This is the first “Myth or Misperception” I’m going to address in the series “Responses to 8 Common Myths and Misconceptions about Roving”.

Ive heard this expressed by many Library staff (before they attended our workshop), and I’ve read it on many Library Blogs. The thinking seems to be that “We hardly get any complaints – so that means that means our patrons think our service is good….so we don’t need to improve our service (by Roving).”

Reality check / Response: A common misperception among Library professionals is to believe that a lack of complaints proves that that there are no complaints…ergo, they don’t need to do anything differently to provide superior service. At the same time, many believe that if their service were not good, their users would certainly let them know. Unfortunately, studies show that for every customer who bothers to complain, there are approximately 24-26 others who remain silent. Only two to four percent of dissatisfied customers actually direct their complaints to the person that provided poor service. Dissatisfied customers are much more likely to tell others, such as relatives and friends (who are also potential customers), about their complaints. And – even worse, the average customer who feels they were “wronged” will tell 8 to 16 people (over 10% will tell more than 20 people). Think about the last time you experienced service bad enough to make your blood boil. And what do many of us do when we’ve received poor service somewhere? Most often – we just don’t go back there. It’s not worth our time to complain, and we may think complaining won’t make a difference anyway. BUT – we do talk about it, don’t we? Think about this – how many times have you told and re-told a tale of poor service that you experienced, and to how many people?

To combat this situation, Libraries can implement friendly Roving service, to ensure people are finding what they want or need at their “point of puzzlement” in the Library. Among many other benefits, this prevents frustration and increases the number of opportunities for patrons to interact with friendly, helpful staff.