Skip to Main Content Shenandoah University

Student Employees Training Guide: Customer Service

A guide to assist in the training of student employees

What is great customer service?

  • Greet all customers and make them feel welcomed
  • Respect cultural and other personal differences
  • Evaluate and clarify customer’s expectations
  • Address and respond to customer’s needs
  • Thank and verify that needs have been met

 

GREAT: Customer Service Guidelines University Library- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Answering Questions

As a Library Assistant you are usually the first point of contact when a patron enters the library. 

You can help patrons with the following:

  • Where different things are located.
    • Student Support Services, WEPA, bathrooms, collections, etc
  • Helping someone print
  • Helping someone who has a call number find an item.
  • How to find things on the LibGuides, how to schedule an appointment with a librarian

Many times you are going to need some assistance from a Librarian or a Staff member. Here is a list to help you decide whether the patron needs to speak to a Librarian or a Staff member.

  • Seek out a Librarian when:
    • They need help with research
    • They need help finding books on a topic
    • Help with a citation (after showing them the LibGuide!)
    • Reach out to Christine or Kathy first. If they are not in, reach out to Meghan or Andy.
  • Reach out to staff when:
    • They need help with checking out items
    • They need help finding a specific item
    • They need help with an Interlibrary Loan

Answering the Phone

In order to provide the best customer service, we don't like the phone to ring more than two times before answering.

Does answering a phone make you nervous? Having a script ready can help calm those nerves. 

"Thank you for calling Smith Library. My name is Bridget. How can I help you?"

After hearing the patrons question, don't be afraid to politely put them on hold while you find the answer to the question or find the best person to speak to them. We will go over transferring calls in person.

WEPA

We have 3 WEPA kiosks across campus. When students, faculty and staff need assistance printing, they usually visit the library. As a Library Assistant, you may help them do the following:

Or they may have questions about:

WEPA tutorials can be found at the WEPA tutorials tab.