Librarian Expertise in Customer Resource Management Madison Bolls & Shari Clayman ASRC Primus – Contractors with the EPA

Using a CRM at EPA Agenda: History of the CRM What using a CRM has done for EPA How a CRM works

What is a CRM? Customer Resource Management Tool used to manage a company’s interactions with its customers Organizes Automates Synchronizes

Background 90,000+ email inquiries per month received by EPA offices Hotlines could receive additional 8000+ monthly inquiries each Broad range of inquiries including: Technical problems Environmental topics EPA program issues

The Challenges Everyone does their own thing Can’t comprehensively track, analyze or share the information in replies Unable to effectively identify gaps and overlaps in the information No way to guarantee consistent and timely responses No feedback loop to revise Web sites in response to inquiries and comments

Our Needs We needed a system that: Ensured that all incoming inquiries/comments are effectively routed, managed, tracked, answered and measured Centralized system that combined different modules – FAQs, inquiry response, possibly chat Was easy to use on the customer side and the administrative side Allowed for centralizing some features while leaving others with program/Region offices

The Solution Adopted an Agency-wide CRM system Five offices joined the pilot – most employ a knowledgebase of FAQs and customer inquiry module Fundamentally changes the quality of customer service 50 - 70% email reduction 10 - 30% call reduction Saves the agency a lot of money Home page – $170K per year Superfund- $130K per year Wastes - $693K per year (eliminated call center)

knowledgebase management, The Library Team Library team is chosen as the system-wide administrators because: We were already effectively running a reference support system that was getting about 1000 inquiries a month – we could assist in identifying specifications for a potential enterprise system Our team of librarians had experience with the full spectrum of needs: reference support, website management, knowledgebase management, customer service, and vendor interaction

Today We manage 24 different departments Act as the liaison between the vendor and software users Created and maintain our own portal to field technical questions, requests for customization, etc Conduct on-boarding activities and training Answer public inquiries as well as act as administrators

24 EPA Departments AirNow Energy Star Portfolio Manager Radiation IAQ RCRA Waste Safewater TRI Superfund Climate Change Toxics Pesticides Enforcement and Compliance MOVES Fuels Programs Emergency Management Environmental Knowledgebase Superfund Web Change Ask a Librarian Human Resources System of Registries EPA Collaboration EZ Tech CRM Support

What do they look like?

Portal Accessibility Web portal accessible through the Epa.gov website (hosted on vendor server)

Environmental Knowledgebase Open to all subjects relevant to the EPA mission Review FAQs & submit questions On average, the FAQs are viewed 104,419 times per month On average 271 tickets submitted per month EPA has 10 business day timeline to answer tickets

Ask a Librarian The EPA Library Network took on the tool to work in library services for EPA staff Format mirrors that of Public Access: FAQs & tickets, with added live chat Assistance with library services, available resources, research requests Location-based for maximum service quality “Follow the sun” workflow model

The Service Desk

Managing Staff & Quality Assurance Staff have individual login accounts Tracking for Staff actions, ticket and chat histories, and FAQ edit histories Standard text for consistent responses and information Established timeline & procedures for editing & updating the FAQs Reporting functionalities

Consistency with the EPA Website Streamline user experience with EPA site navigation Edits to taxonomy & content needed to work with the websites Improve the look and feel of the portal for positive customer experience

Overcoming Ongoing Challenges Consistency between departments and managing expectations Consistency and communication with departments that do not have the tool Keeping up with technology and patron needs

In Conclusion! Using our information management expertise, we can adapt a made-for-business tool to provide consistent reference and support services for all patrons internal and external to government libraries!

Questions? Contact us Madison Bolls, Public Access/Internet Reference Librarian ASRC Federal Primus, contractor to EPA bolls.madison@epa.gov Shari Clayman, Public Access/Internet Reference Librarian ASRC Federal Primus, contractor to EPA clayman.shari@epa.gov Deborah Balsamo, Library Network Program Manager balsamo.deborah@epa.gov