ADEKUNLE ALALADE LIBRARY

In-house Seminar for Staff

February 2012

RE-BRANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE IN NIGERIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES THROUGH FISH

PHILOSOPHY

Good People Great Service

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• Emerge in 1998

• From a film called Fish! catch the energy, release the potentials

• Produced by John Christensen

• He constructed the film from his observation of a famous Pike

Place fish market employees in Seattle

• And came out with 4 concepts

FISH PHILOSOPHY CONCEPTS

Choose your attitudeBe therePlayMake their day

WHY FISH PHILOSOPHY?

• A l ife-long philosophy that helps us feel inspired about the work we do.

• FISH! complements what we’re already doing because FISH! is focused on “who you’re, while you’re doing what you’re doing,”

FISH! HELPS BUILD GREAT ORGANIZATIONS

by affirming one another and in t ime, earning each other’s heart and soul because making money is easy, but f inding meaning is not.

FISH! IS A PHILOSOPHY, NOT A PROGRAM.

• You implement a program to change or fix people, but there’s nothing inspiring about being “programmed.” You can’t implement a philosophy. Instead you explore it, try it out and decide if it ’s right for you. If it is, you l ive it, because you believe in it.

APPLICATION TO LIBRARY SETTING

Users of the l ibrary are our customers

They are very important

They determine our existence

Without them there is no reason to work.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

• It is important in everything we do in the l ibrary

Our work revolve around people

• Customer Service is therefore an organization’s

abil ity to supply its customers’ wants and needs

in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

WHO ARE OUR CUSTOMERS IN ADEKUNLE ALALADE LIBRARY?

Our Users

•Students

•Lecturers

•Senior staff

•Junior staff

•Others- external users

WHY DO WE NEED TO TREAT THEM WELL?

There are other services providers competing with the

library services through internet facilities

Users can bypass the library to get information

If care is not taken very soon the library will not be relevant

It takes more energy to make new customer than to keep

old ones.

1. CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary define attitude as a settled way of thinking.

Attitude is the most personal of all the four f ish philosophy concepts.

No one can choose your attitude for you, it is a personal decision it is your choice.

Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?

EXERCISE 1

1. Think about your attitude when you come to work today. How did you react to your

• Co-workers?

• Your customers

• If you have reacted in a negative way, how has it affected the other person?

• Has it help the organization?

2. BE THERE

• This has more to do with giving your full attention to a task or individual

• If you are there for your customers, they wil l tell the story.

• You need to go an extra mile to satisfy your customers e.g. Westervil le Public Library says

“what we value has l itt le or no value unless it

matches that of our customers”

EXERCISE 2

• Think about someone who you think has a great attitude. Describe his/her attitude. Write them down. Do the same for a person who has poor att itude.

• Write down 2ways you wil l resolve to choose your attitude at work or elsewhere.

PANDA AND MANDAL (2006)

Observed that l ibrary staff who are there for their customers uses

phrases l ike:

May I help you?

Here is the information you are looking for.

Do not worry I am here to help you.

We have more information on this

We regret the inconvenience

Are you satisfied?

Here are the recent arrivals to our l ibrary!

Please feel free to express your need/concern

Let me get the document/ information from other resource centre e. t. c.

EXERCISE 3Think about how good you feel when someone gives

you full attention and meet your needs

Think about how you feel when someone with whom you are interacting look away from you to talk with others and check his/her watch,

Can anyone share with us when someone was there for him/her?

How did it impact your l i fe?

The glue in our humanity is in being fully present for one another.

3. PLAY

Play is NOT about

acting irresponsibly

In a l ivable workplace,

play is about f inding

ways to have more fun

accomplishing serious

goals."

Finding ways to "play" can lead to greater productivity

creativity a l ight-hearted sense of "play" can be a major component of achieving consistent "eff icient action."

PLAY CAN BE IN FORM OF THESE ACTIVITIES:

Stretch at your desk for f ive minutes Do secret pal antics to each otherCartoons on bullet in boardDecorate your environmentCelebrate birthdaysWear something funnyHave a dress-up day on a random dayWrite a “thank you” note to your favorite cl ient,

customer,Do end of the year partyJoke with users

4. MAKE THEIR DAY

When you make the effort to brighten someone’sday— not because you want a reward, but because that’s the person you want to be—you receive an internal gift that makes l ife even more meaningful as well .

•Has somebody make you feel great today?•We can also do the same for our customers.

HOW DO WE MAKE THE DAY OF OUR CUSTOMERS?

Let think of our customers as individuals, think of what

would make their days• Is it a simile?,• A suggestion of something to read?• Information about new l ibrary services• A posit ive comment etc.What is ordinary to one person may be

extraordinary toanother. Find out what wil l makes the day of each

customer thatcomes across you.

EXERCISE 4

a. Mention 3-5 companies where you have

receive great customer services.

b. What do you l ike about their customer service?

PUTTING ALL TOGETHER.• Choose your att itude - It is your choice• Be there - Concentrate on your job• Play - have fun at work• Make their day - l i ft up others people spiritsNow that we have looked at al l the 4 concepts of f ish

philosophywe wil l real ized that they all work together to make

greatcustomer service.However, i f you are good in one, others wil l be easy

to practices, then we are creating a work l ife that makes us happy.

Onifade, F.N ( Mrs.) Adekunle Alade Library Babcock UniversityIlishan- RemoNigeria