Monday, November 2, 2009

Customer Service in the Retail World

I had an interesting conversation with a friend this weekend who works for Coldwater Creek. She was sharing some of their policies on customer service. I found it very interesting to hear how they focus on "touchpoints" - touching each customer. No not physically, but making a connection with everyone who comes in their store. Employees are assigned certain areas of the store and when someone is in their section they make sure to make a connection. I was thinking how effective that could be in our libraries. I picture staff having certain areas and roaming, connecting with customers in their area. I'm sure many do this and if you do I'd love to hear about it. I remember while at ALA a few years ago and we visited libraries that had pods instead of large reference desks. The pod allowed the customer and staff to work together in close proximity.