George Needham

Vice President, Global and Regional Councils

“The customer is always… the customer!”Providing top notch service in a multiple choice world

OPAL Annual Conference, August 8, 2014

http://static.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/the-customer-is-always-right-until-i-prove-them-wrong-2eafb.png

College library/public library customer comparison chart

http://bit.ly/TVGiGr Isleton Branch. Sacramento Public Libraryhttp://bit.ly/1mDUCi5

First principles

1. What are you really trying to accomplish?

2. What is the real problem?

3. What really matters to our customers?

Adapted from“First principles thinking: a better way to innovate”

by Jorge Barba on Game-Changer blog, June 26, 2014http://bit.ly/1r4r7Jx

1.) What are you really trying to accomplish?

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Alignment

http://www.westfieldcrew.com/uploads/1/5/3/6/15361018/967867206_orig.jpg?1370914072

Avoid the tug of war

http://www.calgaryunitedway.org/main/images/Newsfeed/plane-pull-2013.jpg

Define success

http://classcubby.cias.rit.edu/img/papers-picture.png

Limit the clutter

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http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi04ZjVkZDA1YjIyZWI3NjUw

Emotional clutter counts, too!

http://angeanglade.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ClutteredMind.jpg

2.) What is the real problem?

You are

here.

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Ah, for the good old days…

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Our changing value proposition

From…

Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Libraries

• Books are for use.

• Every reader his book.

• Every book its reader.

• Save the time of the reader.

• The library is a growing organism.

http://bit.ly/1ormEKE

Reordering Ranganathan

3.) What really matters to our customers?

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http://law.ucla.edu/library/online-library-tour/first-floor/reference/

Identify your customers

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Understand your customers

http://www.starfleetacademy.edu/mindmeld

Connect with the always-connected

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Cut through the noise

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Your users aren’t remote: you are

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Listen…a lot!

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Ask the right question

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But not just “The Usual Suspects”

http://spectrumculture.com/film/criminally-overrated-the-usual-suspects/

Forget being “all things to all people”

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Focus

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Libraries don’t serve people…

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Individuals do

http://bit.ly/1nlNck7

Discussion

http://bit.ly/1mpi8Q8

Explore. Share. Magnify.

George Needham“The customer is always…the customer!”

needhamg@oclc.org

614-761-5173