Delivering Quality
Service: A Customercentric Approach
*
Sanjay Degloorkar
Assistant Librarian
Indian Institute of Management,
Lucknow
About the Institute
The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow is one of the six national level
management institutes set up the Government of India. The institute’s mission is
“to help improve the management of the corporate and the non-corporate
sectors and also the public systems, through pursuit of excellence in
management education, research, consultancy and training”.
Activities
• Post Graduate Programme in
Management
• Post graduate Programme in
Agri-Business Management
• Fellow Programme in
Management
• NOIDA center
• Management Development
Programmes
• Research & Consultancy
Gyanodaya:
Library – The Learning Resource Center
"to promote knowledge generation and application through its
effective dissemination".
Major Objectives of the
Library
• To support the learning process of the
PGP/FPM/MDP students through provision
of knowledge/information.
• To meet knowledge/information needs of
the faculty, to support their teaching
activities.
• To meet knowledge/information needs of
the faculty and research staff to support
their research activities.
• To respond effectively, where possible, to
the knowledge/information needs of the
Institute's client systems.
Stakeholders of the Library
Stakeholders
Resources
Internal Customers
Post Graduate Programme Students
Books, Periodicals, E-Databases,
Fellow Programme Students
Books, Periodicals, E-Databases,
Faculty Members
Books, Periodicals, Online Journals, E-Databases, Case Studies,
VCDs, DVDs, Corporate Reports, Working Papers, Occasional
Papers
Research Associates
Books, Periodicals, E-Databases,
External Customers
Member of the Corporates/Industries/Government Bodies
Books, Periodicals, Online Journals, E-Databases, Corporate
Reports
Members of the NGOs
Books, Periodicals, Online Journals, E-databases
Individuals
Books, Periodicals
We should answer following questions?
• Are we delivering the services?
• Are we delivering Quality services?
• Are we able to understand the needs
of our clienteles?
• How can we further improve our
services to meet the customers
expectations?
Vital Question of our (LIC Professional)
existence depends on
• Customers not only need SERVICE
but it should be QUALITY SERVICE.
• They are meticulous about their
requirements
• Their queries are becoming very
complex.
Circulation
• Circulation which was manual becomes automated.
• Barcode technology introduced to bring perfection and speed at
circulation center.
• Transformation of card catalogue to OPAC (Online Public Access
Catalogue) through which user can search it with all parameters
like Author, Title, Subject and in addition to that he can search the
catalogue through combination search, or use of Boolean
operators like AND, OR.or NOT. User gets the information right at
the OPAC terminal if the document required by him is presently
issued out. His time can be saved. OPAC can be installed on any
node within the campus and can be access through LAN. User
need not come physically to the library for knowing the availability
of the documents but they can access the resources from their
respective desktops.
Reprography
• Information Technology brought a
revolutionary change in conventional
services. It increases the speed as well as
accuracy in document delivery service.
User can get a printout of the relevant
portion from the entire document.
Retrieval of the information from the
printed material was too time-consuming,
but the online databases of the periodicals
made it so easy. One can find out
thousands of references on a particular
term in just one click.
Experience 1
• students of our institute are facing pressure of
submission of reports. Earlier they use to spent
eight to ten days in searching the relevant
information from entire back issues of the
journals and use to prepare there project report
within a day or two on the basis of there search.
They even could not search all the bound
volumes. But online databases give them much
more and much relevant information within eight
to ten minutes. And they can prepare there
project report by focusing the right approach.
Resource Sharing
Conventional System of
Resource Sharing:
•User need some reference/
document which is not available
in the Library
•He approaches the Reference
Librarian with a request.
•RL find out the source and write
to the Librarian.
•Other Librarian use to take
photocopy of the reference.
•He arranges to send it through
post.
•RL use to get it in about 10 to
15 days time.
•User may have lost the interest.
Non-Conventional System
of Resource Sharing:
•User need some reference/
document.
•He can mail his request.
•RL will find out the source
and will forward it to the
appropriate library.
•Other Librarian can send it as
an attachment.
•RL can forward it to the user
concerned.
•User may get the reference
within three to four hours.
Experience 2
• One of our faculty members was looking for an
article and he told me the reference. I (Sanjay)
was chatting through messenger with one of my
professional friend in Delhi and I pass it on to her
through messenger. She was not having it in her
library but her friend in Hyderabad was having it.
She asks him to forward it to me. I got the
reference just within five minutes. The faculty
member who was there I ask him to check his
mail for that article. He surprised by the speed
and praise me like anything.
Current Awareness
Services (CAS)
• Current Additions
Information about the books added to the library during a month.
• Current Contents
Information about the content pages of the journals received by
the library during a week.
Customer Service Model
• At IIM, Lucknow library after all the
Library Advisory Committee meetings,
visits to other institutions, informal
discussions among other staff of the
institutions, the conversations among the
information services staff about how to
deal with this or that particular user. We
have put together the facts gathered
about customer expectations and
perceptions. We have developed our own
concept from a concept of Michael
leBoeuf's statement which will enable it
to change users' perceptions and
expectations about the information
services unit.
1. Develop a user profile
At IIM-Lucknow Library, we have
developed a user profile database
based on the requirements of the
internal and external customers
needs and requirements, the
particular department, they are
teaching etc. Over the years, the
library personnel so trained that they
are able to judge that as a customer
enters the library, they are able to
judge what information he will
looking for.
2. Look at the information
services unit through the
user's eyes
• The library professionals of the IIMLucknow tried to understand the
service from the user’s point of view
to judge their satisfaction levels and
expectations levels too. Like what
information the clients are looking
for? Whether we have supplied
correct information? The relevancy
and timely delivery of the
information is must.
3. Beware of overpromising
and building unrealistic
expectations
• In a very strategic, and polite way
we respond to our customers. We
never over promise any customers
demand
4. Use problems as opportunities
to demonstrate just how good the
information services unit can be.
• We identify the problems and take it
as a challenge to solve it, in the
process we improved the services
too.
5. Develop a unique relationship
with your users and treat each one
as someone special
• This is a very important component
in IIM Lucknow Library, we develop a
long term relationship with our users
too. Most of our internal customers
and library service providers staying
in the campus so personal
attachment and sense of
belongingness always exist.
6. Keep in touch and keep
them informed
• Keep posted their requirements,
atleast their requirements”, this is
the clarion call we always follow at
IIM-Lucknow Library
7. Large part of good
service is showbiz
• As part of the work we do,
information services professionals
not only have to make the users feel
'special' in their interactions with the
information services unit, we want to
make them feel good as well.
Conclusion
At IIM, Lucknow Library we are
always thinking and developing to
retain customers relationship.
Customer retention is our main
motto. If a customer leaves us, we
think ten times and analyze, why he
has left us? And that brings the
further improvement and
modifications in those lacuna areas.
THANK YOU!!!
ANY QUESTIONS