Applying Relationship Marketing: For Efficient Customer Service In Academic Libraries: A Survey

Relationship- marketing in libraries? Yes, it’s very applicable! Even with the ever increasing numbers of library professionals graduating from higher institutions of learning every year, and with utmost professionalism being expected from them, library users often by- pass libraries seeking information elsewhere. With this scenario in mind, there has come a general concern to improve on the relationship marketing strategies within non-profit organizations particularly libraries. Very little has been done focusing on customer relationships with librarians. Traditional library practices which were mainly centered on providing tangibles must now be reinforced and supplemented by applying relationship marketing strategies, whose main constructs are: customer trust, bonding, loyalty, empathy and commitment. Otherwise there will be no need for libraries! The rule of thumb here is that customers are the pillars of success in any organization and therefore their views must be handled with a lot of importance.