You might be surprised to know that when some folks ask for books at my library, there are times when they only remember the color of the cover and not the title. I’m sure the reasons for this vary widely.
I’m simply more interested in the ‘value equation’. ~ What can I learn from this extremely common customer service experience.
As it turns out, there are times when folks want books based specifically on the color of the cover. In fact, Hollywood CA is home to at least one “studio prop store” where set designers and prop masters can buy racks of books, sorted by shape, size and yes: color.
Now consider “home décor”. It seems reasonable that home designers and interior decorators might also benefit from a similarly organized point of purchase display.
If your library accepts book donations and routinely offers up ‘Friends of the Library’ book sales, you might suggest they consider setting up a specialty section, just like this one. I’m willing to bet that any number of donated items appearing to have no useful purpose but might easily be ‘re-positioned’ under the banner “Inspired Design”.
Are you getting the most from your patron interactions?
Are you really hearing what patrons are telling you?
Many times, opportunities for success can be found in unlikely places. But you must know where to look. And be willing to look for uncommon solutions to everyday problems.
If you love and listen to radio anytime (almost anywhere) over the last 20+ years, I can almost promise that you’ve been exposed to the creative genius of Fred and Paul Jacobs. These gentlemen have been thought leaders and top level consultants to the industry since I was a little baby DJ at Central Michigan University.
Fred Jacobs founded Jacobs Media in 1983. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018 and is widely credited with creating the “Classic Rock” format. Brother Paul Jacobs joined the firm in 1991; is an expert in all “rock formats” and is indeed a “sales savant”, helping radio stations “ring the cash register” for decades.
If you are or have been employed in the entertainment business, it might be you. Tens of thousands of industry employees, particularly those who work for media companies who have exposure radio properties with stock as part of the compensation plan have watched these accounts implode in recent years.
Six years ago, Audacy Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Field proclaimed the radio business was “massively undervalued”. This wildly incorrect presumption literally cost the Field family their fortune. Sadly, they are not alone. Shares of iHeart Media, the nations largest radio chain, have fallen from a peak of $27 and change to below $5, now sitting at about $2.79. The drop for the nation’s second largest radio operator Cumulus Media have not been as dramatic, but share prices here are also below the $5 threshold.
So what went wrong? Market analysts will tell us that despite projected audience growth, revenues are down since the pandemic. Technology has disrupted the business, fragmented the audience and the revenue streams and like the proverbial ‘buggy whip makers’, old school radio broadcasts and the traditional ways of consuming audio are simply less relevant in people’s lives.
Radio will always be special to me. I grew listening to the truly great ones like Paul Harvey, Don Imus, & JP McCarthy. My career began in on-air, doing sales and then moving with the technology explosion, into research. Radio lost it’s luster for me when technology became the easy replacement for talent. It was clear then and it is more obvious today, that removing talent from the mix does not improve the product. You can’t fight technology using antiquated business strategies and out dated tools. Scaling up the business to a bloated, unmanageable size simply means gaining an increasing share of a shrinking market. We don’t need ‘Larry the Liquidator’ to tell us that is a proven formula for failure.
I don’t spend much time with commercial, terrestrial radio these days unless I’m on the freeway at rush hour and need a traffic report [Thank you WWJ-AM!]. Honestly, I used to get traffic from SiriusXM, but they recently decided to drop this content. [Who do I talk to about that?] I digitized my personal music collection years ago. When I get tired of the ‘chatter’ on SxM, I punch up my own playlist, or an audio book, or a podcast and enjoy the ride. My music collection hasn’t grown much these last years but when I want new music, SxM has me covered there too- commercial free. I am not alone.
Can radio ever recover?
I’m not going to give out stock picks here but I dumped my company provided VIACOM stock years ago. If you’re looking for places in entertainment stocks to hold your nest egg, APPLE would have been a much better bet than any company heavily exposed to broadcasting. These days, you need growth companies. Innovators. Places that seek, hire and employ TALENT.
Radio will recover only when it’s leadership begins to think and function like an innovator. This key pivot requires an ability to develop a culture that rewards creativity over conformity. Old rules do not apply and must intentionally be broken. The ‘global village’ is now omni-present.
Broadcast 101: “the medium is the message”
– Marshall McLuhan
If this theory is still true, it must be re-examined in context because the tools of the trade (delivering audio content) have changed at a fundamental level. What is the true value of a broadcast license? What does a tower and a transmitter do well that can’t be done with wifi, 5G Cellular or whatever platform comes next?
Radio needs to better understand the competition and their audience. When Rich Meyer founded Mediabase/MMR, he wasn’t trying to disrupt the industry. Instead, we were dedicated to disrupting the dreaded practice of ‘paper adds’. Our mission was all about problem solving, not simply to be the last one standing. Technology innovators today don’t concern themselves with media theory. They focus on ‘making meaning’ and fabricating a new paradigm with the game solidly tilted to favor their platforms, their licensing rules and their way of thinking. ‘Scorched Earth’ isn’t just a strategy- it’s an objective.
Finally, someone in the C Suites (or someone capable of earning that corner office) needs to start asking much better questions. Tech companies are notorious for asking the impossible or unsolvable interview questions. They don’t care about the answer as much as they seek to deconstruct a candidate’s way of thinking.
How you define a problem significantly improves your ability to solve it. Content “Code Cruncher” Harry Kovsky built a lasting legacy on the principle that once you ‘separate reality from perception’, the path forward becomes clear. Radio will not survive in it’s present form. Are you bold enough to try and break the mold?
Passing Thought…
The big reason radio stations can’t just ‘bolt-on’ a podcasting division, is the misperception about what the audience wants from pre-recorded audio. Yes, they appreciate professional grade production values, but they also want to be stimulated in new ways. New stories and new story telling styles offer a glimpse into the mind of millennials and Gen Z. And they don’t conform to the conventional wisdom or navigate the traditional doors of perception.
We are please to announce we have formed a strategic partnership with globally recognized Kovsky Media Research.
Harry Kovsky is often cited as one of the most insightful media researchers in America. Since 1971, Harry has been leading the field with ground breaking systems and methodologies for evaluating communication strategies. Kovsky pioneered monitor based media content analysis. Kovsky studies and surveys have been leveraged for success by leading news, broadcast and entertainment companies for decades.
We are proud to have been invited to support Kovsky “News Rate: Fast Track” clients. We are committed to delivering the quality and reliability of the Kovsky legacy well into the future.
The video below is very difficult for public service employees to watch. Citizen Journalists have been performing ‘1st Amendment Audits’ of public sites and touring public buildings to see how well, or poorly the community will “embrace American 1st Amendment protected activity”. Videos of the confrontational exchanges are showing up across the web with views that can far exceed your own website or even page views of your online catalog.
Recently, the Plymouth District Library experienced one of these visits. Since filming in a library without express permission is a core belief held closely by libraries across America, the battle here is typical of the reaction when library staff encounter a videographer inside their ‘limited public forum’ space.
I encourage you to watch as much of the video as possible to get a better understanding of these situations, should an auditor visit your library.
The first thing to wrap your mind around with an audit is that the videographer is specifically NOT interested in violating the privacy rights of staff or patrons. It’s very unlikely that they will ever focus their camera on patrons who do not approach or confront the camera operator(s). Next, and most important: your reaction to the camera will be the determining factor in whether the visit is quick and mostly painless or if it will become an ever-lasting legal probe of the highest order.
In Michigan libraries, the key to surviving an audit is to focus on your mission and simply ignore the camera. The Michigan Library Association points out that libraries in our state have ‘limited public forum’ status’ which offers some level of control. I would strongly suggest staff be trained to respond properly to unapproved recording. Otherwise, your team will spend the next year responding to FOIA requests & potential lawsuits that will only tarnish your hard earned institutional reputation and can lead to serious financial judgements against the library and/or the municipality and/or law enforcement officials who also seek to protect and serve.
If you’d like to review our ‘Survival Guide’, please email us from your official library account. Our approach to responding to the audit is prescient, unique and will be a corner-stone for training staff. The guide and the presentation are free for all public libraries.
We’ve all been there. Standing in line, waiting our turn. You ask for help and the only employee in sight frowns and says “I’ll be right with you”.
Or you have to repeatedly explain the same problem to multiple customer service reps before anyone offers some help. These customer service failures happen all the time and they’re completely avoidable.
Customer service isn’t about making the best of a bad situation (even though that’s how many customer service reps are trained). It’s about human relations. It’s about relating to people on a personal level, even when you’re busy, frustrated, or under pressure yourself.
So, how do you get there? How do you train yourself and others to manage their emotions and provide great service? Turns out, there are a few tricks to the trade. After many, many years of providing high-level technical support to everyone from CEOs to senior citizens, I’m happy to share a few hard-earned life lessons to help you be happier and more successful in the customer service role:
Lifelong Learning Start Early
Practice active listening. One of the most important things you can do is to really listen to the person. Pay attention to what they’re saying, and try to understand their needs and concerns. Don’t interrupt, and don’t assume you know what they’re going to say.
Be empathetic. Put yourself in the that person’s shoes and try to see things from their perspective. This will help you to understand their needs and respond in a way that is sensitive to their feelings.
Be proactive. Don’t wait for a person to come to you with a problem. Be proactive in identifying and resolving potential issues before they become major problems.
Go the extra mile. Do something extra special for people to show that you appreciate their patronage. This could be something simple like sending a thank-you note or offering a suggestion for their next visit. Customer service is not just about resolving problems or answering questions. It is really about understanding people and making sure they feel valued and appreciated.
Want More Tips…
Be polite and professional. Treat people with respect, regardless of their situation or behavior.
Be knowledgeable. Have a good understanding of your products or services so that you can answer questions and resolve issues quickly and efficiently.
Be responsive. Respond to inquiries and requests promptly.
Be helpful and supportive. Be willing to go the extra mile to help people resolve their issues and have a positive experience.
Helping Others Is Easier Than It Might Seem.
You can download my full presentation right now and learn exactly how to become and to teach others how to develop a winning “Customer Service Personality.
You might be surprised to know that when some folks ask for books at my library, there are times when they only remember the color of the cover and not the title. I’m sure the reasons for this vary widely.
