Beware of buyer

The marketplace has evolved from a "buyer beware" mentality to a "seller beware" attitude, which is a good thing. However, the newly found power customers wield means that one unhappy customer can spell big trouble for companies (and libraries too!). In fact, a Knowledge @ Wharton post reports that 100 dissatisfied customers can cost retailers between 32 and 36 percent of current or potential customers due to bad word-of-mouth! These results stress the importance of librarians providing consistent, high-quality customer service

What can librarians do to keep their patrons happy? One possible solution comes from Blog Business World. A post there suggests that companies create customer service blogs that keep a dialogue going between customers and employees. Doing so helps to ensure that surly customers don't keep their concerns bottled up, but instead tell employees about their problems so they can be resolved. I also like this idea because it increases libraries'/businesses' transparency to foster trust and relationships with patrons/customers.