisfaction levels from a number of transactions or encounters that an individual experiences with a particular organization fuse to form an impression of service quality for that person.

It consists of service encounter satisfaction, “the consumer’s dis/satisfaction with a discrete service encounter”, and overall service satisfaction, “the consumer’s overall dis/satisfaction with the organization based on all encounters and experiences with that particulars organization” (Bitner and Hubbert). The collective experiences of many persons create an organization’s reputation for service quality. (Hernon and Altman)

According to Peter Stubley (1998) “Customer Care” in its most basic level is the practice of interpersonal skills, ensuring that all customers are treated with respect and courtesy in their use of the library and that as far as possible, they leave satisfied in their information needs.

Customer care does not end with transactions between the customer and the librarian at the information desk or across the counter. Because, built into the customer care service center is a mechanism of continuous consultation, evaluation, and information gathering procedures to be able to know the current information needs of every customer.

Jordanhill Library has its first priority - meeting the needs of its customers, consulting them to find out what those needs are and reviewing its routines and procedures accordingly. Their aim to:

Ø Treat all customers with respect and courtesy.

Ø Be aware of and assist customer with special needs, e.g. “Those with disabilities, those whose first language is not English, and those who are part-time users”.

Ø Provide customer care training for all new staff with follow-up training thereafter to ensure helpful and friendly service.

Ø Keep customers informed about our services and opening hours, rules and regulations and publicize any changes.

Ø Consult users, e.g. Meeting with library representatives, conducting regular surveys of customers opinion and providing a suggestion box.

Ø Welcome constructive criticism and use comments and suggestions to help us improve our service.

Ø Respond to comments and inquiries within one week.

Ø Offer a professional and effective service based on up-to-date information sources and modern technology.



Importance of this Topic

1.Customer care is not only the concerns of the libraries but also of other offices (Registrar, Cashier, Accounting, Human Resource Office, Management Information Center , etc).

2.New demands on university administrators for performance measures.

3.Recruitment and retention of gifted students and outstanding faculty have become competitive concerns.

4.Students’ satisfaction with their academic experience and their parents’ sense of value for their money spent on college.

5.Library services are among the academic experiences that shape this sense.

6.Faculty members look to libraries as indicators of support for their research and teaching.

7.Alumni donors tend to remember positive library and office experiences during their college days.

8.An accreditation standard requires the use of the library as well as satisfaction among library users.

The resource speaker, Mr. Marc Gaudiel, IBM Call Center Trainor is an expert in dealing with different customers and he will share his strategies how to be in goodwill relationships with them, thus give a good image of the library, office, institution, agency or organization.

Yours truly,

CELIA C. CRUZ
Vice-President and Conference Chair

Noted by:

ANGELINA P. RESURRECCION, DPA
President