Barcoding our Clients

Rebecca JonesDysart & Jones Associates

rebecca@dysartjones.com

PLC, Information Studies, University of Toronto

rebecca.jones@utoronto.ca

Insight

• Sight in to behaviours and applications

• Focus on ideas, learning from others and clients

“Everything you need for your better future and success has already been written. And guess

what? It's all available.

All you have to do is go to the library.”

Jim Rohn, The Treasure of Quotes

Ideas R Us

My name’s Rebecca and I’m a reader

From Harvard Business School Press:What’s the Big Idea– Tom Davenport & Larry Prusak, 2003

The Attention Economy– Tom Davenport & John Beck, 2001

Dare to Lead: Uncommon Sense and Unconventional Wisdom From 50 Top CEO’s

– Mike Merrill, Career, 2004

Look beyond ourselves for irritants….to become pearls

Harvard Business Review, February“Breakthrough Ideas for 2004, 2005”

People with open minds, access to new or different thinking, and a willingness to consider that thinking can make a difference, “to the competitiveness of

their organizations and the well-being of the world.”

Emergent ideas that are changing the

way business is done

Why do people use libraries?

• Solve a problem• Make a decision• Gain knowledge• Be entertained

In his or her context

Patron’s Context

Levels of Intimacy

http://www.interbiznet.com/custint/intlevels.html

Value: perception & paradox

• Value of a product & service is inseparable from the buyer’s perception of its worth

• Intrinsic worth isn’t– This means that value is driven by need, at the moment of need– To manage the value of our services, we must manage the time

our service is demanded, & how users are involved in that time

‘the specific point at which the user interacts with the service’ drives their value perception’

Determining client value

• Segment emerging, merging and diverging target markets based on their behaviours & preferences

• Track, explore & truly grasp how they apply what it is we supply to ensure they’ll continue to buy

Attention

• We can’t control anyone’s attention• We can compel them to give us their

attention for a period of time by making it meaningful for them

• What humans really appreciate is attention from other humans

Getting to know them, getting to know all about them

• Group interviews• Focus groups• Personal interviews• Transactions, web reports, statistics• Observations• Personas

Ideas

St. Louis Public Library– Understand youth market– CATE project– Funosophy Inc.

• Award winning in working with Disney and toy sector

– Shared language and experiences

Ideas…

Mayo Clinic– Understand positioning

“Understand the story you want to tell, & then make sure your people & your facilities provide evidence of that story to customers, day in & day out.”

Harvard Business Review, February 2003, p. 101

Ideas

Bookstop– Understand market niche

• Aging population + young families in burb’s + superstore phenomenon

• Decrease in reading and literacy• Ideas from Toys R Us (inventory),

Supermarket (‘raceway’ layout), Radio Shack (loyalty cards)

Shamelessly copy good

ideas!

Ideas

Quicken, Intuit– Understand market gap

• Identified 1 thing that 26 other personal finance packages weren’t doing

– How?• Put designers and customers together• Observed people using the packages• Managers listened to all customer

service calls – or took them

Do we know…

– What are doing for themselves that they don’t want to do?

– What they are experiencing that they’d rather not?

– What they’d like to experience?– What they dream about doing, knowing or

experiencing?– What brought them to our service?– What “channels” delivered them to us?– What inhibited them?

Adapted from J.H. Gilmore The Experience Economy

How do other organizations gain that intimacy?

Leading organizations keep clients in front of every staff every day

• Capture and publish testimonials of how they are impacting their clients lives

• Display photos of customers in their halls to remind employees of who they are working for

• Bring clients in to regular employee meetings to talk about their experiences

• Conversations start ideas

How do other organizations gain that intimacy?

• Client complaints– Managers regularly staff these– Most knowledgeable, senior staff– Management put their e-mail & phone numbers

on

How are we making their lives easier?

• We must find customers sweet spots or hot buttons

• Work with them• Watch them• Ensure management talks with them• Beyond focus groups to social events

Ideas start conversations

With clients– From Cluetrain Manifesto:

• Organizations (libraries) need to talk to people with whom they want to create relationships.

• Clients’ message to organizations (libraries):– If you want to talk to us, tell us something.

– Make it interesting for a change.

With each otherBest ideas…clerks,

shippers, forklift drivers, admin

Ideas: capturing & capitalizing

We must also have people in the crow’s nest• R&D?• Competitive intelligence?• Regular scanning?• Market research?

Ideas…• Xerox

– Software that models human thinking in classifying electronic documents

• Aesthetics Finding– “Beauty boosts functionality”

• Libraries & Casinos– Ensuring clients hit the jackpot

• Airstream– Libraries in your living room

• Biometrics– “Good morning...ready to work on that term

paper?”

Ideas…

Adapted from Harvard Business Review October 2003

Notebook PCs Tablet PCs COMING SOON!!!!Sticky Note PCs

Pursuing ideas means change

• Champions & implementers are middle managers and/or employees– Senior management may introduce the concept, but the

building must be completed by staff

• The people who are most impacted, both staff & patrons – their desires and behaviours – are the focal point

• Expectations are carefully managed• Current practices aren’t automatically retired

What we’ve discussed are just ideas

“Consider them, debate them, let the inspire your own thinking.

Then go and make an impact.”

Harvard Business Review, February 2004, p. 13