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Books, bingo, blogs! All the world’s a stage
 Mad libs go to Taupo
How do librarians and publishers add value to content? Library Connect Seminars in Japan and Korea shed some light
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The customer experience at Elsevier is improving:
Thanks in part to the gift of complaint
Challenges remain, but these dashboards, reporting results of feedback collected from librarians
worldwide, show Elsevier’s progress in improving customer service in specific areas from 2005 to 2007.
Turn the clock back three years, and we were getting heavily criticized for our customer service. We knew we had to improve.
Our problem was the many ways in which customers could contact us, or we contact them. Where should we focus? What was causing the most problems? Which areas of service were most important to customers?
Because the feedback is so specific, we are able to identify the exact causes of any problems.
To answer these questions we needed the help of our customers. We started monitoring all aspects of our service using very short surveys of customers recently experiencing our service. These surveys specifically inquire as to responding customers’ most recent customer service interactions with Elsevier. This means we get immediate feedback. We know the areas that are currently performing well, and those that need attention.
Because the feedback is so specific, we are able to identify the exact causes of any problems. This helps us target improvements that customers really need. For example, we found that we were performing poorly when customers had queries about missing articles on ScienceDirect. Customers told us it took too long to respond to their queries. Using this information, e-Helpdesk managers implemented policies that cut this time down to under 48 hours. Our satisfaction levels for this type of query immediately started to increase. We knew we were on track.
Other improvements have related to our contracts, invoicing and management of e-Helpdesks. All of which are constantly monitored.
“Service area staff members know key challenges remain,” said Customer Service Focus Manager Arjan Huisman. “Every quarter we review our feedback. We use the ratings we get and read all the comments and suggestions made by customers. We assess whether improvements we have made are actually working, and we prioritize new areas for attention.”
At the end of the day, we know a complaint is really a gift.
Our teams are genuinely committed to improving the customer experience. Getting positive feedback is, of course, very motivating. Whilst we never like to receive negative feedback, we do understand that these are opportunities for us to solve problems. Our customers have taken the time to give us their feedback. At the end of the day, we know a complaint is really a gift. 
