Let’s Talk About REAL Customer Service: How We Increased Circulation by 300 Percent

Presented at the 2016 Access Services Conference, Georgia Tech Global Learning Center and the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, November 16-18, 2016, Atlanta, Georgia.Vince Mussehl began as the Library Services Specialist/Manager of Library Services at Chippewa Valley Technical College. in the summer of 2014 after having been a supervisor in access services with the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. In his current role he oversees all aspects of the College’s library but still has a passion for all things access services including circulation and working with student employees. He has held leadership role in the Wisconsin Library Association’s Support Staff & Circulation Section and graduated with his MLIS from University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.We hear it all the time – good customer service here, exceptional service there – but are we really practicing it? What is good customer service and why should we even bother with it in library land? How do we get our team of student workers on board? What library trends actually make a difference? At Chippewa Valley Technical College in Wisconsin we took customer service to a completely different level. In 2014 I “stumbled” into a leadership position at the College’s library and it was a blast from the past. Imagine airport customer service and department of motor vehicle customer service mixed – yikes! With very little library staff and lot of love, learn how we transformed the image of the library through customer service and increased our circulation over 300 percent at a time when many of the nation’s academic libraries are seeing a downward trend