Customer Service...From Lattes to Doughnuts to Books

From Starbucks Coffee to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and even Subway Sandwiches and Cold Stone Creamery, a good part of my career has been focused on Local Store Marketing and Customer Relations. So, how does that experience translate to Arapahoe Library District? Even though we may not be focused on driving store traffic, and moving cups of coffee, we are still in the business of delighting our customers, and offering excellent customer service, are we not?

Starbucks Coffee focused on being the “third place” – that place between home and work where people would go to unwind, check email, meet friends and even be seen. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts wanted to “Create Magic Moments” for their customers, by going the extra mile – helping someone out to their car with their doughnuts and coffee or handing a new customer a free “sample” of a hot fresh doughnut, right off the line.

It might not surprise you that those goals and simple gestures didn’t simply come automatically for the baristas and staff at each of those companies. It is a well-orchestrated dance that is taught and reiterated on a daily basis (sometimes successfully and sometimes, not-so-much...if you have ever frequented those places, you have probably experienced a little bit of both.) And sometimes these ideals are the first to slip in rough times. As you likely heard in the news, Starbucks Coffee Company recently closed all of its stores for a re-training of the staff. Not only was it a brilliant publicity move, it communicated to the staff and the world a renewed focus on the customer.

Since joining the Arapahoe Library District, I have been more than impressed by the focus on the customer. On every level, I have seen a wonderful endeavor to recognize the patron as the backbone of our existence, and our “raison d’être” – as they should be.

Your communications team wants to help support that effort. In the near future we will be putting together a small incentive program to encourage good customer service while having fun at the same time.

We’d also welcome your ideas for helping to build relationships with the patrons, and ways the communications department can help facilitate good customer service.