There were several parts of the book “Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service” that stuck out to me, the first being the RATER factors. Reading these made me recall experiences I have had as a customer in which employees possessed few if any of these factors. Being unsure of the reliability of a product or service is stressful, as is doubt in the fidelity of the employee serving you and appearance of facilities and products. Perhaps even worse is the feeling of being written off by an employee or that they just don’t care. Recalling these bad experiences makes me want to be a better employee so we will not lose customers or gain a poor reputation. As reiterated throughout the book, keeping customers happy is a vital part of service industries and I think remembering these RATER factors could help us all serve customers better.

I also found the Communication section of this book to be very relatable, in particular the “Communicating with Customers in the Digital Age” chapter. Here at Information Commons we have numerous ways for students and faculty to reach us and I think this a major asset. The fact that we are available by phone, IM, email, face-to-face, and even Facebook and Twitter makes us accessible to the entire campus, thus allowing us to serve our customers wherever they may be. Remembering the proper etiquette when using these various forms of communication is also important, as we serve people all across the spectrum of ages and technological know-how. Responding promptly is also stressed, in both this book and Information Commons. Customers left hanging can be lost very quickly.

I enjoyed reading this book and found that much of it could be applied to our work at Information Commons (hence our reading it). I think that putting its tips into practice can really enhance customer’s experiences while working with Information Commons.