Thursday, November 15, 2012

Serving Your Customers Without Sacrificing Yourself


On Wednesday, November 14, 2012, I attended Rayna Schroeder's workshop Serving Your Customers Without Sacrificing Yourself at the LaVale Branch of the Allegany County Public Library System.
I was really looking forward to this workshop, as I deal with difficult customers on a daily basis, and while I always try to be polite, professional, and helpful, it's usually at the expense of my nerves!
I definitely got a lot out of this workshop.  I'm not sure why it came as such a shock to me, but the biggest thing I took away was that different people have completely different sets of triggers than I do, and that we can use each others' strengths and weaknesses to our advantage.
All of this also helped me recognize my own personal triggers, which is something I had never really given much thought to before. The workshop really gave me a lot to think about, and several self-improvement goals for me to work towards, which will help me stay calmer and more focused when serving library patrons.
In turn, I think this will help improve all of our patrons' library-going experiences, as it will create a friendlier, more welcoming atmosphere; if I can deal with difficult patrons without getting upset and feeling overwhelmed, then not only might I have helped that particular patron, but I may have helped everyone in the library at that time to avoid a much more unpleasant experience.

2 comments:

Judy said...

5th attempt. I have run out of steam....GOOD ,Helpful, information...DONE

Suzanne said...

I found this seminar extremely helpful as well. She gave me good tools to prepare myself IN ADVANCE for those problem situations that arise. I shared her info with everyone in my circ staff, since we all encounter these customers from time to time. Thanks for setting this up for us!
Suzanne Bonser
Ruth Enlow Library