William J. Schroer
In this fifth installment of our article on the Problem Customer, we pick up our story at the end of dealing with a situation where the customer is in the wrong. We addressed how to identify the situation where the customer is or is likely to be in error and then went on to cover the four rules +1 for reconciling the situation. That is, there are four rules to employ when suspecting a problem with a customer who may be in the wrong. The last rule is a good rule to always employ when customers are dealing with staff. That rule emphasizes the need to make the employee who is the first contact with the customer also the employee who is the last contact. This reduces the likelihood of customers getting in the habit of “going over the head” of staff to get a better solution. To restate the rules....
1. Recognize this Problem and Isolate the Patron (when/where possible)
2. Verify the Situation/Facts
3. Be Prepared to Back Up Your Side with Objective Data
4. Reinforce Your Commitment to the Patron
5. Follow the First Contact/Last Contact Rule
In this installment we move into an area that is uncomfortable for many
directors and staff and for some, there is no small level of denial
that it exists...and the “it” here is the presence of
evil.
The overwhelming majority of library patrons and visitors are good, decent people who mean well and, even when they disagree with staff about issues, fines or whatever, can do so in a positive, courteous way. That is not everyone, however. And, without working to be melodramatic about it, let me say there are people in the world that are not good, decent people. In fact:
- There are people without values/beliefs other than those that serve their own interests.
- There are people who cannot/will not be pleased except at the significant expense to others, for which these people have no concern.
- There are people who do not
know how (and/or care)to act in an appropriate way in public.
It is my experience that while library staff may acknowledge the above stated reality in theory, many do not have policies, procedures or precautions which genuinely recognize and prepare for this type of person.
And, rightly, directors and staff want to give patrons the benefit of the doubt and behave as though 99% of patrons were the good, decent folk we want all of our customers to be. Further, being paranoid about customers is neither helpful nor is amenable to building the kind of customer relationships and loyalty we spend a lot of time talking about in our seminars and directors and staff work on trying to build with their customer base. So, what to do?