Is customer service now surf service?: working with library vendors

Citation

(1999), "Is customer service now surf service?: working with library vendors", The Bottom Line, Vol. 12 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.1999.17012bab.012

Is customer service now surf service?: working with library vendors

Is customer service now surf service?: working with library vendors

Keywords: Customer service, Libraries, Vendors

The library profession is fully entrenched in what is seemingly an electronic saturation of information to be accessed through the Internet. A recent Communication News article cites a "new twist to the customer support sage: self service, also known as 'surf service'." (Cohn, 1995). This type of service may be a revolution to the library profession, which has daily, if not seemingly hourly, contact with library vendors. The integration of help desks, call centers and customer service will be a challenge, but an integration which may give librarians the best answers and problem resolution.

One specific way this integration will benefit the customer is by logging the problems through internal databases. Call centers have long attempted to monitor what type of questions were posed through customer service telephone lines, but broad classifications were used in classifying the problems. Management reports would find "printing" or "delivery of products" were at the top of librarians concerns, but yet, the qualitative, customer-specific information may be lacking from the vendor management's view of the situation. With Web-based customer service, vendors will have access to the data of the types of problems libraries are having with their products, including the company response. This should allow for ample reflection of where the major problems are for the vendor and how to respond quickly to the problems.

Second, the Web-based, customer service will be an invisible management for the librarian using the service. No longer will the librarian be placed on hold, transferred to vendor personnel who in theory can answer the question or problem. The new service will allow a librarian to log the question through a Web-based form or questionnaire, which will be transferred to the appropriate people in the vendor organization. In this way, the librarian customer will have direct contact with the technicians or subject specialist, without having to explain a situation to a first-tier operations desk. If positioned correctly by the vendor, this could be a revolutionary change in vendor relations with librarians. Answers could be found, solutions to problems resolved, cost to the vendor could be reduced and the time of the librarian enhanced.

A LEXIS-NEXIS example

An example of what type of customer service is available via the Internet is valuable to pursue. LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc., has a Website that represents a great example of providing information in this surf service model. The Webpage at http://www.lexis-nexis.com provides information for all of their library markets, including libraries in legal, business, government, and academic institutions. The Webpage is a great resource for both business information on how to work with LEXIS-NEXIS as a vendor and service provider, as well as using the Webpage to supplement existing training literature and educational initiatives in your organization.

Three features to examine within the Webpage: first, the LEXIS-NEXIS source locator, educational based tools to assist in using the LEXIS-NEXIS information products. Second, within some of the links librarians will find financial information related to their individual libraries. By clicking on Customer Service and using the Search Site and the LEXIS-NEXIS radio button, library managers can find a plethora of information. Searching the word pricing will find over 50 results, including such relevant information as an overview of the different pricing options (transactional, hourly, or flat-rate subscriptions), an Invoice Report Guide and email addresses of key departments within LEXIS-NEXIS for specific questions. Lastly, LEXIS-NEXIS is an international company, to serve the international scope of our profession. Within the Knowledge Base section of the Customer Service Webpage, librarians can find the International Customer Service Numbers to directly contact the company's world headquarters in Dayton, Ohio.

While these features are just a few within the site of value to library managers and liaisons with vendors for libraries, the features present a foundation for what surf-customer service will look like for librarians dealing with vendors in this format.

Finding vendor information

Librarians in the role of working with vendors need quick and relevant information, which vendor Webpages profess to offer. However, several libraries have taken the time to group vendors on the Web. A representative list is presented below.

AcqWeb's Directory of Publishers and Vendors

http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/law/acqs/acqs.html

"This portion of AcqWeb is an international directory of publishers and vendors used by libraries. It links to their Web sites and email addresses. It is maintained for the benefit of the library community, in particular, acquisitions, collection development and serials librarians." The focus here is broad, but extremely useful for everyone involved in the library-vendor relationship, from directors, managers, reference and acquisitions' librarians and our para-professional staffs.

Library Automation Vendors

http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/cps/automation/vendors.html

Specific to the area of library automation, this list focuses on vendors with major products in this area of great importance to library managers.

Library Vendors: Publishers/Booksellers/Producers/Distributors

http://www.itcompany.com/inforetriever/vend_pub.html

The format here is exciting, easy to use and provides great descriptions for those librarians looking for a specific service. This one is worth bookmarking!

Vendor Resources on the Internet

http://www.indiana.edu/~accessw3/vendor.html

The site is short and focuses on computer and software vendors, who are often not included in other vendors lists.

In conclusion, we need as a profession to discuss with our vendors what services and options will be productive and helpful for librarians via the Internet. Customer service needs to be an on-going communication process and not immediately relegated to the Internet without an appreciation for the continued need for the personal touch of a customer service representative. Through the long-term commitment of librarians and vendors working in libraries, the Internet will just provide yet another way to service the library account productively.

James H. Walther is on the faculty at the Catholic University of America, School of Library and Information Science in Washington, DC.

Reference

Cohn, R. (1999), "Bringing back the human touch," Communication News, Vol. 36, p. 32.