Putting Users First: Enhancing Library Services for Satisfaction and Success

1. USERS FIRST A PRESENTATION @ Your Library, Wales Strand Three 2006/07

2. should we put ourselves first? Chief Managers Front of house Users

3. Or, our users & potential users? Users Front of house Managers Chief

4. Why does it matter to you or me? • If we put the needs of our users first we will be able to give them what they want, in the way that they want it • Result – they will be satisfied, happy & will use us more

5. And we get • more satisfaction in our jobs, by adding value to our users’ experience & our colleagues • increased users, stock issues figures & foot fall AND each of us gets to: • contribute to achieving targets • enhance our career prospects • support managers in creating arguments for increased funding • enhance the image & prospects for libraries in Wales

6. What does a Marketing Champion do? • act as contact point for all marketing issues • participate in training & put forward appropriate staff for training • communicate & enthuse latest initiatives/campaigns • monitor & feedback on marketing activities • ensure local initiatives reflect national ones (think national, act local) • assist in developing case study/good practice ‘bank’ for national pr campaign

7. What we’ll look at today • What’s involved in developing user focus in our work • Where marketing comes into it, and what the word actually means • The tools we can use to make a difference • What our overall goal could be • How we can make a start

8. We can’t turn our service upsidedown today – we need to find the balance between users needs/wants & the service we provide

9. Marketing simply means putting the user first! • Marketing is a philosophy, or way of doing business that enables our success by putting the user/potential user at the centre of our thinking • if we meet the needs, wants & desires of our users they benefit & will use us more

10. How does it work? By finding the links between our capabilities & what we provide AND the needs, wants or desires of our existing & potential users

11. having made those links we can give users what they want and need and in return they use us more They’re happy – we’re happy! There’s real value involved for both parties

12. Putting the user first, or marketing, has three elements • a way of thinking, a culture or philosophy • defined management tasks • tools for turning thinking into action

13. So, we put users first (or market) by • doing everything we can to tailor our service to the wants, needs, desires of our existing & potential users

14. And, as users are spoilt for choice in how they spend their leisure time, & how they find things out • we need to think competitively, playing to the unique strengths of our offer – who else offers so much in one place?

15. The benefit of adopting a user focused approach • We don’t waste time & money doing things people don’t want SO we can target our limited resources effectively & efficiently offering good value for money; • we can also add value to the user experience through the range of benefits they realise from our service

16. In developing our user focus We need to adopt the culture AND use the tools at our disposal

17. Marketing or developing a user focus Involves everyone of us! It is not something done just by the marketing champion, a specific marketing/user focus team or one department We all have a part to play

18. THE MARKETING MIX OR TOOLS

19. Questions to ask ourselves PRODUCT/CUSTOMER NEEDS & WANTS • will our products/service meet the needs/wants/ desires of that particular user group? • if not, how can we improve our offer to reflect the users wants/needs/desires? PRICE/COST • what will it cost them? And, what will it cost us? • can we remove or reduce any of these costs?

20. PLACE/CONVENIENCE • how easy is it for them to use us or take up a particular offer? Can we make it easier or more convenient for them? PROMOTION/COMMUNICATION • how will they find out about us or the offer? • how will we communicate with them? PEOPLE/COMMUNICATORS • who will organise it, who will communicate?

21. PROCESSES/CUSTOMER FOCUSED DELIVERY • what can we do to improve the internal processes that we use to deliver our offer to users? PHYSICAL EVIDENCE/CUSTOMER BENEFIT • how will the user benefit? • how will they feel about the experience? • what can we do to improve on how they feel?

22. ALIGNING THE MIXIt’s like baking a cake or making a cocktail ….. if you get the recipe right it will be a success…….

23. We can’t change everything can we? So what can we control or influence?Where do we start? COMMUNICATION THAT’S OUR KEY!

24. If we improve our internal & external communication we can • make use of what we already know about users by communicating better with each other & capturing that information • understand users & identify their needs/wants/desires by communicating with them and, • find out why potential users don’t use us – what are the barriers for them?

25. Then use this knowledge • to inform decisions about how we adapt our offer to reflect users needs & wants • to design & communicate relevant messages to different segments about the benefits of our offer; • to decide what is the most effective means to communicate with a segment • to remove/lessen any barriers for potential users

26. If we know more about our users/potential users • we can use this knowledge to make sure we communicate with them about what we offer in a way that will motivate them to use us

27. Good practice builds messages from the benefits to the user/potential user

28. Features v. benefits “Sell the sizzle, not the sausage!”

29. and, considers the segment/user group when selecting the means to communicate the message

30. advertising: radio, papers, tv, internet internet: sites & links direct marketing: mail, sms, tel. email print: displays, quality, relevant distribution talks/visits: agencies, schools, societies events What means will the target segment respond to?

31. Good practice communication takes account of lifestyle or lifestage ‘triggers’

32. redundancy looking for a job retraining holiday reading parenthood bereavement retirement ethnicity learning a language leaving home entering full-time employment starting a business moving house new hobby travelling Lifestyle/life stage ‘triggers’ for library use

33. Good practice also takes account of any barriers to use

34. Barriers to use • social • economic • psychological • physical

35. KEY ELEMENTS IN DEVELOPING A USER FOCUS INTERNAL COMMUNICATION & PROCESSES

36. staff meetings ‘topic’ meetings team briefings branch meetings development days training days 1:1 appraisals written documents intranet email phone NOT FORGETTING….. rumour & gossip! Internal Communication

37. How can we use these?We need to consult with each other & • put ‘user focus development’ on the agenda for the relevant meetings • Identify what we need to know about our users, capture our existing knowledge & experience & use it • identify our training needs • build our ‘circle of influence’ • talk to & consult with other colleagues, explaining how we’ll all benefit • Consider the need for a specific user focus meeting?

38. What we know already • people fall into groups or ‘segments’ the members of which have more in common with one another than the total population in our ‘catchment’ as a whole • we know how they use libraries, what they do & don’t like through consultation • and, if we consult with potential users we find out why they’re not using us and can work at removing or lessening any barriers

39. children 0–5 school age children 6–11 school age children 12–16/18 students 16-18 & 18 – 21 job seekers young professionals: both genders retired women’s as mothers/carers unemployed grandparents/ carers Women/men 30-45 Women/men 45-50 Women/men 50-65 elderly: both genders Some likely user groups or ‘segments’

40. The challenge? • to source & use information that we already hold about users/potential users • to capture new information & undertake further consultation to better understand their needs/wants/desires • to use this to plan how we go about meeting those needs/wants/desires • & removing or lessening barriers for potential users

41. What might be available already? • user surveys • non-user surveys • quantitative data • qualitative date • data captured about users at the ‘point of lend/contact’ • existing knowledge & experience of colleagues • your own knowledge & experience

42. Some likely sources of data • library management • authority/organisation’s research or policy office • office of national statistics • marketing strategy/plan • census

43. Do we need to do more research? What else do we need to know about our users & potential users?

44. Welsh libraries are changing National initiatives to support library development @ Your Library Libraries for Life

45. Other support & opportunities • national marketing strategy & plans • public relations programme • communications programme • library innovation project • reader development work grants • contributions towards SRC

46. What is our aim?What is our plan? • To improve our user focus & increase use • Collect all the information we already have about users & potential users • Develop a plan to improve our user focus to which everyone contributes & in which everyone has a role to play

47. What we’ve covered today • What we mean by user focus & what the term ‘marketing’ actually means • Why we’ll benefit from developing our user focus • The key tools to support that development • Communication as our key tool • Our internal communication processes • Good practice in external communication

48. Now we need to decide on our initial user focus action plan • What’s our goal? • What are the first steps we need to take towards that goal? • Who will be involved? • How we will involve our colleagues? • What’s our timeline? • How will we evaluate our progress?

49. ANY QUESTIONS?

50. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!