Why sales reps should take lessons from reference librarians…
May 29th, 2007 Stewart Posted in home improvement, library reference |
This Memorial Day weekend I began work on a home improvement project that quickly ran into a snag. My wife and I live in a 1925 American Foursquare that we’re always fixing up and this weekend we started installing a ceiling fan in one of the bedrooms on the second floor. After I removed the existing light fixture, we found a small pancake box mounted directly onto the lath underneath the ceiling plaster. While this is fine for supporting a two-pound light fixture, it’s wholly inadequate for a thirty-pound ceiling fan.
Ordinarily, a common adjustable bar hanger can be mounted between two studs to support the fan, but that requires access from the attic above, and this one part of the attic is sealed off. I started looking into my trusty Reader’s Digest home improvements book (a tad dated, but still a very useful manual) and found a page about installing an offset bar hanger from below. Better Homes & Gardens has a page about it as well.
So this morning I began calling electrical suppliers and lighting specialists to try and locate said offset hanger. After my third call, I was getting frustrated — No one had even heard of such a thing, and most of them seemed to be in a hurry to get me off the phone.
My last call was to the good folks at Shanor Electric Supply, a local business. First, the sales rep told me that he’s familiar with the offset hanger, but that they don’t keep them in stock. He then asked me what I was trying to do, and I explained that I needed to install a ceiling fan but had no access from the attic. He asked me a couple more questions, this time about the hole I’m working with and the space between the beams. He then tells me that he thinks he’s got a better solution and describes the patented Westinghouse Saf-T-Brace that can be installed from below through a 4-inch opening.
I drove 20 minutes out to their shop and he had the item pulled from their stock, on the counter, and ready to be rung up. I was out the door in less than five minutes.
For reference librarians, the lessons here are obvious. There’s always a question beneath the question. Diagnosing the “real” question means listening well, and developing a better understanding of what the customer needs are in any given transaction. In this case, I thought I knew what the best solution was; I didn’t know there was a better solution to be found until he told me about it.
I now have my Saf-T-Brace and I’m looking forward to installing it (and the new ceiling fan) tonight!
May 29th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
I love how this post merges personal and professional. But I guess I just revealed my already much revealed blogging bias, yet again.
Seriously, I have had similar experiences (recently at a record store, one example) and have no problem using my blog space to explore the lessons learned as well as hey, give a shoutout to the folks who went the extra mile. Stories of good customer service are not only ways we can learn about ourselves as professionals, they are ways we can remind the world of why googleborg is not their librarian!
Now, it could be argued that vendors have an immediate stake in providing such good service (uhm, aside, so why don’t more of them employ said service?) where reference librarians do not. They’re not selling anything. Or ARE they? Our patrons ARE, in many ways, customers. Somewhere along the line (tuition, taxes) they have actually paid for us to ask the right questions to offer something they may not be aware of.
Then again, sometimes, they just want their offset hanger and be done with it.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I had the opposite experience on the way to MLA. My sister and I were driving through Buck’s County, and stopped at a small cafe/deli to get a snack for the road. We went in, took a look at the menu, discovered the bakery case and the yummy-looking muffins, and then waited at the register to order & pay. Didn’t want much–just a few muffins, plus a yogurt for me. There were 2 people behind the counter–one making an espresso drink, another frying up some eggs for someone. We waited. And waited. And waited. Neither of them even turned to acknowledge us, let alone asked what they can do for us. I think we waited 5 minutes before we finally set down our things and left. We were across the street when one of them came and called out the door after us–”Ladies, was there something you wanted?” I was steaming mad (and hungry!). My sister didn’t trust me to respond w/o losing it, and told them that clearly they were too busy to help us.
She’s also a librarian, and of course we were going over the incident for the rest of the drive. Customer service lesson #1–acknowledge the customer. Even if you can’t help them immediately, let them know you know they’re there and are going to help them asap!
Clearly I’m still mad, 2 weeks later…