Are You Pissing Off Your Patrons Before You Even Meet Them?

I called my doctor's office this afternoon to make an appointment for early February. Apparently the office closes from noon to 1pm daily so the staff and docs can get their lunch (which I have no issue with, everyone needs to eat). What I *did* take issue with is the fact that the answering machine message threatens (sternly) that if I leave a message that includes a question, I will be charged $25. If I contact the after-hours doctor, I will be charged $25. And they will autodelete any message I leave about refills of any kind, since those calls must now go directly to the pharmacy.


Have you thought lately about the tone of your voice message to incoming callers? Customers and patrons have tons of choices (hear that, doc?), and they don't have to put up with rude, condescending, or stern messages. (Ahem, nor should they.) And if they haven't even met you yet, you won't get to explain your (probably? maybe? not really) good reasons for taking such measures - you'll just lose their business, and gain a whole lot of bad referrals.


Call your library's main line when it's closed, and go ahead and call your own number - how does the message leave you feeling? Do you feel welcomed?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Impressions & Customer Service Failures

We all know how important first impressions are, right? It's sort of like how Anne McCaffrey's dragons "impress" on new dragonriders-to-be. (Yes, I'm feeling nostalgic with a new herd of freshmen on campus.) First impressions are essential, particularly when you're talking about freshmen, wet behind the ears, completely disoriented and overwhelmed by being at a state school for their first college experience, and stressed out by trying to find their classrooms and last-minute add/drops on their schedule. I usually don't think of them this way, because I'm not a fundraiser or in the alumni office, but the University at large should also think about the fact that these are the kids we hope will call this university 'home' even after they leave. (That could be my small liberal arts college experience shining through, though.) If nothing else, due to UTC's abysmal retention rates, you'd think the entire university would be bending over back
Read more

On the Great Myth of the Librarian Grays

Lately, there's been a lot of discussion (and bitching) about the promised graying/retirement within the library profession that was supposed to open up endless job opportunities for new librarians. The LITA-L email list, a recent American Libraries article , and a post by Peter Brantley calling for an overthrow by the young'uns have all been pretty popular topics of late. January 15, 2004, Rachel Singer Gordon published a piece in Library Journal titled "NextGen: Get Over the "Graying" Profession Hype" . I say again: this was 2004. It would appear no one took the advice, given that today - despite very obvious evidence to the contrary, American Libraries just printed an ill-advised article on recruiting undergrads to the profession , citing the graying of the profession as a reason for folks to sign up for library work. Jessamyn West, in her recent post "show us the numbers re: new librarian jobs" , calls for more than the ever-present empty a
Read more

Jobseeker Tip 1: CV/Resume Objectives, And A Contest!

**This blog post is first in a series about job search advice as discussed by my happy band of fellow library hiring managers, and is not related to any particular individual applicant from actual past, current, or future searches. All objectives included below are largely fictional, and any resemblance they may bear to actual CV objectives is the fault of the CV writer** Let's talk about the "Objective" section on your CV or resume. (Or, I'll write, you read.) Delete it. No, really. It's a waste of precious page real estate, and while it offers you the opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot, it doesn't offer a similar-sized boon if you get it right. If you make it library-department and library type specific: "Objective: To obtain a technical services position in an academic library setting" you'll look like a fool if you forget to then tailor that line when you start applying for reference jobs and public library positions. (Don't laugh
Read more