Focusing on hybrid library and information services this management guide takes a practical and strategic approach to developing a customer-service culture in both the physical and virtual library environment.

This text introduces a customer service programme that has been applied, refined and customized in many top businesses. It explains in practical terms how you can build a service culture into your business.

The tenets of excellent customer service are central to any organization that creates or delivers products or services In fact, excellent customer service is a bigger differentiator today than it was twenty years ago. Customers are hungry for good service; they are hungry to establish long-term relationships with those who provide not only a one-time solution but serve as a long-term resource. There is a problem, however. Organizations and the people who work within them have difficulty implementing the principles of customer service. The vast majority of books and training materials on customer service teach the concepts, but do not provide the tools to implement them. In The Seven ServiceElements of Customer Success, we take you on an enjoyable journey where you will learn about the foundational principles of customer service and acquire the tools to implement those principles. These application tools will help make you more successful in your job and simultaneously contribute to an enhanced service culture in your organization. In the pages that follow, we blend classic knowledge with new information to create valuable insights about how to make customer service a sustainable competitive advantage in your job and for your organization.

As libraries move into the 21st century, quality management has become a key focus of the effort to create a service culture that meets - and indeed exceeds - customer requirements. The language of customer service has become common in the library and information sector, as have many of the techniques associated with the provision of customer-focused services. However, there is a danger that customer service may be seen as a 'bolt on' to existing core provision in the form of feedback mechanisms, information leaflets and customer-training sessions. One of the challenges facing managers is to go beyond the acknowledgement of the importance of a customer focus, and to develop an understanding of how this focus can be embedded in the culture of their services via strategic and operational management. This new management guide addresses this challenge. Contributed by LIS professionals with extensive experience in the management of public and academic services, each chapter presents a good practice guide to an element of strategic or operational management with the customer placed at centre stage: the users' perspective; planning and policy making; leadership and management; human resource planning; marketing as a tool for LIS managers; assuring quality; planning buildings for customers and services; developing a service culture through partnerships; virtual service. Readership: This book is essential reading for managers of library and information services from senior to team managers, and also for all those involved in devising strategy and policy for staff and service development. It is relevant to libraries and information services in any area of the world.

Kaufman takes you on a journey into the new world of service. Learn how the world's leading companies have changed the game, and how you can successfully follow this path to an uplifting service transformation.