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5/31/2007

Service vs. Experience

Doing "service" well means being able to shower every customer with individualized attention and cater to personal interests and needs.

Doing "experience" well means being able to engage the customer in a personal encounter that exceeds expectations.

Both create loyalty and provide customers with a reason to return.


OK --- That was my brilliant Seth Godin-like thought for the night. Now for my question ... On a scale of 1 to 10, how well does your organization/company/library do either of these? Just think of the impact that libraries could make if we did just one of these well? It's has me pondering ...



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hooray Helene - you've nailed it spot on! This isn't about "special treatment" (implying that only a select few receive it) - this is about meeting our customers where they are and giving them the service they need, right at the time they need it. Cookie-cutter responses to unique individuals (our customers) be gone!

And your thoughts have inspired a LeapinLibrarian post... Thanks!

www.yestoknow.com said...

I think what we need to get at is recreating what it means to "provide service." The word "service" itself has become a dingy word. Let's forget about this word. Let's forget about what we 'think' our users want. If we're just prepared to OVERWHELM them each time they come through doors, we'll be too busy to think about whether we provided "good service. And that's alright! Actually, that is spectacular. (Let's learn to use words like "overwhelm," "spectacular,"
"delight," and such in our policies!)
Overwhelmingly,
TT