Missing!

Visitor Service in Art Museums If found, please call…

by

Meghan Arens

August 30, 2004

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

in

Museum Studies

in the

School of Liberal Arts

at

John F. Kennedy University

Approved: _____________________________________ ___________

Department Chair Date _____________________________________ ___________

Master’s Project Coordinator Date

To my husband, Chris, who, in my opinion, earned a sympathetic Masters in Museum Studies in 2004. This really wouldn’t have happened without

your support. Thank you.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you, Grandma, for all of your wisdom and for always encouraging me. Mom and Dad, thank you for always being there and making this all possible. To my sister, Mallory, and brother-in-law, Brian, thank you for

helping me laugh and for entertaining my ability to link every conversation back to my thesis. To my friends and family, thank you for your support over the last two years. Now I really promise to be in touch

more.

Marjorie, Bill, and Susan…simple thanks are not enough to express my gratitude. I hope to make you proud.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 I. INTRODUCTION 1 Overview 15 Statement of Purpose 17 Research Goals & Objectives 18 Methodology 24 Limitations 26 Product Description 30 Glossary 32 II. BACKGROUND 32 A Brief History of the Art Museum and the Visitor 38 Art Museums and the Visitor Today 42 The Museum Visitor 53 Paying Attention to Visitor Experience 57 Visitor Service in Museums 64 III. FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS 65 Survey 87 Interviews 92 Site Visits 103 Model Visitor Services Identified 110 General Conclusions 114 IV. RECOMMENDATIONS

127 V. BIBLIOGRAPHY 136 VI. APPENDICES 136 Appendix A: What Visitors Need 138 Appendix B: Visitor Service Survey 140 Appendix C: Extended Quotes and Data 154 Appendix D: J. Paul Getty Museum Site Visit 158 Appendix E: MCA Chicago Site Visit 163 Appendix F: Portland Art Museum Site Visit

166

VII. PRODUCT:

Workshop- Missing! Visitor Service in Art Museums If found, please call…

iv

INTRODUCTION

You are standing in the parking lot. It is raining and very cold. You

have just spent an extra 15 minutes making wrong turns because you could

find no signs to orient you. Now, finally arriving, you look toward the

building. Are you even at the right place? In an attempt to evade the rain,

you and your friends run toward what you think is the door only to be

greeted by a generic sign that reads, “Use other entrance” with an arrow

pointing around the corner. You look around, confused, and for the first

time since arriving, you realize that you are not alone in your confusion.

You follow the pack of people, hoping that this is the end to all the hassle,

and that roughly an hour after you left your house (that is only 25 minutes

away) you’ll soon be able to have a nice warm cup of coffee and see the

Paris: A Century as Europe’s Art Capital exhibition you have been

anticipating for months now. But it is not that easy. Upon entering

through the alternate exit, chaos erupts. The floor is wet, there is nowhere

to put your umbrella, there is a line of people who are anxious and

disoriented, someone hands you a membership brochure and all you can

think is…“Where are the bathrooms anyway? I sure hope that they’re

clean.”

Does this museum experience sound familiar? It should. It

happens all the time. And this example merely illustrates a negative

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visitor experience prior to even getting inside the museum. What happens

once people enter the door? Is there someone there to greet them, help

orient them and make them feel comfortable so they can have an enjoyable

experience? Is there a place to check coats? What about a map or places

to sit when they get tired or hungry? Is there a café? Is it even open?

Where is the exhibition? Why are the lights so dim? Why is the label text

so small? Is there anyone that works here who can help point visitors in

the right direction? Why is that security officer looking at them as if they

were doing something wrong?

These are actual questions posed everyday by visitors. They

illustrate the range of visitor service problems that art museums face in the

year 2004: poor wayfinding, inadequate amenities, lack of seating,

checkrooms, dining areas, information desks, and signage. Interestingly,

since they opened their doors in the mid-nineteenth century, museums

have been professing the importance of the visitor. Yet, given how many

institutions fall short in terms of visitor service, one might legitimately

wonder, are visitors really important to museums? If so, why are museums

not showing it? What explains this lacuna and what can be done to help art

museums facilitate an enjoyable visitor experience by providing excellent

visitor service and thus ensure repeat visitation?

2

To ascertain the importance of the visitor, we must first look at the

current conception of the relationship between visitors and art museums.

The importance of the visitor is not a new idea. It is, however, one that has

traditionally taken second place to the museum collection. Due to the

shift in museum priorities from collections to visitors that began in the

1980s, the past decade has seen a surge in research and literature that

provides many theoretical reasons supporting the need for becoming

visitor-centered institutions, both from a community service and

marketing perspective. Museum professionals agree that there are two

defining issues facing art museums today: access and sustainability.1

Access refers to the right to enter, obtain and make use of or participate

while sustainability means the ability of a system to function into the

future without being forced into decline through the overloading of the

key resources upon which it depends . It is also agreed that the outward-

looking, visitor-centered museum must acknowledge this when planning

for the future. Museums are competing for dollars in an already saturated

leisure time market. Where do people go: to a place that does not act like

it cares about them and is indifferent to their basic needs or to a place that

1 Bonnie Pitman, “Muses, Museums, and Memories,” Daedalus Journal of the Academy of Arts and Sciences 128, no. 3 (Summer 1999): 25. See also Access and Sustainability definitions in Glossary

3

actively demonstrates visitor value by asking visitors for input and

consistently meeting and exceeding needs and expectations?

According to students of today’s experience-driven market, James

Gilmore and Joseph Pine, “every business competing for the future is

customer-centric, customer-driven, customer-focused, customer-yadda-

yadda-yadda. So what’s new?”2 It is not enough to focus on the visitor;

businesses need to create experiences that will differentiate themselves

from the competition. Recent market research shows that time-conscious

consumers and business people want to spend less and less time with

providers of goods and services in favor of the providers of experiences.

The outcome equals not spending any time with one’s customers who

learn to spend their time elsewhere—i.e., venues deserving of more time,

where one can simply be and do and learn and want to stay.3

Marketing principles are now being applied to the museum. This

new era of accountability and competition with the for-profit sector has

forced museums to listen more attentively to the various segments that

comprise their market in order to deliver satisfaction in areas that matter to

2 B. Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore, The Experience Economy (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), ix. 3 Ibid., 42.

4

visitors and other stakeholders.4 To reconcile this, Zahava Doering,

Director of Institutional Studies at the Smithsonian Institution, proposes

that museums must start to view the visitor as a client, meaning that the

“visitor is no longer subordinate to the museum…rather the institution

acknowledges that visitors, like clients, have needs, expectations that

museums are obligated to understand and meet.”5

To achieve long-term viability, museums need to recognize that

their success is directly tied to the satisfaction of their customers. Statistics

from The White House Office of Consumer Affairs maintain that the

average business never hears from ninety-six percent of its unhappy

customers.6 Instead of vocalizing their complaints, they never come back.

Moreover, they choose to broadcast their dissatisfaction by word of

mouth. A dissatisfied visitor will tell, on average, eleven people of their

bad experience (which now, in the age of the Internet, is multiplied

exponentially). Conversely, a satisfied visitor will tell three or four people

of their good experience.7 A customer’s willingness to refer a friend

results from how well he or she is treated by frontline employees, which in

4 Niall Caldwell, “(Rethinking) The Measurement of Service Quality in Museums and Galleries,” International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing 7, (May 2002): 168. 5 Zahava D. Doering, “Strangers, Guests, or Clients? Visitor Experiences in Museums,” Curator, April 1999, 75. 6 White House Office of Consumer Affairs report, Will Phillips archives, date unknown. 7 Greg Harris, from current visitor service presentation, 2004.

5

turn is determined by all the functional areas that contribute to a

customer’s experience.8 Research also shows that cutting customer

defection by just five percent has the effect of boosting profits between

twenty-five percent and ninety-five percent.9 Conversely, it costs five

times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.10

What do we know about the museum visitor experience? Museums

have already made some progress on understanding the psychology of

visiting and what visitors value. We know that visitors prize spending

their leisure time in comfortable surroundings, where they can feel at ease

both physically and psychologically.11 The experience starts with the

decision to visit. Ease of access (such as availability of parking) may

influence attendance as much (if not more) than museum quality, as

visitors are disposed to see the museum as a whole and tend not to

differentiate between services offered, quality of exhibitions or the

attitudes of frontline staff.12 They do not simply remember the physical

aspects of the visit; they remember emotions, experiences, judgments and

8 Karl Reichheld, “The One Number You Need to Grow,” Harvard Business Review, December 2003, 54. 9 Harvard Business Review statistics, www.hbsp.harvard.edu/products/hbr/index.html 10 Greg Harris, from current visitor service presentation, 2004. 11 Marilyn G. Hood, “Staying Away: Why People Choose Not to Visit Museums,” Museum News, April 1983, 56. 12John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking, The Museum Experience (Washington D.C.: Whalesback Books, 1992), 83-85.

6

interests the visit evoked for them.13 As researchers John Falk and Lynn

Dierking stress, the average visitor feels that the gift shop and food service

quality to be as important if not more than the quality of the artifacts and

exhibition design.14

First impressions shape attitudes that are long lasting and difficult

to change and therefore are extremely important in determining a positive

or negative experience. In fact, as researchers of behavior have found,

what people communicate during their first four minutes of contact is so

crucial that it determines whether strangers will remain strangers or

become acquaintances, friends….”15At the same time, visitor expectations

are either reinforced or modified by “embodiments of the museum

establishment.”16 This includes wait time, the attire, demeanor and

attitudes of security officers and front-line staff, availability of wayfinding

and orientation cues, and the availability and cleanliness of amenities and

services.17 For example, studies show that most people have difficulty

reading maps. For both adults and children, the first few minutes in a

museum may be sensorially overwhelming and examining the museum’s

13 Deborah Cunnell and Richard Prentice, “Tourists’ Recollections of Quality in Museums: A Servicescape Without People?” Museum Management and Curatorship, December 2000, 387. 14Falk & Dierking, The Museum Experience, 90. 15 Leonard and Natalie Zunin, Contact the First Four Minutes, quoted in Dave Scharlach, “Dealing With an Injury Tests Guest Relations,” Westmuse, Summer 2000, 8. 16 Falk & Dierking, The Museum Experience, 87. 17Ibid., 89.

7

floor plan on a map may actually increase confusion.18 Urban geographer

and retail anthropologist Paco Underhill uncovered that the single most

important factor in customer satisfaction is waiting time. When people

have to wait too long, their impression of overall service plunges.19 Also

contributing to diminish satisfaction is a phenomenon known in the

museum profession as “museum fatigue.” When visitors are met with

inconsistent messages and become confused about museum intent, this is

likely to contribute to their mental and physical fatigue and add to their

reluctance to return.20

Paying attention to the client, the customer, the visitor is the key to

facing access and sustainability head on. Statistics show it, literature states

it, it has been documented in the museum field, and the economy and

marketplace agree. Why, then, is it so hard for museum professionals to

see the museum through the visitors eyes, to recognize when labels are too

academic, bathrooms are hard to find, to understand their needs and

expectations, and provide services to visitors that facilitate an enjoyable

museum experience? Initial research indicates that there are two causes:

18Ibid., 58-59. 19 Paco Underhill, Why We Buy:The Science of Shopping (New York: Touchstone, 1999), 38. 20Marilyn Hood, “After 70 Years of Audience Research, What Have We Learned?” In Visitor Studies: Theory, Research and Practice, ed. Done Thompson, Arlene Benefield, Stephen Bitgood, et al. ( Jacksonville: The Visitor Studies Association, 1992), 18.

8

the field’s inability to articulate what visitor service actually is and the

limited number of available visitor service resources in the museum field.

Let us first explore what all visitor service currently means to

museums. To date, the museum field has been unable to articulate a clear

description of visitor service and its goals. Is visitor service an attitude, a

department, a mission, a philosophy, an approach, or is it all of the above?

It is interesting that something so important can be so hard to define. The

majority of information available about visitor service tends to be

theoretical in nature. One goal is offered by Andrea Leonard, Head of

Visitor Services at J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles: “to make our

institutions accessible to all visitors regardless of their background,

education, income, age, or gender.”21 Advocates have identified key

characteristics that must be present within an organization to make visitor

service, and by extension, the visitor experience, successful: a visitor-

centered institutional philosophy, a visitor-centered organizational

structure, continuous evaluation and process, visitor-centered long-range

plans, and institution-wide employee training.

Even though visitor service advocates agree on elements that need

to be present to have a visitor-centered culture, the museum field is still

unable to state what visitor service actually is. Does this inability to 21 Andrea Leonard, “Visitor Services Defined,” In Museum Visitor Services Manual, ed. Roxana Adams (Washington D.C.: American Association of Museums, 2001), 1.

9

articulate clearly a notion of visitor service have anything to do with why

art museums are having a difficult time making the shift, as museum

scholar Stephen E. Weil so aptly puts it, “from being about something to

being for somebody?”22 The reality of the situation is that current

literature espouses why it is important for a museum to pay attention to

visitor service without providing practical, tangible solutions. There is a

disparity between theory and practice.

That the past decade has seen more articles being published about

the topic indicates a growing interest. The American Association of

Museums (AAM) formed the Visitor Service Public Interest Committee

(VSPIC) in 1999, but it did not really take shape and begin to make a

difference to the field until 2001 when Greg Harris, Visitor Services

Manager at the St. Louis Art Museum, took over as Chair.23 The VSPIC

has a listserv that museum professionals can (pay to) subscribe to and take

part in visitor service discussions. In 2001, AAM published the Manual

for Visitor Services, professing its importance for the field by including

dozens of articles written by esteemed museum professionals and

customer service advocates including Andrea Leonard, Eleanor Chin, Will

22 Stephen E. Weil, “From Being About Something to Being For Somebody: The Ongoing Transformation of the American Museum,” Daedalus Journal of American Academy of Arts and Sciences 128, no.3 (Summer 1999): 229-255. 23 Greg, Harris, St. Louis Museum of Art Visitor Services Manager and VSPIC Chair, phone interview with author, 19 March 2004.

10

Phillips, Kathryn Hill, and Randi Korn. Yet, the manual serves as more of

an introduction to the topic than a provider of practical information.

Existing as a subset of AAM, the VSPIC has not reached initiative level to

sit side-by-side with the Museums and Community Initiative and the

National Interpretation Project, to name a few. In addition, the topic of

visitor service is not a preoccupation at national museum conferences. In

fact, in 2004 AAM only hosted one session on the topic at its annual

conference in New Orleans.24 Hence, professionals are still asking “What

are the keys for a successful visitor services approach and how can they be

instituted at the museum?25 Till now, since the answers are not readily

available in the art museum field, museum professionals have needed to

look elsewhere for resources and successful customer care strategies, in

particular, hospitality and for-profit businesses, which are constantly

researching customer satisfaction and revising customer care strategies to

create successful experiences and can offer valuable insights to museums.

The biggest challenge in addressing this visitor service dilemma

may be the tendency of museum professionals to separate visitor service

24 Ibid. 25 Neda Asgharzadeh, San Diego Museum of Art Visitor Service Manager, phone interview with author, 18 December 2003. Jennifer Cooley, Des Moines Art Center Museum Educator, phone interview with author, 18 December 2003. Deb Norberg, San Jose Museum of Art Deputy Director, interview with author, 16 December 2003, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA. Kathleen Brown, Principal, Atelier Kathleen Brown, phone interview with author, 8 December 2003.

11

from visitor experience, though it is impossible to separate the two, as

visitor service is the backbone of visitor experience. Visitor service is not

just a set of institutional responsibilities like keeping the bathroom clean

and being polite to visitors; it is an ideology that must be infused into the

organizational culture. The foundations of service are so basic, so simple,

in fact, that Holly Stiel of Thank You Very Much, Inc, calls it the “Duh”

factor, “DUH” = Deliver service with Understanding and Heart. The

principles of “duh” include caring, empathy, willingness, patience, love

understanding, attentive-ness, follow-though, organization, laughter, and

appreciativeness.26

These emotional foundations are common sense, but when it

comes to consistently providing excellent service by everyone throughout

the organization the service initiative falls apart. Like a domino effect, one

cannot have a positive, enjoyable visitor experience if one is subjected to

poor visitor service. We seem to forget this emotional side of service,

getting caught up in deadlines, daily stresses, deliverables when all it

really takes is stopping and thinking about what you would like as a

visitor, what would make this museum experience better—and then apply

it.

26 Holly Stiel, “DUH: A No-Brainer Guide to the Essence of Service,” 1999 from http://www.thankyouverymuchinc.com/duh.html.

12

A professor once told our class something that stuck with me and

is the foundation of this project. She said, “visualize” the ideal museum

visit. You walk in and are greeted by someone who can immediately

assess your needs, expectations, and values and then hand you the

materials that will enable you to have an enjoyable visit. For example, you

are a mother with two children walking into the museum. A staff member

at the front desk sees you and immediately takes note of some key factors:

you are with two young children, you are all probably worn out from the

journey to the museum, and you are probably looking for something that

will appeal to children. The staff member, let us call her a visitor services

representative, then gives you the tools for a successful museum visit: here

is a map, here are the bathrooms, coat check, café, etc. which has great

children’s meals and games, there is a family guide and some activity kits

available for check out, children also love the brightly colored statue, and

if you want some fresh air there is some grass outside where the children

can run around. If only it could be that simple…

That is just it. It can be. Although museums will never be able to

create the perfect visit for everyone, they can greatly enhance the visitor’s

experience. Visitor service involves both caring about museum visitors

and doing something proactive about it, not just having someone hand

visitors a map or even having to pick it up yourself from a pile of

13

brochures and papers left on a table by the door. A recent example of an

organization paying attention and adapting to meet customer needs is

Washington Mutual, which began to introduce its trademarked occasio,

which is Latin for “favorable opportunity,”27 bank branches in 2002. In an

attempt to enliven the stagnant and bland experience of walking into a

bank, the occasio bank branch attempts to attract the customer back to a

lounge-like more personable atmosphere. Security officers are no longer

the first thing customers encounter when entering; instead a concierge

directing people to the appropriate line greets them. Instead of being

behind glass, the tellers are situated in a circle surrounded by workstations

and flat-screen monitors. And, kids are welcome with a playground on

site, video games and picture books. The environment is also full of color

and personality complete with piggy banks and bank teller action figures

wearing Washington Mutual uniforms and carrying cell phones. And why

was all this done? Washington Mutual is taking a cue from retail

establishments, wanting to eliminate the coldness that has been associated

with banking in the past, and build lasting relationships with its

communities. As of today, there are over 600 occasio branches nationwide

with more on the way and other banks are following their lead.28

27 Amy Wu, “Bank Drops Drab,” San Francisco Chronicle, 26 June 2004. 28 Evan Pondel, “Washington Mutual, Other Banks Work to Promote Social Atmosphere,” Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, 9 June 2003.

14

In a similar effort, art museums are beginning to understand the

importance of seeing the visitor differently. In fact, a number of

institutions that used to be known for their collections are now developing

reputations as places to visit because of the way visitors are treated by

staff who make them feel welcome and wanted.29 By looking closely at

how the museum currently facilitates the visitor experience, we can

ascertain areas for improvement and prepare for museum visitors of the

twenty-first century who, according to museum expert John Falk, will

“share a concern for learning, a desire for challenging new experiences, a

high value on worthwhile leisure time, and a perception that learning is a

lifelong activity and not vested exclusively in the schools.”30

The importance of visitor service and a visitor-centered museum

cannot be underestimated. Attention, or inattention, to visitors has a direct

effect on the museum’s bottom line and the ability to fulfill an educational

and access-driven mission. After all, where is a museum without visitors?

Therefore, the purpose of this master’s project is to inform art

museum professionals about the role that visitor service plays in creating

the overall visitor experience and the sustainability of art museums. In

what follows, I will assess the state of visitor service in United States art 29 Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, Service to People: Challenges and Rewards (New York: Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, 2000), 7. 30 John H. Falk, “Visitors: Who Does, Who Doesn’t, and Why,” Museum News, March/April 1998, 42.

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museums, share results with customer care experts, and provide

recommendations for improvement. This information is particularly

relevant to museums that recognize the importance of being visitor-

centered yet do not know how to implement a successful visitor service

model within their institution. It is important to note that, although

marketing, public relations and museum websites are important factors

influencing visitation, for the purpose of providing an in-depth review, this

study is centered on visitor service within the museum. Since I focus on

art museums31 within the United States, I surveyed art museums to

determine the state of visitor service within contemporary institutions,

interviewed museum professionals throughout the U.S. who have created

successful visitor service models, and researched the history of visitor

service within museums and reviewed current literature on visitor service

strategies. I hope that the results of my project can be used as a tool for

museum professionals to use when implementing a visitor service plan.

The results of the project include a workshop on how to create a

successful visitor service model.

31 Including AAM accredited and non-accredited art museums and art centers.

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Research Goals

I have identified four research goals for this project:

1. Research the history of visitor service and attitudes toward it in

United States art museums.

2. Assess current state of visitor services in United States art

museums.

3. Compare art museum practices to for-profit customer service

practices.

4. Recommend visitor service improvements to art museums.

Research Objectives

In conjunction with research goals, I have identified four objectives for this project:

1. To summarize and synthesize shifts in visitor service in United

States art museums.

2. To collect and analyze survey data received from museum visitor

service representatives.

3. To share results of survey data with customer care experts.

4. To develop recommendations for improvement in visitor services

and share with art museums.

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Methodology

To ascertain the state of visitor service in United Stated art

museums, I surveyed 107 randomly selected art museums, interviewed ten

museum visitor service professionals, museum consultants, and for-profit

customer care specialists, and researched the museum and visitor

paradigm, which includes the history of the visitor and visitor experience

within art museums. As visitor service (also known as customer service) is

an issue that spreads beyond the museum field, it was also important to

review current information on visitor service models and strategies found

in literature and online.

To determine the extent to which art museums are visitor-centered,

I developed an 18-question survey addressing organizational structure,

responsibilities, visitor service goals and challenges, training, resources

and needs for success. The combination of these answers paints a picture

of how visitor service manifests itself at each art museum. The survey

begins with questions that capture an overview of the museum, and then

proceeds to look in more detail at the following areas that influence

successful visitor service in an organization: organizational philosophy,

organizational structure, evaluation and process, and training. The first

four questions, inquiring who at the museum is responsible for visitor

service issues and what are current visitor service goals and challenges,

18

were geared to determine whether the organization’s infrastructure is in

place for success. The subsequent six questions pertain to the importance

of training, the role of volunteers and security officers in the visitor

experience. Information garnered will illustrate the organization’s culture

and its existing realities and invite either success stories or areas for

improvement.

The final portion aims to gather information about potential model

visitor service programs, inquires about helpful visitor service resources,

and uncovers existing needs within the museum and in the field. The

questions essentially ask, “What would help you to do your job better?

What obstacles are in your way? What resources, if any, are you using?

Are they from the museum field or from somewhere else? How can work

done in other fields inform museum visitor services?” Ultimately, the

survey exposes the reality of visitor services in art museums and uncovers

the true importance of the visitor in the eyes of the institution. Museums

are unique. Each institution has different goals and needs, making it

impossible for any one formula to work at each and every museum.

Therefore answers inform the documentation of best practices,

highlighting what is working both inside and outside the museum field.

The survey, along with cover letter and stamped return envelope,

were sent to both AAM accredited and non-accredited museums. If the

19

museum website named a visitor service contact in their staff directory,

the survey was addressed directly to that person. Otherwise, the survey

was generically addressed to “visitor services.” The letter was a test in

itself to see which generically addressed surveys were returned and which

employee/job responsibility responded. The respondents were equally as

important as those who did not respond. After all, this was sent to visitor

services, so one would assume that the person at the receiving end would

be responsive to the inquiring public- that is if they are doing their job

right, with the right attitude.

To generate a multi-faceted picture of visitor service, I interviewed

a variety of museum and non-museum professionals selected according to

area of expertise, knowledge about the subject and recommendations from

field professionals. I spoke with seven people at art museums, including

Greg Harris, Visitor Service Manager at the St. Louis Museum of Art and

Chair of the AAM Visitor Service Professional Interest Committee; Dan

Keegan, Director and Deb Norberg, Deputy Director, San Jose Museum of

Art; Neda Asgharzadeh, Visitor Service Manager, San Diego Museum of

Art; John O’Neill, Visitor Service Manager, SFMOMA; Jennifer Cooley,

Museum Educator, Des Moines Art Center; Yseult Tyler, Manager of

Visitor Services, Guggenheim. These interviews provided first-hand

20

insight from various perspectives into visitor service at each museum and

uncovered additional realities, challenges and needs in the industry.

I also spoke with third-party customer care consultants who

provided a holistic perspective of current visitor service successes,

struggles and strategies in art museums, in the museum field and in the

marketplace in general. In addition, consultants offered suggestions and

potential resources that could help to bridge the gap between the museum

field and successful strategies existing in other industries. Consultants

were chosen based upon recommendations from museum professionals

with positive, first-hand experience. Interviewees include Kathleen

Brown, Principal of Atelier Kathleen Brown, a planning and management

firm for private, commercial, non-profit, and public institutions to define

and design progressive solutions; Will Philips, founder of Qm² -Quality

Management to a Higher Power, which provides management consulting

to for-profit and non-profit businesses (including museums) and several

long term change projects; and Holly Stiel, founder of Thank You Very

Much, Inc., which teaches the art of customer service. Recommendations

and word-of-mouth led to further interviews with Kathleen Dengler, Vice

President for Human Resources at the Strong Museum in Rochester, New

York. As an outsider to the art museum field, she was able to suggest

21

potential strategies and models for success based on her experiences with

science centers and children’s museums.

One major finding of this study is that literature on visitor service

is almost non-existent in the museum field. That which does exist is

theoretical, primarily conceiving of visitor service as a focus on visitor

learning (like Stephen Weil, Carol Duncan, Falk & Dierking) as opposed

to offering practical methods and guidelines. Examples centered on

children’s museums, science centers and sometimes history museums, but

rarely art museums. As my research has found, art museums are the

institutions that need the most assistance with this topic as they are

traditionally the most set in their ways where as children’s museums and

science centers opened their doors with a different, hands-on interactive

approach than art museums and generally have a different type of

institutional culture. Because the answers were not readily available in the

museum field, it was necessary to consult both non-profit and for-profit

customer care resources: The Harvard Business Review, Fortune, New

York Times, Journal of Services Marketing and literature from other

industries including advertising, marketing, leisure science, psychology,

sociology, consumer behavior, non-profit and for-profit management and

leadership and hospitality.

22

The Internet also proved to be a valuable resource, both for

contemporary customer care resources and as a window into how

museums represent themselves online and what information they feel is

important to make available to the public (although the web as a visitor

service tool was out of the range of this project, I feel that it was useful as

a way to identify visitor service contacts at each museum). I started with

basic online keyword searches on major search engines Google and

Yahoo!, using combinations of the following: customer satisfaction,

museum visitor service, customer service, customer care, customer loyalty,

museum marketing, and relationship marketing. This search led me to The

Customer Care Institute, a global resource organization serving customer

care professionals, and focusing on issues found in the customer service,

consumer affairs, teleservices and help desk professions; the website

proved to be a clearing house for statistics from top management firms.

Customer care experts also directed me to hospitality websites including

The Four Seasons and The Ritz-Carlton, where I was able to take note of

the characteristics of their signature service, and to the website for the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, an award to promote quality

awareness, to recognize quality and business achievements of U.S.

organizations, and to publicize these organizations’ successful

performance strategies.

23

Limitations

I have limited the scope of this project to a random sample of 107

art museums in the United States. Looking only at art museums allows

focus to be distinct among genres of museums. Time, financial, and

geographical constraints make the study of every art museum impossible

at this time. I am hoping, however, that my literature review, interviews

and survey will compensate for and uncover strategies can be used in

museums worldwide. Although I was unable to perform site visits and

visitor interviews at every museum surveyed, I was able to visit and

document, through experience and observation, both my own visitor

experience and the experiences of others at a number of west coast

institutions, including art museums, children’s museums, science-centers,

aquaria, and cultural centers.

It is also important to note that this project is about visitor service,

not about visitor studies. To make clear the distinction between these,

visitor studies is quantitative and qualitative evaluation, aimed at studying

the visitor to see how or what they have learned in the museum. Such

studies are routinely addressed to programs and exhibitions. Visitor

service is akin to customer service, focused on serving actual and potential

visitors and making their experience satisfying. Visitor service starts long

before visitors actually enter the museum doors. In fact, certain negative

24

experiences with accessing the museum occurring outside museum walls

can affect visitation, making potential visitors non-visitors. Marketing,

public relations and museum websites are important factors influencing

visitation, but for the purpose of providing an in-depth review, this study

is limited to visitor service within the museum.

Initially, I had hoped to examine art museums and the idea of

relationship marketing32; however, upon closer research, that notion,

usually used in for-profits, has not yet been translated into the non-profit

realm. A few journal articles surfaced which provided relationship-

marketing strategies for use in the sustainability of performing arts

institutions, children’s museums and science-centers, yet nothing that

would to art museums. This discovery forced me to step back and think

about the concept of relationship marketing and realize that before such

strategies/models can be used in art museums, the latter must first be more

committedly visitor-centered. They have to ascertain their relationship to

the viewer and develop visitor service models. Once that commitment is

established, art museums will be better positioned to exploit relationship-

building models. Therefore, a study assessing visitor service in art

museums and providing recommendations for improvement seems more

beneficial to the museum field at this time. My hope is that museums of 32 Relationship marketing is the process of creating, maintaining, and enhancing strong, value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders.

25

all types will be able to extrapolate strategies from my study and

customize a visitor service model based on their different needs and

issues.

Other areas of interest that are outside the scope of this project but

are relevant to this topic include trends that will affect the future of

museums, like the continued evolution of the experience economy,

understanding of factors that will influence future funding, and what

effects demographics and cultural changes will have on the museum. It

will be interesting to see how the enjoyment of experiences continues to

manifest itself in culture of corporations and businesses as well as the

entertainment industry. Also, will funding trends move away from larger

institutions toward more localized, grassroots efforts and how will that

affect museums? And finally, how gentrification, the cost of living and

urban sprawl, and the cultural and demographic changes it ensues will

change how museums and communities work together.

Product Description

This project culminates in an information and resource workshop

that will help art museums create and manage successful visitor service

programs by bridging the existing gap between theory and practice.

Participants will be introduced to examples of visionary visitor service

26

models and receive practical and tangible solutions to complement the

already available theoretical research on the importance of visitor service

and a visitor-centered museum. While the existing literature addresses the

importance of visitor service, the workshop will showcase best practices

and a step-by-step guide for implementation.

The workshop is designed for art museum directors, senior

management staff and visitor service managers. It can be conducted at and

tailored to the interested institution. It can also be part of various annual

professional conferences hosted by professional support organizations

American Association of Museums and Western Museums Association. It

is important that this workshop be comfortable and non-intimidating (in

keeping with the goals of visitor service itself). Essentially, as facilitator,

my tone as well as the overall workshop experience will model the art of

service. Not only will I help participants envision and create a visitor

service plan, I will respond to questions in a positive manner, enable

participants, encourage teamwork and communication, and infuse humor

throughout. The workshop begins with a visual slide show and narration

introducing institutions that display the characteristics of excellent visitor

service. This portion will be visionary, aiming to show participants

examples from the field and inspire them to see what they can become.

By showing participants examples of what their museum can be I am

27

hoping to empower them to change their institutions. Following the

slideshow, participants will be introduced to the following topics: why

visitor service matters (statistics), dimensions of visitor service, and a

recipe for implementation (how to make your institution visitor-centered

by creating a visitor service plan). Each of the topics will have various

subsections and discussion points, allowing participants to understand and

design a model that makes sense for their institution. Additional

discussion will follow on organizational charts and job descriptions,

training guides, best practices (or examples from the field), tips/frequently

asked questions, and where to find additional resources.

The “recipe for implementation” section will provide strategies for

and examples of the components that must be present in organizations to

create and manage a successful visitor service program. The workshop

includes a training framework with relevant curriculum topics and

formulas. Real visitor service examples from the museum field will be

discussed, while the tips and frequently asked visitor service questions

portion will delve into specific implementation questions, interesting

statistics and will be a time for fun facts regarding space design and

customer behavioral habits. The workshop will provide museum

professionals with additional resources including books, articles and

websites grouped by topic/theme.

28

Recognizing that all museums are unique and that not all museums

will benefit from one formula, the visitor service workshop provides

museums an opportunity to customize their visitor service model, allowing

participants to pick and choose from various models and strategies as

appropriate. This workshop is a consolidation of information from

relevant fields that provides practical solutions for art museum

professionals.

29

Glossary

These terms were selected due to their often-ambiguous nature and

are defined in hopes to clarify their use throughout this paper.

Access: The right to enter, the right to obtain or make use of or take advantage of something. Also an approach a way of entering or leaving, memory access the operation of reading or writing stored information and the freedom or ability to obtain, make use of, or participate in something. Arrival Sequence: Includes directions, road signage, location, parking, building signage and appearance, sense of arrival, orientation, reception and ticketing and wayfinding. Customer Satisfaction: Measure or determination that a product or service meets a customer's expectations, considering requirements of both quality and service Customer Service: A function of an organization that interacts with customers, e.g. response to inquires or complaints. Can also describe the positive attitude of an organization towards its client base. Taking active steps (as opposed to always REacting) to improve product or service delivery. Loyalty: The feeling of attachment or affection for a company’s people, products, or services. It is the outcome of a relationship built on shared values, trust and commitment. Relationship Marketing: The process of creating, maintaining, and enhancing strong, value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders.

Sustainability: The ability of a system to function into the future without being forced into decline through the overloading of the key resources upon which it depends (collections, ideas, community support, energy, and money).

Visitor Service: Facilities or services that provide comfort to visitors, including checkrooms, dining areas, first aid stations, information desks, restrooms, seating, signage, telephone booths, water fountains…

30

Visitor Studies: Talking to the users of museums on order to gain some understanding of their needs, wants and knowledge levels as well as what was gained from the contact they had with the museum and using this data to make informed decisions at all levels of the museum. Visitor Experience: A holistic approach to museum visitation which ensures that the visitor feels welcome, supported, engaged and enriched, whether they are exploring the galleries, participating in a program, enjoying the store and café, or making the crucial decision to sustain the institution with a membership or financial gift VSPIC: Visitor Service Professional Interest Committee of AAM is a group of museum professionals who are visitor advocates, concerned with providing museum visitors with the best overall experience possible.

31

BACKGROUND

A Brief History of the Art Museum and the Visitor

Art museums and visitors share a long history—a complicated

ambivalent relationship. It is only in recent decades that we have seen the

museum focus, once oriented toward collections and research, shift to

involve education and public learning. This significant transformation,

due in part to the surge in the number of museums and their growing

popularity, requires the art museum to see the visitor in a new and radical

light—as an active participant and a valuable partner in the museum

experience. No longer just a place for passive reflection or provider of

valuable, moral and spiritual experiences, art museums have a fiduciary

responsibility to the public. As a result, the art museum is accountable to

the public and therefore required to take an active role in society.

This shift in focus from collection to visitor, which continues to be

a struggle for some art museums, is key in deconstructing the complicated,

pluralistic environment in which art museums exist today. Three dynamics

affecting this shift and informing the current art museum-visitor paradigm

are inter-related and cannot be viewed or analyzed in a vacuum—the

social, economic and political environment; art museums’ accountability

32

in the public eye; and the role of art museum professionals as advocates of

the public.

The first dynamic affecting the transformation in the museum and

visitor relationship involves interwoven social, economic and political

factors. According to an AAM study, the 1990s saw a surge in museum

attendance, growing by over 200 million visitors over the decade.

Americans identified museums as the most popular cultural institution.33

This popularity was coupled with the creation of museums specific to

interests or relevant to groups of people including ethnic museums,

science-centers, children’s museums and environmental museums. Why

this surge? Some claim that the growing demand illustrates the public’s

increased understanding of how such organizations support the

opportunity for education and contribute to their communities.34

The Reagan administration policies of the 1980s focused on

organizational self-sufficiency. Concurrently, from the consumer’s

perspective, there were more leisure-time options and more money to

spend. Ironically, endless spending choices required more money to live,

hence longer working hours. Hence, in a saturated leisure marketplace

with growing number of theme parks, movies, concerts, and the Internet,

33 Pitman,1. 34 Ibid., 8.

33

museums needed to act in an effort to use their current audience’s time

efficiently and to grow their audience base to ensure long-term viability.

The late 1990s and early 2000s ushered in the recession. Was it a

combination of the unsustainable acceleration of technology, the dot-com

bust, and the tragedy of 9/11? We may never know for sure, but the reality

is that people changed their living and spending habits. Corporations, also

victims of restructuring to cut costs, faced a lack of incoming funds. Art

museums (not the only ones to feel the effects) saw cuts in federal and

corporate funding. In consequence art museums began competing for

public attention.

Accountability in the public eye is the second force at play in the

recent evolution of the art museum. In talking with people about why they

do not go to art museums, it is not uncommon to hear words or phrases

like “elitist,” “not relevant to me or my life,” and “why would I, they do

not care about me?” Despite the general shift from collection to visitor, art

museums are still struggling to dispel these attitudes of the general public

and break those myths through action. With recent corporate scandals like

Enron and Martha Stewart’s alleged insider trading scandal, it is not

surprising that the public distrusts institutions, corporate or otherwise.

Museums need to build their trust. Museums need to learn about their

consumers.

34

A number of museum professional groups echo these sentiments.

This leads us to the third dynamic influencing the art museum-visitor

relationship: the role of professional groups and individuals in the art

museum community. The most prominent, the American Association of

Museums (AAM), is responsible for creating a number of frameworks

shaping the modern institution. Their accreditation program reflects public

interest as well as the causes AAM deems important and has undergone a

fundamental change in its formula in recent years, which reflects the

evolution of the importance of the public and the art museum visitor.

Whereas in the seventies, the focus of accreditation was on upgrading

fundamental infrastructures and in the eighties on the care and

management of collections, the 1990s introduced the public dimension as

paramount. Today, to be accredited by AAM, museums must accomplish a

combination of the above: communicate with disparate audiences,

demonstrate that they are well managed, and that they care for collections

and resources.35 In addition, numerous associations, like AAM, Western

Museums Association (WMA), and International Council of Museums

(ICOM), hold annual conferences acting as forums for discussion of issues

and challenges facing museums. Professional interest committees

advocate for the visitor, including Visitor Services Professional Interest

35 Ibid., 10.

35

Committee (VSPIC), an AAM subcommittee, and the Visitor Studies

Association (VSA).

These consortiums of museum professionals are responsible for

supporting publications and authoring mandates that institute a call for

action on the part of all museums to reach out to the surrounding

community. AAM issued three publications over three consecutive

decades highlighting the importance of education and public advocacy for

museums: Museums for a New Century (1984) and Excellence & Equity:

Education and the Public Dimension of Museums (1992), and Mastering

Civic Engagement: A Challenge to Museums (2002). AAM also publishes

Museum News, a bi-monthly medium for museum issues and success

stories. In the summer of 1999, a group of museum professionals authored

an entirely museum-focused issue of Daedalus, Journal of the American

Academy of Arts and Sciences, demonstrating commitment to museums as

an integral part of contemporary culture. In conjunction with the flood of

professional groups entering the arena, individual museum professionals

have also risen to public advocacy cause and acted on behalf of the

community. Museum scholars Carol Duncan and Stephen E. Weil call

attention to the barriers that exist between the museum and the public and

continuously provide the museum field with much-needed rationale for

museums to truly be visitor-centered.

36

Despite this flurry of attention and activity, visitor-centered

museums remain emerging phenomena. Museum historian Kenneth

Hudson stated that the “most fundamental change affecting museums in

the past half-century is now the almost universal conviction that they exist

in order to serve the public.”36 In the past, the museum’s primary

responsibility was to its collections not its visitors. This evolution from a

collection-based organization to a public-service orientation requires

museums to also change their approach. Stephen Weil articulates this

reshaping of the American museum from an “establishment-like

institution, focusing inward on the growth, care, and study of its

collection, to an entrepreneurial-like institution shifting the focus outward

to public service.”37 This change calls upon museums to use their

knowledge to contribute “positively to the quality of life and enhance the

well-being of communities.”38 Museum professionals agree that in order

to move forward, museums must develop new practices that both

acknowledge the past and look to the future.

36 Kenneth Hudson, “The Museum Refuses to Stand Still,” Museum International 197 (1998), 43; quoted in Stephen E. Weil, “From Being About Something to Being For Somebody: The Ongoing Transformation of the American Museum,” in Daedalus Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 128, no.3 (Summer 1999): 232. 37 Weil, 254. 38 Ibid.

37

Art Museums and the Visitor Today

The past decade has seen a surge in research and literature that

provides many theoretical reasons supporting the need for art museums to

become visitor-centered institutions, both from a community service and

marketing perspective. Museum professionals agree that there are two

defining issues facing art museums today: access and sustainability.39

Access in this sense refers to both physical and intellectual barriers:

location, admission costs, lack of available parking for disabled visitors,

academic label text, content that is irrelevant to the community.

Sustainability, pertaining to museums, is the ability of the museum to

function without being forced into decline through the overloading of key

resources upon which it depends: collections, ideas, community support,

energy and money.40 The visitor-centered museum must acknowledge the

importance of these two goals when planning for the future.

Today as the life of the museum depends on its ties to the

community, museums are opening their doors to diverse publics and

sharing knowledge and ideas. The museum professional literature has

responded to this movement and, in 1992, AAM published Excellence and

Equity, a call-to-action for museums to become integral parts of their

39 Pitman, 25. 40 Gail Dexter Lord, “Museums and Sustainability: Economy, Culture and Community,” 2002 from http://www.lord.ca/publications/articles/museums_sustainability.html

38

communities by expanding their educational, social and cultural roles.41

Another trend espousing community involvement is AAM’s current

accreditation program that requires museums to focus on the public

dimension and holds them accountable for their actions in this arena.

Increased access can yield mutually beneficial relationships between the

museum and the community.

The second defining issue, sustainability goes hand-in-hand with

access. Not only are museums looking to provide more public access, they

are realizing that these practices are, essential to their long-term viability.

There are social and economic forces at work. The non-profit world has

endured pervasive cuts in federal funding and has had to look elsewhere

for income. At the same time, the rise and fall of the economy has made

the public conscious about how and when it spends valuable leisure time

dollars. No longer can art museums assume “if we build it, they will

come;” whether museums like it or not, they are “competing for the leisure

time dollar [and that] forces [them] into the quality service arena.”42

James Bradburne, Director of mak.frankfurt (formerly the Craft

Museum) in Frankfurt, Germany, sees two distinct, worldwide art museum

41 American Association of Museums. Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums, ed. Ellen Cochran Hirzy (Washington D.C.: American Association of Museums 1992). 42 Chin, Eleanor, “Beyond Quality Service: A Blueprint for Improving Visitor Services,” Hand to Hand, Winter 1993, 1.

39

dilemmas pertinent to the enhancement of access and sustainability. The

first dilemma is the low level of engagement with objects in the museum,

with visitors passively viewing and/or passing by without engaging.

Bradburne believes that there is also falling number of repeat visitors. He

disagrees with the art museum’s chosen solution strategies: the

blockbuster and the new museum building. Art museums have been

instituting these strategies to address these phenomena since the 1980s,

believing that well-known artists associated with blockbusters or the

architecturally stunning new building will continuously draw crowds.

However, Bradburne feels that these are just temporary solutions that fail

to address the real problems and ultimately end up ruining the visitor

experience with long lines, overcrowding, and mismanaged expectations.43

The art museum field has many concerns with the issues of access

and sustainability, unclear about how far they should lean toward their

access-driven mission statements while still being sustainable. Research

states that if art museums want to sustain their visibility and visitorship,

they need to think about the visitor experience. This involves creating

comfortable surroundings where visitors can feel at ease both physically

43 Bradburne, James M., “A New Strategic Approach to the Museum and its Relationship to Society,” Museum Management and Curatorship, March 2000, 75-76.

40

and psychologically.44 This ideal is not out of reach. Neil Kotler, an

expert is museum marketing, argues that, through ongoing customer

communication, [museums] can institute a healthy “exchange” of

offerings and visitor expectations and experiences.45 Art museums must

make every effort to be easy for visitors to experience or user- friendly.46

This adds pressure to ensure a positive visitor experience and increase the

likelihood of a repeat visit and learning.

A number of recent trends indicate that the new, visitor-centered

museum is paying attention to access and sustainability. Museums are

recognizing that they need to be relevant and are looking outward to their

neighborhood and surrounding community, focusing on audience

development, rethinking membership strategies and admission fees,

building two-way school and community partnerships, creating advisory

boards, and revising their mission statements. Museums are also

providing amenities offered by their commercial competition, like cafés,

stores, concerts and theatres. Though some view this move to attract

visitors based on superficial amenities versus art for art’s sake in a

negative light, authors of The Experience Economy B. Joseph Pine II and

44 Marilyn G. Hood, “Misconceptions Held By Museum Professionals,” Visitor Behavior, Spring 1991, 56. 45 Neil Kotler, “Delivering Experience: Marketing the Museum’s Full Range of Assets,” Museum News, May/June 1999, 36. 46 Bradburne, 77.

41

James H. Gilmore would say that museums are part of the experience

economy, by staging rich, compelling experiences.

The Museum Visitor

As early as 1924, museums were chastised for inducing “museum

fatigue” caused by standing, slow walking, dim lighting, reflections on

glass, and lack of seating.47 Over 80 years have passed since these issues

were raised. The museum is still grappling with how to ensure a positive

visitor experience (so the visitor is not fatigued, but invigorated). To

successfully create this experience, it is first important to understand who

visits museums and who does not, as well as interrelationship between

visitor and museum.

What constitutes a visitor? The simple definition for “visitor”

according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “one that visits,” with a

“visit” being “a journey to and stay or short sojourn at a place.”48 The root

itself gives us two invaluable clues to the meaning of visitor—the action

of both journeying and seeing. Taken together this means that one is

investing time to see something. One can discern from this that what they

are seeing must be considered of enough value to entice them to journey

there and navigate within the space of the museum and research has shown 47 Hood, 17. 48Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1987), s.v. “visit.”

42

that people visit museums because they want to do something in particular

that the museum offers.49 We might then posit that a museum visitor is

someone who values what the museum has to offer enough to take his/her

valuable leisure time to go to visit.

Demographic research is one way to identify visitors. Looking first

at demographics, researchers have found that a number of variables affect

museum going, including education, income, occupation, race and age.

One consistent research finding is that museum visitors are well educated

and hold better paying jobs than the average American. Research also

shows that early exposure to museums influences future museum-going

and studies performed by the Smithsonian over the past fourteen years

show that the act of museum going is transferred from parents to their

children and that childhood visits (excluding school visits) predict adult

attendance.50 The studies also revealed that museum-going peaks for most

adults between the ages of 30 and 50, and then drops off again and that

visitors to art and history museums tend to be older than the average

science-oriented museum visitor. Minority groups are under-represented

among the museum-going public in comparison to the nation’s

demographics.

49 Doering, 75. 50 Zahava D. Doering, “Steering the Nation: Lessons From the Smithsonian,” (Smithsonian Institution, 2004, typewritten), 3.

43

Demographics, though useful in revealing some patterns of

museum-going, provide an incomplete picture of the museum visitor. To

fully appreciate the complexities associated with museum-going and to

truly get to know the visitor, one must understand the psychological and

motivational characteristics also at play when deciding to visit. A

psychographic profile of the museum visitor is now possible thanks in part

to the work of researcher Marilyn Hood. Visitors, she has found,

regardless of race, ethnicity, age, income level and gender, value learning,

seek the challenge of exploring and discovering new things, and place a

high value on doing something worthwhile in their leisure time.51 Hood

believes that the primary reason most people visit museums is to learn.

This is perhaps why there is a high correlation between museum-going

and education level; people who value learning are more inclined to

pursue many forms of education. Most visitors see museums as places

that will provide them with opportunities to expand their learning.

Educational activities are a valid way to spend leisure time.52

Just as we are able to profile who visits museums, we can also

paint a picture of who doesn’t visit. We can also determine why, and

whether museums can offer potential visitors the kinds of experiences they

value and expect. An important word to introduce at this time is choice. 51 Hood, 17. 52 Falk, 57.

44

People make choices about how they will spend their free time and, in

making those choices, they consider which of the multitude of alternatives

will offer them the greatest satisfaction. Looking at sixty years worth of

analysis in various fields including museum studies, leisure science,

sociology, psychology and consumer behavior, Hood found that six major

attributes underlie adult decisions about leisure: being with people, or

social interaction; doing something worthwhile; feeling comfortable and at

ease in one’s surroundings; having a challenge of new experiences; having

an opportunity to learn; and active participation.53 Hood also found three

distinct potential museum audience segments based on leisure values,

interests and expectations: frequent visitors, occasional visitors and non-

visitors.

Frequent visitors go to museums at least three times a year, value

all six of the leisure attributes above, and perceive them to all be present in

museums, though they especially value the opportunity to learn, having a

challenge of new experiences and doing something worthwhile in their

free time. According to Hood’s studies, frequent visitors constitute only a

small portion of the community but account for 45 to 50 percent of

museum visitation. It is important to note that the frequent visitor feels

53 Hood, 51.

45

that in making the choice to put the museum on their leisure time activity

list, the benefits offered by the museum visits outweigh the costs.

At the extreme opposite end of the psychographic profile in all

areas, not surprisingly, is the non-visitor whose leisure time values include

social interaction, active participation, and feeling comfortable or at ease

in their surroundings. Non-visitors were probably not museum-goers as

children, do not feel that museums currently offer what they consider

important in their choice of leisure activities, and would rather be actively

involved in social activities like sports, picnicking, visiting with friends or

shopping. To them, museums are formal and unfamiliar places where

social interaction and active participation are frowned upon.

Most notable from Hood’s research were the findings that the

occasional participant, who visits a museum once or twice a year,

identifies more closely with the leisure and social values of the non-visitor

than the frequent visitor. Their patterns of active participation began as

children and continue as adults. Both the occasional visitor and the non-

visitor value family-centered activities more than the frequent visitor who

is more likely to visit the museum alone. It is also important to note that

occasional visitors feel that museums offer little in the way of physical or

mental comfort and they do not feel at home enough in the environment to

warrant more visits. They will, however, attend special events and family

46

days that feel more familiar to them. Hood’s research uncovers who visits

museums, who doesn’t and why. Her findings have provided museums

with a better understanding about how to appeal to audience segments

with differing leisure time dispositions and to recognize that museums are

pitted against other leisure options.

According to another researcher, John Falk, patterns dictate that

the museum visitors of the twenty-first century will “share a concern for

learning, a desire for challenging new experiences, a high value on

worthwhile leisure time, and a perception that learning is a lifelong

activity and not vested exclusively in the schools.”54 Taking the

characteristics of the three audience segments into consideration, museum

professionals agree that to be successful at providing access, museums

must recognize that visitors have different expectations and are looking for

a range of experiences, both within their museum visit and in non-museum

activities, and they must think about offerings through the eyes of the

visitor.

In 1991, Neil Kotler prophesized that non-profits would shift from

an organizational to a customer or audience orientation.55 Prior to self-

sufficiency and sustainability plaguing non-profits in recent years, the

54 Falk, 42. 55Ross J. Loomis, “Planning for the Visitor: The Challenge of Visitor Studies,” from Museum Visitor Studies in the 90’s (London: Science Museum, 1993), 14.

47

intrinsic value of museums justified their existence. Now, museums have

to convince the public of their worth. This has spawned an onslaught of

literature calling for museums, in marrying their goal of accessibility and

their need for sustainability, to see their visitors as users, guests, partners

or customers. This mindset argues that the key functional difference

between museums and for-profit attractions has to do with expectations of

the person.56 Essentially, if the museum can understand the reasons and

expectations behind the visit, they can provide benefits.

Zahava Doering, Director of Institutional Studies at the

Smithsonian Institution, and her colleagues at the Smithsonian have

provided the museum field with three major models of how museums see

visitors—as strangers, guests or clients. When visitors are viewed as

strangers (or worse, as intruders), Doering explains, the museum’s primary

responsibility is to the collection or some other aspect, but not to the

public. The public is viewed as having been granted a special privilege

just by virtue of being admitted.

The most common viewpoint held by art museum staff is seeing

the visitor as guest. In this situation, the museum assumes responsibility

for the visitors and aims to please them out of a sense of mission. The

museum usually demonstrates this effort through educational activities

56 Caldwell, 168.

48

with institutionally defined objectives. The museum assumes that the

visitor is eager for and receptive of this assistance.

From the visitor-as-client standpoint, the museum believes that its

primary responsibility is to be accountable to the visitor. The visitor is no

longer subordinate to the museum and the museum no longer seeks to

impose the visitor experience that it deems the most appropriate. Instead,

the museum acknowledges that visitors, much like clients, have needs and

expectations that the institution is obligated to understand and meet.

These attitudes toward visitors, seemingly linear in nature, appear

to be a natural, sequential evolution much like that of a friendship.

However, recent examination of existing attitudes and styles shows that all

three are still present in museums today, some even coexisting. These

approaches to visitors are the products of historical situations, collections,

and individuals.57 The visitor as stranger attitude is a product of the

specialization in function that was once shared between universities and

museums. Universities became places of formal learning, while museums

focused on collecting, preserving and exhibiting objects. Museums’

primary function was object-related research and their educational purpose

became teaching about the objects in their collection. An obvious

byproduct of this object orientation is the value placed on the preservation,

57 Doering, “Strangers, Guests, or Clients? Visitor Experiences in Museums,” 75.

49

safety and security of the museum environment. Even though the

collections were made available to the public for various reasons including

moral uplift and skill training, restrictions on dress codes, visitation hours,

and lack of attention to visitor comfort sent a clear message—our focus is

on our collection, not you. Even though museums maintained their

distance from the public, they still saw themselves as having an

educational role.

In 1998, museum educator George Hein commented on this

parallel evolution of museum and schools. Where schools developed an

accountability system and are continuously measured and tested, museums

do not systematically assess their impact on clients. The museum

assumed that the public would be entertained and enlightened by their visit

without actually asking visitors if that were so.58

The visitor as guest mentality relies on the educational mission of

the museum, with the museum seeing itself as a host and paying attention

to accommodating the visitor and taking responsibility for what occurs

inside their doors. As host, the museum pays attention to the amenities the

visitor may desire. This behavior is recognized in outreach programs and

special membership packages, along with the addition of restaurants,

58 George Hein, Learning in the Museum (London: Routledge, 1998), 5.

50

stores and theatres. Intrinsic in this visitor/guest relationship is that the

public is looking to the museum to share its knowledge and expertise.

The most recent approach is visitor as client. Some experts say this

mentality stems from the pressure on the cultural sector to be accountable

and prove their success through profit—and therefore becoming

preoccupied with business concerns about costs, financing, evaluation,

development and profitability.59 Social institutions are also being called

upon to demonstrate their worth to support their success. Doering

suggests that these pressures are pushing museums toward viewing their

visitors as clients and that there is a growing sense in the museum field

that the familiar paradigms of both institutions and their visitors are

increasingly inadequate. To address this problem, Doering and others

believe that museums need to rethink their relationships with visitors and

view institutional needs from the visitor’s point of view rather than the

museum’s.

If this is indeed the way museums want to represent the visitor—

as partner rather than a subordinate—museums must understand the visitor

(user) experience, learn how to cultivate the relationship and build

59 Jean-Michel Tobelem, “The Marketing Approach in Museums,” Museum Management and Curatorship, December 1997, 337.

51

loyalty.60 Paying attention to visitors’ needs and increasing visitor

satisfaction can lead to repeat visits and loyalty. The relationship between

an arts organization and an audience member builds with repeat

attendance, purchase, subscription, membership and even donation, finally

to public advocacy for the company or organization. 61 Loyalty equals

audience development and long-term viability. Again, Zahava Doering

takes this thought further asking museums to see the visitor as client and

“respect and provide the kinds of experiences they report as most

satisfying, and to ensure a setting in which such experiences are

facilitated.”62 She summarizes years of Smithsonian research into two

sentences, “Visitors make use of museums for their own purposes, and

from varying perspectives. The museum can influence these outcomes but

not control them.”63

The tides are changing and museums are starting to see the visitor

differently. In fact, a number of institutions that used to be known for their

collections are now developing reputations as places to visit because of the

way they are treated by staff that makes them feel welcome and wanted.64

60 Loyalty is the feeling of attachment or affection for a company’s people, products, or services. It is the outcome of a relationship built on shared values, trust and commitment. 61 Ruth Rentschler, Jennifer Radbourne, Rodney Carr, and John Rickard, “Relationship Marketing, Audience Retention and Performing Arts Organization Viability,” International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing (May 2002): 122. 62 Doering, “Strangers, Guests, or Clients? Visitor Experiences in Museums,” 84. 63 Ibid. 64 Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, Service to People, 7.

52

By looking closely at how the art museum currently assesses the visitor

experience, we can ascertain areas for improvement.

Paying Attention to Visitor Experience

In 1992, museum evaluators John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking

analyzed the visitor experience and visitor learning inside museums in The

Museum Experience. Their research shows that, when in museums, the

visitor does not differentiate between the various museum departments

and their respective responsibilities and instead perceives the museum and

all its components as a seamless whole. All staff on the premises are seen

as experts and all aspects are viewed as part of a unified source. According

to Falk and Dierking, “The visitor’s perception of the museum is

functional because he is a user, not a planner or insider. His view is not

limited to an intellectual discipline or to individual exhibits or objects;

rather, the visitor’s perception is highly contextual, including the personal,

physical, and social contexts. The visitor’s experience must be seen as a

whole, or gestalt.”65 And, just one contradiction of a visitor’s expectations

is all it takes to turn his or her experience from positive to negative. That

means any disparity in any part of a museum, like explicit policies, aspects

of physical facilities, and behaviors of staff, security officers or

65 Falk & Dierking, 83.

53

volunteers. This insight has tremendous significance for museums. On the

one hand, an optimal experience can translate to both future visits and

word-of-mouth recommendations. On the other hand, one negative

interaction with a staff member or waiting a minute too long in line for

lunch could trigger exponential consequences.

In creating a positive museum experience, customer care experts

like Kathleen Brown and Holly Stiel refer to Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Needs, which states that human beings are not likely to embark upon

intellectual pursuits until they have satisfied their basic, fundamental

needs.66 This includes, but is not limited to food, comfort and shelter.

Essentially, visitors are not going to enjoy the exhibit if they cannot find

the bathroom. Therefore, it is in the museum’s best interest, regarding

both access and sustainability, to ensure that visitors have a positive

museum experience. Museums can facilitate this positive experience by

paying attention to visitor needs and values.

Based on years of visitor behavior research, the Visitor Studies

Association (VSA) identified eleven needs common to all visitors:

Comfort, Orientation, Welcome, Enjoyment, Socializing, Respect,

Communication, Learning, Choice of Control, Challenge and Confidence,

66 Kathleen Brown, Principal, Atelier Kathleen Brown, phone interview with author, 8 December 2003. Holly Stiel, Founder, Thank You Very Much, Inc., phone interview with author, 5 April 2004.

54

Revitalization.67 For example, if visitors need a sense of orientation,

museums should make it easy for them to find their way around by

providing clear signs or guides to help navigate museum space. To meet

the needs of visitors who want enjoyment, museums can attempt to create

an environment void of barriers like broken exhibits or intimidating labels.

The museum must also be aware of what visitors’ value in their

museum experience. Will Phillips, founder of QM2- Quality Management

to a Higher Power, contends that “If a museum wants visitors to return

frequently, it must understand how to delight, not simply satisfy them.”68

He takes this idea further, noting that increased delight leads to increased

loyalty, and that behind all this visitors seek value in four areas of the

museum experience: programs and exhibits, basic support services, the

museums’ recovery process, and customizing the experience. Programs

and exhibits may initially attract a visitor to a museum, but the value in the

programs and exhibits stems from their quality and their frequency. At the

same time, basic support services make the visitor’s stay convenient,

efficient and effective. Though programs and exhibits might get visitors

in the door, it is the attention to basic services like ease of parking,

67 Judy Rand, “Visitor’s Bill of Rights,” in Museum Visitor Services Manual, ed. Roxana Adams, (Washington D.C.: American Association of Museums, 2001), 13. See Appendix A for complete description 68 Will Phillips, “What Visitors Value” from Newsletter on Institutional Transformation, Vol 3, No.1, (Poway: QM2- Quality Management to a Higher Power), 1.

55

welcoming staff and general museum cleanliness that will cause them to

return. The museum’s recovery process refers to the way employees

recover when a visitor complains or when a failure occurs in the eyes of

the customer. By turning the museum monologue into a dialogue and

speaking with the customer rather than to her, museums can alleviate the

damage caused in the eyes of the customer. The customized experience is

the continuous collaboration between the museum and the visitor.

Customization in museums currently occurs for very special visitors.

Phillips argues that time has come for museums to begin learning how to

provide mass customization to all their visitors which involves tailoring

offerings to individual needs. For example, if the museum recognizes that

one visitor likes the art of Jackson Pollock, why not capture that

information and then contact that visitor with information about the artist

whether it be regarding upcoming exhibition locations or providing

additional biographical information?

Creating a positive experience for visitors involves everyone in the

museum, from the education department, to marketing and development,

to the front-line staff like security, admissions and volunteer staff that

interact with visitors face-to-face. Just as interactions with docents, gift

shop staff and security officers influence the visitor experience, so too do

attention to the cleanliness of bathrooms, the availability of seating and

56

efforts toward visitor orientation. These considerations fall under the

umbrella of visitor service.

Visitor Service in Museums

Even though visitor service advocates agree on elements that need

to be present to have a visitor-centered culture, the museum field is still

unable to state what visitor service actually is. What does visitor service

currently mean to museums? Is visitor service an attitude, a department, a

mission, a philosophy, an approach, or is it all of the above? To date, the

museum field has been unable to articulate a clear description of visitor

service and its goals. That something so important can be so hard to

define is in part due to the majority of information available about visitor

service being only theoretical in nature. However, Andrea Leonard, Head

of Visitor Services at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, offers a

useful definition, “the goal of visitor services (whether we exist as a

separate department or a combination of functions) is to make our

institutions accessible to all visitors regardless of their background,

education, income, age, or gender.”69

In researching visitor service, not one identical definition was

found. Due to the nebulous nature of visitor service, it is not surprising

69 Leonard, 1.

57

that it is difficult for museums to better serve the visitor. Despite this

inability to list exactly what is/is not visitor service, the museum field has

identified discrete dimensions of visitor service. Museum consultant

Kathleen Brown recognizes that visitor impressions are formed from many

points of contact, both early and often, and that the visitor experience is

holistic. To that end she acknowledges five aspects of visitor service, or

what she likes to call “customer care,” against to which museums can

measure, compare and improve themselves: 1) website and promotional

information, 2) arrival sequence, 3) amenities, 4) training, personnel and

culture, and finally 5) experiences and content. To be successful, website

and promotional information must accurately represent the museum and

demonstrate that the museum cares about its customers, examples of this

include showing people smiling and having fun. The arrival sequence is

everything that the visitor experiences during their arrival to the museum

including availability of directions and road signage; obvious arrival to the

location through building design, signs or banners; available, accessible

and adequate parking; appearance of the museum building; obvious sense

of arrival; clear orientation providing a sense of what to do next; apparent

reception and ticketing, and available and consistent wayfinding guides.

Amenities include available, clean and accessible restrooms and

coat/parcel check, and seating, comfortable ambiance, availability of food

58

service, gift store and nearby hotels. Interaction with personnel is also

key, and not just front-line. All staff, through communication with each

other and the outside world, represents the museum. Also important is the

manner in which the museum makes content accessible and relevant to

visitors while creating a consistent environment void of confusion and

chaos. In addition to visitor service elements, visitor service advocates in

the museum field have identified key characteristics that must be present

within an organization to make visitor service, and by extension, the

visitor experience, successful: a visitor-centered institutional philosophy, a

visitor-centered organizational structure, continuous evaluation and

process, visitor-centered long-range plans, and institution-wide employee

training.

According to customer service literature, the first step in creating a

successful visitor experience is to develop an institutional philosophy and

set policies that promote visitor services as integral to the institutional

mission—and thus demonstrate that the museum takes visitor service

seriously. It is essential that leadership and management (i.e., the director

and upper management) be involved in customer service training and the

leaders must lead by example. Service to visitors should be everyone’s

job—from front-line staff to those supporting the institution behind the

scenes. If done effectively, this attitude toward visitor service will

59

translate to staff and become engrained in the institutional culture. The

museum will present itself as an institution that cares about visitors.

An advocate of such a strategy is customer service consultant and

former hospitality industry professional Holly Stiel who argues that the

museum must design an organizational structure to reflect visitor emphasis

by ensuring the head of visitor service is equal to other managers like

education, exhibitions, and development. Organizational structures reveal

a lot about the institution and its priorities and giving visitor service equal

status ensures that an audience voice is present when important decisions

are made. Stiel and Greg Harris, chair of AAM’s VSPIC, agree that

another component for success involves instituting processes and

evaluation within the organization, setting standards and holding staff

accountable for their actions. This creates an institutional culture that is

open to self-assessment, values learning and improvement. Again,

involvement from the top-down and bottom-up will help keep the

institution strong and committed to the audience and the mission.

Including visitor service goals and objectives in long-range plans is

the fourth key to a successful institution. A visitor-centered museum

incorporates the audience into future plans, which means getting to know

one’s audience and improving the quality of your offerings, including

facilities, amenities, programs, and service. Institution-wide employee

60

training, from the security officers to the curators and the director is

invaluable and leads to successful customer-oriented institutions which

have comprehensive and relevant all-staff training programs that empower

and acknowledge employees.

Does this inarticulation about the notion of visitor service have

anything to do with why art museums are having a difficult time making

the shift, as Stephen Weil so aptly puts it, “from being about something to

being for somebody?”70 There is a disparity between theory and practice.

The reality of the situation is that there is a lack of literature and resources

addressing visitor services in the museum field and the contributions that

do exist are theoretical, discussing why it is important for a museum to

pay attention to visitor service without providing practical, tangible

solutions.

Resources do exist for visitor service advocates. There are more

articles being published about the topic, indicating a growing interest.

AAM formed the Visitor Service Public Interest Committee (VSPIC) in

1999, though it did not really take shape and begin to make a difference to

the field until 2001 when Greg Harris, Visitor Services Manager at the St.

Louis Art Museum, took over as Chair.71 The VSPIC has a listserv that

70 Weil, 229-255. 71 Greg Harris, St. Louis Museum of Art Visitor Services Manager and VSPIC Chair, phone interview with author, 19 March 2004.

61

museum professionals can subscribe to and take part in visitor service

discussions. In 2001, AAM published the Manual for Visitor Services,

which included dozens of articles written by more than 25 esteemed

museum professionals and customer service advocates contributed their

knowledge and experience including Andrea Leonard, Eleanor Chin, Will

Phillips, Kathryn Hill, and Randi Korn, making this manual the most

complete resource for museum visitor services today and professing its

importance for the field. This manual can help museum staff make a case

for visitor services, understand and meet the needs of visitors, plan and

staff visitor services, train staff, and evaluate services. It includes

professional standards, a sample staff handbook, and position descriptions.

Nonetheless, the manual serves as more of an introduction to the topic

than a provider of practical information. Existing as a subset, the VSPIC

has not reached field-wide initiative level to sit side-by-side with the

Museums and Community Initiative and the National Interpretation

Project, to name a few. In addition, the topic of visitor service is not a

prevalent force at national museum conferences. In fact, in 2004 AAM

will only host one session at its annual conference in New Orleans.72

Professionals are still asking “What are the keys for a successful visitor

72 Ibid.

62

services approach and how can they be instituted at the museum?73 If the

answers are not available in the art museum field, where can art museum

professionals look for resources and successful customer care strategies?

Third-party customer care experts can act as just such a potential outside

sources for successful models and strategies.

The importance of visitor service and a visitor-centered museum

cannot be underestimated. Attention or inattention to visitors has a direct

effect on the museum’s bottom line and the ability to fulfill an educational

and access-drive mission. After all, where is a museum without a visitor?

Therefore, the art museum field needs to translate theory into practice,

providing practical and tangible resources and strategies that can be

utilized by art museums across the board. To do this one must first assess

the state of visitor service in art museums including their structure and

responsibilities. Second, one must understand their issues, concerns,

challenges, and goals so one can determine what is working, what is not,

and develop a practical set of resources. And finally, resources that meet

visitor needs need to be put in the hands of art museums.

73 Neda Asgharzadeh, San Diego Museum of Art Visitor Service Manager, phone interview with author, 18 December 2003. Jennifer Cooley, Des Moines Art Center Museum Educator, phone interview with author, 18 December 2003. Deb Norberg, San Jose Museum of Art Deputy Director, interview with author, 16 December 2003, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA. Kathleen Brown, Principal, Atelier Kathleen Brown, phone interview with author, 8 December 2003.

63

FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS

Report of Findings

For this project I conducted surveys, interviews, and site visits to

examine current practices in art museums with regard to visitor service

and to ascertain how professionals in the field address the issue. In the

Spring 2003, surveys were mailed to visitor service point people at 107 art

museums across the United States. I also conducted ten informational

interviews of senior museum administrators working as visitor

service/museum consultants, visitor service managers in art museums and

children’s museums, and museum consultants and customer service

experts. Surveys and interviews were particularly informative in

establishing the baseline of existing visitor service practices. In addition, I

conducted three site visits to art museums chosen in part because of their

name recognition and also their leadership in the field of visitor services:

The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,

and the Portland Art Museum. These site visits provide an opportunity for

in-depth analysis of actual visitor service practices and services. My

findings are presented in three subsections organized by research

method—surveys, interviews and site visits—followed by over-arching

conclusions based on those findings.

64

Survey A written survey, sent to 107 art museums in order to ascertain the

state of visitor services in art museums today, was returned by 32 art

museum employees responsible for visitor service in small, medium and

large museums, making for 30 percent return rate. (In fact, 39 museums

responded and offered to be of service in various ways and accessible for

specific questions. Some even sent their visitor service handbooks or

manuals, but did not fill out the survey.) Others apologized that they either

no longer had a visitor service person to complete the survey or due to the

nature of the job, did not have time to complete the survey. The

responding institutions represent a mix of large, medium and small

museums throughout the United States with varying budgets and staffing.

This breadth of participants, which includes museums that charge

admission, museums with free admission, museums in rural areas and

museums in metropolitan areas, illuminates the many circumstances which

frame visitor service in art museums today.

65

Organizational Structure

I did not define visitor service, since one purpose of this project

was to investigate what visitor service means to various art museums.

Questions were designed to illustrate the importance of visitor service to

each institution and to

paint a picture of how

art museums define

visitor service and how

it manifests within their

institutions. At the

outset, respondents were asked if their institution had an autonomous

visitor service department. A total of 16 (50 percent) respondents reported

that they had an autonomous visitor service department, while the other 16

(50 percent) do not.

Does your museum have an autonomous visitor service department?

50%50%

yesno

Autonomous visitor service at a glance visitor service department reports to: Director of Marketing/Communications/PR 5 32% No intermediary, straight to Director 3 19% Director of External Affairs 1 6% Director of Operations 1 6% Director of Development 1 6% Manager of Visitor Service & Group Sales 1 6% Chief of Protection Services 1 6% Director of Visitor Service & Retail 2 13% Director of Visitor Service & Business Affairs

1 6%

66

Respondents with autonomous visitor service departments were

asked to provide a brief description of department structure, the

assumption being that if museums have an autonomous visitor service

department, they view the role of visitor service to be as important as other

autonomous departments (namely development, marketing and education).

The organizational and reporting structure for the majority (75 percent) of

Autonomous visitor service at-a-glanceWho does the department report to?

32%

19%6%6%

6%

6%

6%

13%6%

Director of Marketing/Communications/ PRNo intermediary, straight toDirectorDirector of External Affairs

Director of Operations

Director of Development

Manager of VS & GroupSalesChief of Protection Services

Director of VS & Retail

Director of VS & BusinessAffairs

those 16 museums falls under the responsibility of the Marketing &

Communications with 5 (32 percent) visitor service departments reporting

to the Director of Marketing/ Communication/ Public Relations or some

combination of the three. The next largest group, 3 (19 percent), do not

have an intermediary and report straight to the Director. Two respondents

(13 percent) report to the Director of Visitor Services and Retail and the

last 6 departments report evenly across the board to a mix of operations,

67

development, external affairs, group sales, protection services and

business affairs.

Of the 16 that do not have an autonomous visitor service department, 9

(56 percent) have a dedicated visitor service person (or people) assimilated

Assimilated visitor service at a glance visitor service staff reports to:

Director of Marketing/PR 2 23%

Director 2 22% Director of External Affairs 1 11% Director of Operations 1 11% Director of Development 1 11% Head of Public Programs 1 11% Director of Administration 1 11%

into other departments. Of those, 2 (23 percent) fall under the

Marketing/PR umbrella and 2 (22 percent) report to the Director. The

remaining 5 respondents report to a mix of external affairs, operations,

development, public programs and administration with the reporting

structure for the dedicated visitor service staff looking similar to that of

Assimilated visitor service at-a-glance Who does the staff report to?

23%

11%11%

11%

11%

11%

22%

Director of Marketing/PR

Director

Director of External Affairs

Director of Operations

Director of Development

Director of Administration

Head of Public Programs

68

museums with autonomous visitor service departments. Of the16, 44

percent do not have a dedicated visitor service point person at all and the

responsibility is shared between staff and across departments. According

to these 7 surveys, 2 respondents reported that “no one” is the visitor

service point person

at their museum

while the other 5

listed various staff

members as contacts

depending on the

issue. Visitor service point people listed include the Community Relations

Officer, Registrar, mixture of the Manager of Membership and Director of

Development, a combination of the Associate Development Director,

Store Manager, Director of Operations, and other various contacts

including development, marketing, gallery attendants, and education

(depending on issue).

Of those that don't have an autonomous visitor service department, how many have dedicated

visitor service staff?

yes56%

no44%

yesno

These findings cause me to question exactly who (and with what

intentionality) is interacting with the public if museums do not have

dedicated visitor service staff. How many of the visitor service people are

volunteer versus paid staff? Results showed that of 32 respondents, 5 (16

percent) have only volunteers as visitor service staff, 7 (22 percent) have

69

volunteers who do not interact with the public, and 15 (47 percent) have a

mix of paid and volunteer staff. The San Francisco Museum of Modern

Art explained that volunteers are “used very little for front line due to

specifics of work and union affiliation,” while the St. Louis Museum of

Art is “phasing out front-line volunteers for paid staff,” illustrating the

common communication and loyalty problems associated with using

outside staff or volunteers who may not be totally committed to the

museum.

Front-line volunteer interaction with public at a glance-

16%

47%6%

22%

9%VS staff is only volunteer

Mix of paid and volunteer

Little interaction withpublicNo interaction with public

N/A or blank

Responsibilities

In an attempt to further define what visitor service means to art

museums and to gain an understanding of the depth and breadth of the

visitor service staff responsibilities overall and on a day-to-day basis,

respondents were also asked to list the responsibilities of visitor service

staff at their museums; from the 41 various answers, eight common

70

patterns emerged. Processing ticket sales was overwhelmingly number

one, occurring 19 times (25 percent). The second most common task was

selling memberships with 13 (16 percent), followed by responding to

requests, inquiries and needs with 11 (14 percent), answering the main

switchboard with 9 (11 percent), and 8 museums (10 percent) listing

providing customer service. Another 8 (10 percent) named greeting

visitors, 6 (8 percent) attendance tracking and reporting, and 5 respondents

(7 percent) coat check. After the top eight, the clusters of answers

diminished significantly with 4 respondents listing audio tours, while

selling tickets to special events, guarding collections and scheduling the

information desk received 3 each. There were nine responsibilities named

by two respondents including visitor safety and responding to visitor

What are the responsibilities of the visitor service staff at your museum?

25%

11%

14%16%

10%

8%

6%

10%

Ticket Sales

Answer main switchboard

Respond to requests, inquiries &needsSell Memberships

Provide Customer Service

Attendance tracking/ reporting

Coat Check

Greet

71

comment cards. Visitor service responsibilities mentioned by only one

museum ranged from facility rental and retail sales to maintaining large

print labels for exhibitions and researching and reporting visitor

satisfaction. With responsibilities of this magnitude and multitude, it is

not surprising that visitor service staff often feel stretched and

unsupported.

Visitor Service Goals

While visitor service responsibilities show what staffs do on a

daily basis, visitor service goals clarify what art museums value with

regard to visitors. The number one goal was improving visitor experience,

listed by 15 of 32 respondents (40 percent). Nine museums want to

“create a pleasant, welcoming, rewarding experience (for repeat visitors

What are your current visitor service goals?

40%

16%8%

5%

8%

5%

5% 5%

8%

Improve Visitor Experience

Increase Membership

Audience Development

Accurately Record Attendance

Streamline Admissions Process

Enhance Visitor Amenities

Training

Improve Signage/Wayfinding

Misc

72

and word of mouth).” One museum specifically aims to “make visitors

feel welcome and respected,” while another aspires to “provide a safe and

pleasant environment for guests and employees.” Increasing membership

was second with 6 mentions (16 percent), involving both maintaining

existing members, and acquiring new members. Audience development,

streamlining the admissions process and training tied with 3 mentions each

(8 percent). Accurately recording attendance, enhancing visitor amenities

and improving signage each had 2 mentions (5 percent).

Visitor Service Challenges

One cannot paint an accurate picture of how visitor service

manifests itself in art museums without calling attention to the internal and

external challenges these staff members/departments face on an ongoing

What visitor service challenges does your museum currently face?

4% 4%

11%

4%

11%

6%

4%9%6%

19%

22%

Admissions/MembershipSignageEntry AreaEventsBuildingBudgetSecurityStaffingFeesInfrastructureTraining

73

basis. For example, if one of an institutional goals is to improve visitor

experience, how can that be accomplished if one of the greatest challenges

is training? Calling out discrepancies between goals and challenges will

uncover whether institutional goals are in line with museum infrastructure

or the visitor service staff is destined to fail faced with improper

expectations from upper management. When asked to list visitor service

challenges their museums currently face, respondents named training as

the biggest challenge receiving 10 mentions (22 percent). For one

respondent, this meant “conveying and enforcing museum rules and

policies in a friendly manner.” For another, from an institution where the

visitor service department is a new addition, it was frustration with

inconsistent training. Other variations on the challenge with training were

“managing visitor expectations,” “balancing needs of visitor with goals of

artist and curator,” “diffusing angry public,” “taking complaints,” and

existing amongst “high stress and fast paced ticket sales.” Infrastructure

challenges were a very close second, appearing 9 times (19 percent). One

visitor service professional feels that “leadership doesn’t understand the

value of good customer service” and “cultural change to increase customer

service will be hard.” Others referred to the “breadth of visitor service

responsibility,” the “lack of updated software” and problems with internal

communication including the lack of staff knowledge of changes within

74

the museum and the challenges (new word) that come with new

management and policies. The third major challenge, mentioned by eleven

percent focused on issues surrounding the museum’s building, such as

parking limitations, limited access due to building construction, and

maintaining standards while the main facility is renovated. Others

referred to building design issues and face problems due to museum

location. Entry area challenges—such as the location of the visitor service

desk, having two points of entry with only one manned entry station,

confusion caused by no obvious point of contact in entry—were listed by

5 museums (11 percent). Issues with staffing, mentioned by 4 respondents

(9 percent), revolved around the “lack of volunteers” and difficulty in

“finding and recruiting qualified staff.” One museum professional

expressed problems with “aging and volunteer staff,” feeling that they are

“naïve to institutional expectations” and as visitor service is a “low-paying

job, it is hard to get quality.” Respondents also listed budget and newly

instituted fees (each 6 percent) as challenges, calling attention to budget

cuts leading to staff reduction, job consolidation, and staff members

having to wear many hats. A final group of items causing visitor

dissatisfaction were the addition of fees for activities that were once free,

like special exhibitions and elimination of free day, security,

admissions/membership, events and signage (each 4 percent).

75

Training

Training is an essential component in providing excellent customer

service and creating a positive visitor experience. To this end, much like

the relationship between goals and challenges, the training that art

museum visitor service staff receives speaks to the level importance the

museum places on providing excellent customer experience and creating a

positive visitor experience. In an effort to accurately depict the many

levels and facets of training, respondents were asked to describe how the

point person for visitor service was trained for his/her position (meaning

the main visitor service contact at the museum, usually the Visitor Service

Manager, Visitor Service Director or Visitor Service Coordinator who

may or may not supervise additional visitor service staff) and how visitor

service staff and volunteers who interact with the public are trained.

Overall, art museums have no standards or system in place for

training. The majority of visitor service staff receives on-the-job training

How was the point person for visitor service at your museum trained for his/her position?

28%

25%25%

6%

3%

13% on-the-job

prior experience

combination of prior and on-the-job

by supervisor

not trained

NA

76

as no formal training is in place. Also, the frequency/duration of training

varies—some last for an hour or minutes, others last a few weeks, a few

have monthly meetings, while others meet yearly to assess their programs.

Additionally, training topics covered all over the board, ranging from

customer service to general museum info, to selling memberships, POS,

and answering phones.

Of the 32 respondents, only 2 were trained by a supervisor (or

other manager) prior to starting or were visitor service point people who

learned “on-the-job,” 9 (28 percent) had prior experience in customer

service, or learned through a combination of prior and on-the-job

experience 8 (25 percent). Respondents were also asked to describe how

their visitor service staff was trained, including who does the training,

training frequency, and what topics are covered. Ten respondents—almost

one-third (31 percent)—stated that they have no formal visitor service

Who trains new visitor service staff?

28%

3%

22%

31%

16%visitor service supervisor

other visitor service staff

staff and supervisorcombo

no formal training

other internal/external

77

training in place. One visitor service professional explained that the lack

of formal training at her institution is because “much of job is common

sense, so if you have customer service experience (which all of us do) you

can learn and improve as you go along.” Instead, she attends monthly all-

staff meetings and passes along information through a binder that staff

must sign off on and can refer back to as needed. A non-visitor service

museum professional expressed concern about the future of training at her

institution as there is no longer someone in charge of visitor service staff

and, thus, no one to train new staff. Of the responding museums that have

some sort of training, 16 (53 percent) place the responsibility of training

new staff with the visitor service point-person. For seven (22 percent) of

those museums, the training is a combination of the visitor service

supervisor and other staff. The remaining museums (19 percent) train

using a combination of internal and external resources, including other

visitor services staff, other museum staff, exhibiting artists or curators.

One museum used an outside customer service source to provide one-time

only training.

Twenty-two respondents mentioned some sort of visitor service

staff training, formal or informal. Of those, 16 (percent) have regular staff

meetings that include trainings; 10 meet more than once a week, 4 meet

monthly, and 2 meet more than once a year. One respondent described his

78

pre-exhibition meeting process: “Before each new exhibition, the artist,

curator and senior staff brief visitor service staff on the show and other

relevant information.” Another visitor service manager holds monthly

training meetings and invites a different museum department to explain

their role. Seven respondents (22 percent) have a one-time-only training,

and 5 museums (16 percent) employ shadowing of current visitor service

staff for a period ranging from a half a day to one week. At one museum,

this one-time-only training consists of the public relations staff and curator

acting out a skit on how not to handle visitors. Two museums described

comprehensive training programs that span over a length of time, with

having a “four-hour training and a one-hour audio tour” the other

schedules a “half day meeting everyone and getting a sense of what

everyone does and how it’s all connected and the other half of the day

watching and gradually moving into responsibility.”

At-a-glance Frequency of training

one time only22%

no training31%

on-going 31%

shadowing16% one time only

no training

on-going

shadowing

79

Topics included in training range from general customer service to

specifics like audio tour sales and attendance record keeping. The

accompanying chart shows the top nine, with customer service being the

most popular at 20 percent, followed closely by event and exhibition

information and general museum information, tied for second with 18

percent each. There was a significant drop in number with the next

highest percentage being policies, ranking third with 13 percent. Four

respondents mentioned membership sales, while phone etiquette and

learning the point-of-sale system each received three. Two institutions

listed ADA requirements and body language (4 percent). Overall,

volunteers who work with the public and visitor service staff have similar

responsibilities, and so volunteer training is a condensed version of full-

time and part-time visitor service staff training. Some museums

At-a-glance Topics covered in training

general museum info

18%

policies13%

phone etiquette7%

ADA4%

body language4%POS system

7%customer service

20%

events/ exhibitions

18%

membership9%

customer service

general museum info

policies

events/exhibitions

membership

phone etiquette

POS system

ADA

body language

80

mentioned self-training where gallery guides/greeters familiarize

themselves with exhibits and material and study museum collateral. At

MCA Chicago, volunteers “attended training seminars offered by AAM,

Hyatt Hotels and Disney Institute. Whenever possible, employees are

promoted within the institution so the supervisors themselves have worked

in all the positions they oversee.”

Volunteers and Security:

Role of Other Front-Line Staff in Relation to Visitors

Visitor service refers to how the visitors are serviced which covers

any visitor/museum interaction. Paid visitor service staff is just one

element of visitor service. What role do volunteers and security play in

relation to visitors? The majority of volunteer interaction falls under the

customer service umbrella, with 17(38 percent). Volunteer interaction with

the public is limited to specific areas. Three museums (7 percent) rely on

volunteers for special events only and at 10 museums (23 percent)

volunteers play a docent role and lead tours and are trained accordingly by

the education department. Security officers also play a role in customer

service. Though only 5 museums (17 percent) listed customer service as a

main function of volunteers, 68 percent of respondents noted that,

although security is their primary responsibility, security officers also

81

What role do volunteers play in relationship to your visitors?

Sell memberships

7%

Museum shop11%

Little to none7%

Lead tours23%

Special Events7%

Audio tours5%

None2%

Customer Service

38%

Customer Service Lead toursMuseum shopLittle to noneSell membershipsSpecial EventsAudio toursNone

respond to visitor questions and needs. At 10 percent of responding

museums, the role of security is not traditional. For example, at one

museum the Visitor Service Specialist and Visitor Service Representative

are also protection officers when not at admissions desk. At the Palm

Springs Desert Museum visitor service staff are called Visitor Service

Officers and serve two functions: to provide security and to function as

customer service representatives. At two museums, security officers work

the information desk (3 percent) and cashier (3 percent).

At the same time that some museums are demonstrating an

expanding visitor service role for security, many museums are still

plagued with the negative security association. One respondent noted that

they regularly receive complaints about guards following visitors. Another

museum is challenged with attempting to erase negative connotations of

security. Three museums responded that security works closely with

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visitor service staff and are essential to the museums success. At such

places, security officers are given the information to help visitors and

participate in walk-throughs with curators prior to exhibition openings.

Still, one museum feels that “the division of visitor service from

membership and security creates challenges [for us]. [We] did not fit

anywhere perfectly within the organizational structure because [we]

integrate so many different disciplines.”74

Visitor Service Resources

“In my opinion, there is little information on visitor service for museums—the most important position.” -- Heather Haywood, Deputy Director of Marketing, Arkansas Art Center

A complete picture of visitor service would not be complete

without understanding what resources visitor service professionals utilize

and their awareness of model visitor service programs in the museum

field. When asked whether they know of any current model visitor service

programs at other art museums, the majority of respondents 25 (78

percent) could not name any. The seven museums that were aware of a

model listed the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Getty,

Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Walker, and Museum of Contemporary

74 See Appendix C Survey Data Extended Quotes

83

Which literature, if any, do you consult for visitor service information?

Customer service

14%

Internet14%

Local 14%

Other14%

Museum associations

34%

Museum books10%

Museum books

Customer service

Internet

Local

Other

Museum associations

Art Chicago. The St. Louis Museum of Art was named twice and one

respondent named The Strong Museum, a children’s museum in Rochester

New York. When asked which literature they consult for visitor service

information, 18 respondents (56 percent) noted that they do not consult

literature for their positions or they are not aware of any. Of the 14 that

listed literature, 3 (14 percent) rely on local and statewide information, 3

(14 percent) use the Internet, and 2 (10 percent) refer to various

books about the museum experience including The Good Guide: A Source

Book for Interpreters, Docents & Tour Guides. Customer service

literature serves as a resource for 3 respondents (14 percent). Greg Harris,

Chair of the AAM Visitor Service Professional Interest Committee and

Visitor Service Manager at the St. Louis Art Museum, likes to use the

book Customer Service for Dummies when he leads training programs.

Seven (34 percent) use various literature by museum professional

84

associations including Visitor Service Manual published by AAM and the

Visitor Studies Association. Other literature mentioned includes The

Experience Economy, which the Palm Springs Desert Museum used to

create its entire visitor service program. Similarly, when asked which

visitor services resources (i.e. books, websites, seminars) museum

professionals found helpful, 16 (50 percent) felt that there are not any

helpful resources or are not aware of any. The resources listed include

information from Disney, the hospitality industry, AAM, VSA, VSMUS

listserv, AAM Visitor Service Manual, Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Fund

reports and the website museummarketingtips.com. Greg Harris noted,

“There are zillions-- most of which are not good.”75

Visitor Service Needs

When museum professionals were also asked which resources, a

compilation of visitor services resources, guidelines for establishing a

visitor service plan, or a matrix of examples from the field they would find

most useful, the plurality, 46 percent, would like a compilation of visitor

services resources, while guidelines for establishing a visitor service plan

and a matrix of examples from the field tied for second with 27 percent.

Some respondents expressed general interest, one saying, “I personally

75 See Appendix C Survey Data Extended Quotes

85

As a museum professional, which of the following would you find most useful?

02468

101214

Compilation ofVS Resources

Guidelines forestablishing VS

plan

Matrix of VSexamples

As a museumprofessional, which ofthe following would youfind most useful?

would find information regarding other visitor service programs, their

training methods and policies most helpful. I would also be interested to

see how other institutions were able to make the conversion, how difficult

it was, and whether or not the conversion has been deemed a success.”76

Another professional wrote that she would “like to know if other museums

have the same challenges [her museum] does (i.e., people not wanting to

pay admission) and if so, how they deal with it.”77

In addition to the questions posed, museum professionals expressed

the importance of visitor service and the struggles they face within their

institutions. For example, one respondent is frustrated with the lack of

importance the institution places on visitor service, lamenting, “we are

part of retail and visitor services, but we are truly on our own, the bastard

department that gets bounced around. We used to be part of external

86

76 See Appendix C Survey Data Extended Quotes 77 Ibid.

affairs.” Another museum wrote, “the visitor service department is really

the ‘back bone’ of the whole museum’s operation- we are largely

responsible for the visitor’s experience at the museum (we can make it

positive or negative).” It took a blockbuster exhibition to make one

institution take notice of the importance of visitor service: “the department

was largely an afterthought until we had some blockbuster shows. At that

time the museum realized it needed to focus on the visitor experience as

well as the art.”78 One respondent explained her visitor service

institutional philosophy in these terms, “we simply treat people with

respect, and we try to make them feel welcome and comfortable. A little

boy, about four, told me that he likes to come to my “house.” That’s what

its all about!” This genuine reflection expresses the essence visitor service.

Interviews

Ten interviews were conducted for this project to provide concrete

answers to questions: what is visitor service, what issues and challenges

exist in the visitor service areas, what strategies and approaches do

museums use, and what can be learned from experience with visitor

service? The interviews were conducted over the phone and in–person,

when possible. Interviews were completed with art museum professionals

78 Ibid.

87

at the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA), The Des Moines Art Center

(DMAC) and the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA). In addition,

interviews were held with visitor service managers at the St. Louis Art

Museum (SLAM), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

and the Guggenheim. In-depth interviews with three museum consultants

and customer service experts occurred—Kathleen Brown, Will Phillips,

and Holly Stiel. Upon recommendations from these interviews, the Strong

Museum, an inter-disciplinary museum in Rochester NY, was identified as

having a model visitor service program and an interview was held with the

programs’ creator, Kathleen Dengler.

The background interviews provided insight into how visitor

services manifests itself in various art museums. Each interviewee

discussed how his/her museum incorporates visitor services into its

culture, addressing whether there is a separate department or just one

person responsible and what visitor service challenges their institution

faces. Deb Norberg, Deputy Director at SJMA, explained that her

museum struggles with the idea of visitor service and that the museum did

have a visitor service position a few years ago, and for many reasons

including budget, the responsibilities were folded into other positions. At

this time, they are thinking of resurrecting a bigger and better approach,

but are stuck trying to flush it out, asking “What does a successful Visitor

88

Services model look like and how can we create it here at our museum?”

Possibilities include having the security officers become floor docents,

training them in both security and exhibition information. Deb and others

want the SJMA gallery experience to be positive, aiming to turn the

typical “do not touch” security officer attitude into an approach that makes

art accessible to visitors and empowers the security officers. The Museum

staff has ideas about what visitor services can become at SJMA, and they

are open and excited to see how other museums are creating and

implementing visitor service programs and discovering what techniques

work.

Jennifer Cooley, Museum Educator at DMAC discussed the idea of

visitor service at her institution. Because DMAC is a smaller organization

with 30 full-time and 15 part-time employees, visitor service is not a

department but instead it consists of a staffed information desk at the

entrance where people can ask questions and give comments. The

Marketing and Development Departments oversee the info desk. The

docent staffing the front desk is a sounding board and liaison to each

department, despite lack of hierarchy achieved within the organization.

The security officers at DMAC are an internal force and take part in the

docent training program. Jennifer also stated that both employees and

visitors alike feel that the DMAC staff is incredibly friendly to each other

89

and to the public, and is knowledgeable, friendly and willing to help. As

they have just opened a downtown gallery that does not yet have an info

desk, she was curious how admissions fees (or lack of them) affect

visitor/customer service at other institutions. At the time of the interview,

DMAC was considering creating a special training for security officers

rather than having them participate in the docent program as the officers

only attend the lectures and are not asked to do the docent assignments.

Jennifer would also like to see some sort of “How to…” guide, modeling

the best practices and approaches to setting up Visitor Service.

At the San Diego Museum of Art, Visitor Service Manager Neda

Asgharzadeh reports to the Marketing/PR Department. Neda said that the

creation of visitor services grew out of the museum’s needs. Based on her

experience, being placed within the Marketing Department helps with

communication, such as intercepting potential misprints and staffing

problems at events. She works closely with the other departments and is a

voice for the visitor at the main exhibition planning meetings. As visitor

service staff training is also a challenge, she would like to formulate an in-

house training program, but struggles with scheduling everyone so they

can participate in the trainings. Currently, her staff of two full-time and

three part-time employees communicate via email and memos. She would

like to see Visitor Services become a bigger topic at museum conventions

90

like AAM’s and is also interested in the role that Human Resources plays

in the museum. Neda would also like to be in contact with a large group

of visitor services professionals and see how they address common issues

of training, hiring, motivating, staff recognition.

Museum and non-museum professionals were interviewed to

provide a narrative compliment to the surveys. Art museum interviewees

include Greg Harris, Visitor Service Manager at the St. Louis Museum of

Art and Chair of the AAM Visitor Service Professional Interest

Committee; John O’Neill, Visitor Service Manager, SFMOMA; and

Yseult Tyler, Manager of Visitor Services, Guggenheim. These

interviews provided first-hand insight from various perspectives into

visitor service at each museum and uncovered additional realities,

challenges and needs in the field. In addition to answering survey

questions, these art museum visitor service professionals offered candid

examples of visitor service at their particular institution and expressed a

desire for the museum field to make visitor services a higher priority.

I spoke with third-party customer care consultants who discussed

current visitor service successes, struggles and strategies in art museums,

in the museum field and in the marketplace in general. Consultants offered

suggestions and potential resources that will help to bridge the gap

between the museum field and successful strategies existing in other

91

industries. Consultants, chosen based upon recommendations from

museum professionals with positive, first-hand experience working with

them, included Kathleen Brown, Principal of Atelier Kathleen Brown a

planning and management firm for private, commercial, non-profit, and

public institutions to define and design progressive solutions; Will Philips,

founder of Qm² -Quality Management to a Higher Power, which provides

management consulting to for-profit and non-profit businesses (including

museums) and several long term change projects; and Holly Stiel, founder

of Thank You Very Much, Inc., which teaches the art of customer service.

From these interviews, four potential visitor service resources for art

museums emerged: Corporate/Retail Customer Service, the Entertainment

Industry, the Hospitality Industry, and Children’s Museums and Science

Centers.

Site Visits

In addition to the surveys and interviews, three site-visits were

conducted: The J. Paul Getty Museum (Getty), the Museum of

Contemporary Art, Chicago (MCA), and the Portland Art Museum

(PAM). These visits provided an opportunity to experience first-hand

visitor service in art museums. Using an assessment instrument developed

92

by Kathleen Brown, each visit was analyzed according to the following

criteria:

Arrival Sequence- directions, road signage, location, parking, building signage and appearance, sense of arrival, orientation, reception and ticketing and wayfinding

Amenities- restrooms, coat/parcel check, seating, ambiance, food service and gift store

Personnel- interaction with front-line staff with visitors and each other

Experiences and Content- access to content, look and feel, relevance to audience

J. Paul Getty Museum

Opening to the public in 1997, the J. Paul Getty Museum at the

Getty Center, located in the Los Angeles hills above Highway 101, houses

European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts,

decorative arts, and European and American photographs. The Museum's

goal is to make the collection meaningful and attractive to a broad

audience by presenting and interpreting the collection through educational

programs, special exhibitions, publications, conservation, and research.

The Getty site visit took place on the afternoon of Thursday, May

13, 2004. Prior to arriving, signs lead visitors to the parking garage from

the outlying streets. There was even an electronic sign on the street to let

you know ahead of time whether the lots were full or closed. Upon

93

entering the parking area, one is greeted by an attendant helping the flow

of traffic by guiding cars toward open lanes alongside the parking

attendant booth. At the booth, we paid five dollars for parking to a

smiling gentleman and, in exchange, received a note that encourages

visitors to leave in their cars any bags or packages that they will not need

during their visit. After parking, we followed signs toward the tram that

took us up the hill to the Getty Center. Exiting the tram we were met by

two friendly volunteers in blue vests with nametags who were greeting,

handing out maps and brochures, answering questions and pointing the

way toward the museum entrance.79 Wooden kiosks with extra maps and

brochures supported the greeters as they attempted to greet and orient

numerous groups at once.80 Following the fingers of the volunteer and the

clear directional signage, we arrived at the Museum entrance building.

Once inside, there is a circular information desk staffed by four very busy

and smiling people; Getty admission is free. The outer edge of the desk is

lined with maps and guides available in large print, Braille and multiple

languages including Russian, Korean, French and Chinese.81 To the left of

the circular information desk, against the wall, is a large “Today at the

79 See Appendix D Arrival Sequence 80 Ibid. 81 Ibid.

94

Getty” orientation sign82 with three panels: an aerial view site map with

collection images denoting location, a list of tours and programs offered

daily, and another aerial map denoting the location of specific exhibitions.

The Getty site is made up of multiple buildings, each devoted to a specific

genre of art. Wayfinding was made easy by the numerous kiosks placed

throughout the interior and exterior of each building. Each kiosk presents

an aerial view of the building floorplan, color-coded according to

genre/theme (sculpture=blue, decorative arts=pink, illuminated

manuscripts=green, education=yellow), and include signature images from

the collection.

The amenities provided by the Getty in the entry area include

restrooms, a coat and parcel check, seating and ATM all in close

proximity to each other and all with both visuals and text to denote.

Restrooms, the restaurant and café along with smaller snack kiosks were

available throughout the site and, again are denoted with both text and

images. Ample seating is available both inside in the form of comfortable

couches placed in the center of each gallery and outside one can find

benches, tables, chairs, and parasols are strategically placed for one to

enjoy the view. The gift store was certainly representative of the Getty’s

eclectic collection and was extremely popular, crowded and cramped.

82 Ibid.

95

Getty personnel were very friendly and helpful, from the first

interactions with the parking attendants to food service and store staff.

We were met with smiles from behind-the-scenes staff who happened to

be riding in the elevator with us (they had staff badges and exited on the

staff floor). After interacting with the tram greeters and collecting

information from the smiling information desk staff, we were approached

by yet another volunteer who noticed is staring at a map and asked us if

we needed help. Though the store was chaotic, the store staff was

organized and pleasant, apologizing for the wait and thanking people for

their patience. There was a security staff presence, though they attempted

to remain in the corners of the galleries. Dressed in black coats, gray

pants, white shirts and ties they kept to themselves and occasionally

communicated via their radios. One security officer thanked us for visiting

as we were exiting a gallery.

The Getty is attentive toward experiences and content. In an effort

to make its collection and information about it available to visitors,

computer kiosks were placed outside of each gallery along with earphones

and there is a separate computer room with a number of computers and

comfortable seating areas for groups of visitors to search the collection

and email information. The special exhibitions had beautifully printed

collateral materials while the permanent collection areas offered Art Cards

96

providing an in-depth look into certain genres and works of art. These

large format Art Cards were housed in special slots alongside the seating

in each gallery. In addition to the content provided inside the galleries,

they took advantage of other information sharing opportunities. When

looking at the view from the verandas, visitors find a guide placed along

the rail that explains what they are looking at, denoting different

neighborhoods and places of interest. When one is at one of the many

snack carts one will find a framed five-day forecast printed from the web

and placed on the countertop with a horoscope placed next to it.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) offers

exhibitions of the most thought-provoking art created since 1945 and

documents contemporary visual culture through painting, sculpture,

photography, video and film, and performance. Opening to the public in

1967 and located in a new building near the historic Water Tower in the

heart of downtown Chicago, MCA boasts a gift store, bookstore,

restaurant, 300-seat theater, and a terraced sculpture garden with a view of

Lake Michigan. Its mission is to be an innovative and compelling center of

contemporary art where the public can directly experience the work and

97

ideas of living artists, and understand the historical, social, and cultural

context of the art of our time.

My MCA site visit took place around lunchtime on Thursday,

June 3, 2004. Street signage led to the building, which was clearly marked

and easy to find. There were two entrances, lower and upper.83 The lower

entrance was marked as an education entrance with a performance area

inside.84 The upper entrance was the main entrance, although you could

enter from either door. I walked up the stairs, and noticed that there was

general information about the museum (costs, hours, rules and

expectations) screened on the large windowed façade.85 I entered and was

greeted by a friendly woman at the admissions desk. General museum and

exhibition information and images were appropriately placed on the wall

behind the admissions desk.86 The woman behind the desk asked if I

wanted admission. She gave me a button to wear on my clothes (and at the

end of my visit I could recycle it) and informed me that Galleries 1 and 2

were closed for reinstallation, but 3 and 4 were open and the best way to

get to there was from the elevator to my right and, noting my heavy coat,

directed me to coat check and told me where the restrooms were. The

wayfinding signage was clear and consistent. Maps and information were 83 See Appendix E Arrival Sequence 84 Ibid. 85 Ibid. 86 Ibid.

98

available on each floor by the elevators.87 I was able to navigate space

with ease following the lead of red, black and white signs.

The amenities were also easy to find and use. I handed over my

coat to two very pleasant volunteers and received a claim ticket. In front of

coat check was a sign that read, “Please do not tip. Service is

complimentary.” The restrooms were clearly marked with signs including

visuals and text. They were clean and abundant.88 Seating on plush black

leather chairs was available on each floor outside the elevators on each

floor.89 There was a popular café and a large gift store, both easy to find.

Interaction with front-line staff was an incredibly enjoyable

experience—from admissions, to coat check, security, and the museum

store—all were friendly and helpful, going out of their way to make sure

that my needs were met. For example, I was purchasing some postcards

and the store clerk told me about similar postcards that were on sale that I

had missed. Security, diverse in age and ethnicity, were in the galleries,

but were not as intimidating dressed in black pants and beige shirts that

read “FEAR NO ART” on the front with a security logo on back. Security

was friendly, and roamed the gallery looking at art but did not talk unless

spoken to.

87 Ibid. 88 See Appendix E Amenities 89 Ibid.

99

The experience and content were accessible and enjoyable. As

someone who is intimidated by contemporary art, MCA definitely had the

opportunity to scare me away. Instead, I felt comfortable from the start

and was at ease in the populated galleries. Much like the Getty, the

consistent look and feel of the signage (black denoting the floor you are

on, white for other floors, with red triangles directing)90 made it easy to

read and utilize.

Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum (PAM), the oldest art museum in the

Pacific Northwest, came into existence in the last days of 1892. Today,

The Museum’s collection includes works of European painting and

sculpture, American painting and sculpture, English silver, Asian, Native

American, Pre-Columbian art, African and contemporary western art,

sculpture, prints and drawings, and photography. PAM’s mission is to

serve the public by providing access to art of enduring quality, by

educating a diverse audience about art and by collecting and preserving a

wide range of art for the enrichment of present and future generations.

On the afternoon of Saturday, May 22, 2004 I visited the Portland

Art Museum. Although I was dropped off near the building, I couldn’t

90 See Appendix E Arrival Sequence

100

find the entrance. One building was under construction surrounded by a

chain link fence. While searching for the entrance I found a paid parking

lot for the museum and noted metered street parking in the surrounding

area. Hidden amongst the construction were signs with images about the

wing under construction91 and one sign with an arrow pointing toward the

museum entrance.92 Once I found the entrance area, it was unclear as to

which of the four doors was the entry. Other visitors appeared to be

confused as well. I finally chose the door with handles and walked in.

Once inside, stanchions immediately greeted me to my right marking

some type of line leading to a PAM staff person. On my left was another

desk staffed by another PAM employee. After observing other visitors, I

decided on the line to my right. While in line, another PAM staff person

was calling members out to spare them the line in addition to handing out

membership information. That same staff person was also informing those

of us in line that maps and brochures were available at the admissions

desk. At the admissions desk, where general admission is fifteen dollars,

we were handed maps and off we went. PAM’s confusing layout coupled

with a lack of directional signs or wayfinding guides, caused me to get lost

many times.

91 See Appendix F Arrival Sequence 92 Ibid.

101

Restrooms, coat and parcel check, and light seating were available,

along with a café and well-stocked store. Unfortunately, lack of signage

made them difficult if not impossible to find. The restrooms were small

and limited in number, but clean.93

I noted limited interaction with front-line staff and learned that

admissions desk is staff, not volunteer. Volunteers were responsible for

coat-check and were stationed throughout galleries wearing black and

white. The admissions staff member was friendly and knowledge about

membership. There was also a definite security presence in the galleries.

They were clothed in suits and were conversing with each other

throughout the crowded galleries. One officer directed a gentleman and

baby changing area.

Experiences and content were limited. Audio guides available,

along with brochures about the special exhibition providing some detail,

as the labels were simple, usually only listing the artist and year. Also

missing were label translations and large print and Braille alternatives.

93 Ibid.

102

Model Visitor Services Identified

In-depth research, surveys, interviews, and site-visits provided a

360-degree overview of visitor service in art museums. While research

espoused the theoretical “why”, surveys illustrated that theory does not

always translate into a tangible “how.” Interviews created the narrative,

illuminating real situations and struggles museum professionals face, and

site visits provided first-hand experience, presenting divergent kinds of

experiences. While processing this multitude of information, two clear

models of visitor service emerged due to their progressive thoughts on

security, service philosophy supported by the institution and steeped/fused

into institutional culture, dedicated service staff with training: The Palm

Springs Desert Museum and The MCA.

Model Visitor Service: The Palm Springs Desert Museum

Founded in 1938, the Palm Springs Desert Museum is an

educational institution that promotes a greater understanding of art and

performing arts through collections, exhibitions and programs. The

Museum's permanent art collection features 19th, 20th, and 21st century

works focusing on contemporary California art, classic western American

art, Native American art; Pre-Columbian art, Mexican art, and European

103

modern art; glass studio art, American mid-twentieth century architecture,

and American photography.

What distinguishes Palm Springs’ visitor services? For one, Visitor

Service Officers (VSO’s) are a hybrid of security and customer service.

Executive Director, Dr. Janice Lyle who was inspired by James Gilmore

and B. Joseph Pine II’s The Experience Economy, initiated the move

toward a visitor services program at the Palm Springs Desert Museum.

This book is the basis of their program and influences how Visitor Service

Officer's interact with the public.

The museum brought security, which had previously been

outsourced, inside and invited security staff to be part of their new service

philosophy. The transition from security to visitor services was not easy.

The ones who struggled most with the change were either long time

employees or those who had prior security experience. The concept of a

kinder, gentler approach to the job was something that previous security

officers simply could not relate to. The ones who adapted the best were

those who had no previous security experience at all. At the time of this

project, there is a staff of 13, and only three of those are three officers that

were employed prior to the switch over to the visitor services program,

which took place in 1999. And only one of those 13 has any prior security

experience at all. The youngest officer is 18 and the oldest is 73, with the

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rest ranging in age from their 20s to their 50s. The visitor services

department is autonomous with the Visitor Services Manager (VSM)

supervising the VSOs. The department falls within the Operations

Division of the museum, with VSM reporting directly to the Director of

Operations.

The main goal of their visitor services department is to continue to

provide a safe and pleasant environment for guests and employees alike.

Visitor services staff serves two functions: security and safety of the art

and visitors and customer service. VSO’s primarily provide security for

the museum, protect the collection, ensure the safety of both visitors and

staff, and respond to medical emergencies within the museum. To this

end, all officers are required to be first aid and CPR certified which the

American Red Cross does on site.

Secondly, VSO’s function as customer service representatives for

the museum. After a visitor purchases a ticket, VSO's are usually the first

people he/she comes into contact with. Visitor service staff set the tone

for the museum visitor experience by welcoming, explaining the museum

and the collection, and answering any questions that they may have.

VSO's are encouraged to learn about the artwork in the museum so that

they may give informed answers to visitors in the absence of docents.

Officers are to be courteous and helpful as possible but to not initiate

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conversations with visitors. If they become involved in conversation with

a visitor, they are to keep the conversation to a minimum.

The largest challenge faced by Palm Springs is trying to erase the

negative connotations that come with anything labeled "security". That

was one of the reasons why they established a visitor services program. In

an attempt to change the face of security, they eliminated the standard

"navy blazer, gray pants, and tie" uniform and instead went with more

subdued attire consisting of khaki pants and polo shirts. The VSO’s are

encouraged to engage visitors, not stand aloofly against a wall and ignore

their questions. Again, this has been a somewhat difficult transition for

both the staff and even visitors.

Visitor service officers go through extensive training when they

are hired. For the first week of their employment, he/she is personally

trained by the VSM in regards to the job and the policies and procedures

of the museum. The second week he/she trains with another VSO,

observing the VSO in action. At no time in the first two weeks will the

trainee be on the floor without supervision. When the VSM feels

comfortable that the new hire has a good enough grasp of their

responsibilities, he/she are scheduled to begin working rotations in the

museum on his/her own. The VSM holds twice-monthly meetings with

the staff to cover policy and procedure matters, constantly reinforcing

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what the goals of the department are. The VSM also regularly gives The

VSO’s written tests to gauge their observation skills as well their

understanding of the functioning of the museum itself. In the summer of

2003, they instituted a program in which the VSO's spent a half hour or

more with staff members from other museum departments, including the

Executive Director so that VSO’s will have a better understanding of the

various positions and responsibilities throughout the museum.

Model Visitor Service: The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Much like the Palm Springs Desert Museum, The Museum of

Contemporary Art Chicago emerged as a model program because of its

service philosophy and advanced thinking on the role of visitor service in

an art museum. Though visitor service staff does not simultaneously act as

gallery security as in Palm Springs, both museums share many of the same

ideas about the role of customer service, the importance of training, and

the image of the security officer.

MCA Chicago trains staff and provides them with the resources to

act like a concierge at a hotel and assist visitors with all requests

regardless or not they pertain to the museum. They will recommend

restaurants, blues clubs, etc. and assist visitors with directions,

reservations or whatever they need. MCA’s policy is never answer a

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question with “I don’t know” but instead “Let me find out.” MCA

empowers the visitor services staff to give refunds and make decisions

concerning customer satisfaction so that problems are resolved quickly

without escalation. Visitors who write comments receive personalized

written responses and all visitor comments (received via comment card,

website and phone) are reported to the entire museum staff weekly so that

everyone who works at the museum remains focused on issues of concern

to our visitors.

At the time of this project, the visitor services staff includes the

Director of Visitor Service, Assistant Director of Visitor Services, Box

Office Manager, Assistant Box Office Manager, three part-time box office

associates, four visitor service associates, and eight coast room attendants.

Visitor services staff are responsible for customer service and information,

admission sales, on-site membership sales and member’s services, box

office sales (performance programs, lectures, adult and children’s

education classes), coat rooms, lost and found, visitor comment card and

website comment responses and follow-up, tracking and reporting

attendance, and the automated attendant for the telephone system.

Their current goal is to improve the departmental customer satisfaction

rating on visitor surveys, increase on-site membership sales and member

retention, and reduce discressionary admissions, although they

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consistently maintained an excellent customer satisfaction rating and

would like to think that their program serves as a model for other

museums.

Supervisors train the visitor service staff one-on-one when they are

hired. They are given a procedure manual, a customer service manual and

a training checklist, all of which help to ensure training consistency.

Training includes use of computerized ticketing system, cash handling

procedures, membership sales and techniques, customer service and

etiquette for interacting with visitors with disabilities. In addition, staff is

encouraged to attend training seminars by AAM, Hyatt Hotels and the

Disney Institute.

As discussed in the site visit portion of this project, at MCA

Chicago, the primary role of security officers is the protection of art and

public safety. The security officers are instructed on the basics of customer

service but are directed to refer visitors with detailed questions to the

admissions desk for assistance. Their casual and apropos “FEAR NO

ART” t-shirts are the success story to many failed experimentations with

security dress. In addition to visitor services, staff and security, visitor

service volunteers act as greeters who welcome visitors as they enter the

museum and assist the visitor service staff working at desks by answering

general information and directional questions.

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General Conclusions

Several general conclusions were reached based on the findings of

this project. Clearly the museum field does not have a clear picture of

what visitor service is. This is evident in the multiple responsibilities

visitor service staff must accomplish daily. On a given day visitor service

staff are faced with both visitor and museum expectations, which many

times in conflict with each other. At the same time, the visitor service

staff, if the museum has any, is suffering from an identity complex. Both

visitor service departments and visitor service staff live in several

departments, report to numerous people, and have various titles. These

multiple expectations have consequences, often manifesting themselves in

both the lowering of staff morale and negative visitor interactions, which

in turn, cause negative visitor experiences that spread quickly via word-of-

mouth.

Interestingly, while the majority of museums want to improve

visitors’ experiences, and training is appearing, most have one-time

training-only, not the on-going training that will empower staff and allow

them to be successful and handle situations in a positive manner. Training

is obviously a linchpin in visitor service as it appeared in responsibilities,

challenges and goals. Ironically, those that listed training as essential were

not trained themselves and is evident in the overwhelming reliance on on-

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the-job training and on previous customer service experience! Only two

Visitor Service Managers were actually trained by someone prior to

starting, one by the outgoing manger and the other by the museum

director.

These findings also demonstrate that not many visitor service

resources exist—and if they do, visitor service point people in museums

do not know about them. Overall, respondents were not aware of

successful visitor service models and could not name helpful resources.

Instead of looking to the museum field for answers (other than a few who

mentioned AAM), many museums rely on local tourist and visitor

information. In addition, museum professionals are looking to customer

service for guidance, with many visitor service point-people relying on

their previous customer service experience. Given this depth, it is not

surprising that visitor service professionals want resources, models and

standards. Overall, museum professionals expressed an interest in learning

about what other museums are doing and discovering something that may

help them. From this survey, it was also clear that visitor service

professionals care about their jobs but are widely frustrated with the

museum infrastructure, feeling that management doesn’t see them as

important. Signs of this include lack of internal resources and improper

staffing. With few exceptions, security remains an untapped visitor service

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resource. Despite their prime positioning on the front lines, security

officers are only trained to interact with the public in a narrow range of

ways. Even though they are charged with protecting the art, the majority

of museums recognize that security officers play an important role in

customer service by responding to visitor questions and needs. If this is

the case, officers should participate in museum training so they are

informed and empowered. The need to erase negative connotations of

security officers was mentioned more than once in this project by

respondents to my survey. This expanded role of security is currently

being recognized by a few museums including The Palm Springs Desert

Museum, The Portland Museum of Art, and The Des Moines Art Center.

In addition museums are including security in exhibition walk-throughs

and providing guards with information so they are equipped to answer

questions.

Overall, it is evident that art museums are struggling with trying to

find their visitor service identity. There is a disparity between goals and

responsibilities, often resulting from an institutional infrastructure that

doesn’t yet see how visitor service is a prerequisite to being (or becoming)

a truly visitor-centered institution. If art museums choose not to pay

attention to the public, their attendance will decline and so will revenue

and funding. If art museums value serving the public and fulfilling their

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missions, they cannot turn a blind eye to visitors, or visitor service. To do

this, museum professionals must be educated in the positive effects and

practical strategies of successful visitor service. Only then will their

consciousness be raised and they will aspire to become truly visitor-

centered.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

To achieve long-term viability, art museums must recognize that

their success is directly tied to the satisfaction of their customers. The

importance of the visitor is hardly a new idea. It is, however, one that has

traditionally taken second place to the museum collection. Today,

museums that used to be known for their collections are now developing

reputations as places to visit because of the way they treat visitors, with

museum staff dedicated to making people feel welcome and wanted.

Given that attention, or inattention, to visitors and their needs has a

demonstrable effect on the museum’s bottom line and the ability to fulfill

an educational and access-driven mission, the importance of a visitor-

centered approach cannot be underestimated.

The recommendations below represent the best practices for visitor

service in art museums distilled from the findings of this project. These

recommendations are addressed to art museum directors and senior art

museum staff responsible for the management of their institutions as well

as those specifically responsible for visitor-related services.

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FOR MUSEUM DIRECTORS AND SENIOR MUSEUM STAFF:

1. Infuse visitor service into institutional philosophy and culture

The recent shift in the museum field’s priorities from collections to

visitors requires art museums to re-examine their institutional philosophy,

changing their focus from protecting art to preserving the visitor

experience. This paradigm shift has prompted museums to craft

completely new mission statements and vision statements. One critical

finding of this research is that a significant number of museums do not

have a clear understanding of, and cannot articulate, what visitor service

is. Furthermore, visitor service staff are frustrated by the lack of

institutional support.

To create a successful visitor experience and become truly visitor-

centered, the art museum must weave visitor service into its institutional

philosophy. For this cultural shift to be successful, it must be developed

foundationally, reflecting the importance of the visitor and visitor service

in the institution’s mission, vision, values and purpose. This structural

commitment demonstrates that the museum takes visitor service seriously.

It is essential that leadership and management be involved in customer

service training; leaders must lead by example. However, service to

visitors should be everyone’s job—from frontline staff to those supporting

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the institution behind the scenes. The commitment to service must be both

top down and bottom up, garnering institution-wide support. Museum

leaders need to start by understanding what their museum can be,

communicate that vision to museum staff and work together to achieve it.

If done effectively, this attitude toward visitor service will translate to staff

members and become engrained in the institutional culture—and the

museum will present itself as an institution that cares about visitors.

2. Reflect commitment to visitor service in the museum’s organizational structure

Visitor-centered museums must designate an organizational

structure to reflect and ensure visitor emphasis. Visitor service, like

education, development, and curatorial plays an invaluable role in the

sustainability of the museum and deserves the status and voice that the

other enjoy. Organizational structures reveal a lot about an institution and

its priorities and giving visitor service equal status to that of other

departments ensures that an audience voice is present when important

decisions are made. By extension, providing credibility to the idea of

visitor service and granting the visitor service staff an equal position in the

museum’s departmental hierarchy illustrates the museum’s commitment to

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the visitor and shows museum staff that the museum is serious about

visitor service.

The findings of this project revealed that without having internal

support, visitor service staff feel unwelcome and unappreciated. This

frustration will in turn manifest itself in the way visitors are treated

Numerous visitor service staff from museums participating in this study

confessed to feeling that their institution doesn’t understand the

importance of visitor service, which is evident in both the lack of support

from the museum in general and the way the visitor service staff is

shuffled from department to department with no real home of their own.

This illustrates one of the major repercussions of not positioning visitor

service as equal to other valued museum departments.

3. Include visitor service in long-term strategic planning

A visitor-centered museum incorporates the audience into future plans.

This involves getting to know one’s audience and improving the quality of

one’s offerings, including facilities, amenities, programs, and service.

Successful institutions include visitor service goals and objectives in their

long-range plans in an effort to develop and maintain a service culture,

much like what has been established at both the Palm Springs Desert

Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. However, a

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considerable number of institutions do not understand the connection

between visitor service and audience development, as was evident in the

disparity between the day-to-day task-driven responsibilities of visitor

service staff concerned with selling tickets and memberships versus the

visionary visitor service goal of improving the visitor experience. This

clear disconnect between reality and aspiration demonstrates what happens

when staff is left without a plan and is forced to be reactive instead of

proactive.

FOR VISITOR SERVICE MANAGERS:

1. Create standards of service and train all staff to those standards

Museums undertaking a pervasive visitor service initiative need to

create standards of service that balance the needs of the museum and the

expectations of the visitor. Setting standards and holding staff

accountable for their actions creates an institutional culture that is open to

self-assessment, values learning and improvement. Once those standards

are established, the museum must train all staff to those standards. It is

also important to consider the personalities of the people hired for front-

line work. Customer service experts agree that it is more important to

choose staff with outgoing personalities and excellent attitudes and train

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them in the methods of customer service, than it is to try and change their

personality and attitude.

Although training is an essential component of any successful

organization, it is often overlooked when it comes to visitor service. Not

only did the findings illuminate the lack of training received by front-line

staff interacting with the public, what trainings are offered seemed to be a

one-time-only event covering topics haphazardly instead of in-depth or

holistically. Imperative to any museum’s success is comprehensive

training for all staff members on customer service issues including topics

relevant to their particular museum and audience, diversity training, and

how to handle various situations like upset customers or emergencies. In

addition, museums should institute on-going, all-staff training which

continues to educate everyone on internal issues, departmental

responsibilities, exhibitions and programs, and visitor satisfaction

feedback. Such knowledge will empower all museum workers—from

volunteers, security officers and visitor service staff to educators, curators,

marketing and development—to be successful. After all, front-line

employees are not the only museum staff members that interact with the

public. Customer service training will teach staff to communicate

positives, not negatives. For example, instead of security officers or other

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front-line staff saying “no,” “do not,” or “I cannot,” train them to make it a

“You can” or “I can” experience.

Employee support is essential to the success of the museum. At the

same time, the success of the museum is everyone’s job. Therefore, an

important step in the evolution of a successful visitor service program is

gathering the opinions of staff members regarding visitor service. Once

those ideas are collected the museum must continue to facilitate

communication within and across departments. Again, involvement from

the top-down and bottom-up in this training will help keep the institution

strong and committed to the audience and the mission. The success of the

visitor service program is contingent on accountability, responsibility, and

follow-through as well as rewarding, recognizing and acknowledging.

These tactics demonstrate institutional commitment and empower the

team.

2. Communicate consistency at every visitor-museum point-of-contact

Museums send messages to the public through everything that they do

including the building, amenities, experience, exhibitions, programs,

website and promotional information, signage, and staff interaction.

Recognizing that visitors view the museum experience holistically, not

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differentiating between visitor service staff and behind the scenes staff or

the excellent exhibition content and the poor signage denoting restrooms,

will go a long way toward educating staff that to the visitor all museum

members represent visitor service and all experiences matter. The findings

of this project revealed that museums struggle with issues that confuse and

frustrate visitors like lack of wayfinding information, ill-defined entry

areas, and inconsistent service whereby some staff members are not able

to take complaints while others cannot answer basic questions about the

museum.

Therefore, it is essential to send a unified and consistent message and

to set and manage visitor expectations. To do this, all museum staff

members should be equipped with the education and skills to be excellent

service providers. Museums should also look closely at consistency and

availability of signage, utilizing consistent tone, graphics and design

which are instrumental in paving the way for a positive visitor experience.

We know that inconsistent visual clues lead to confusion and discomfort.

Museums must make it easy for the visitor to recognize whom they can go

to with questions and where things are.

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3. View the museum through the visitor’s eyes

Taking the characteristics of the three museum visitor audience

segments into consideration—non-visitors, occasional visitors, and

frequent visitors—it is clear that to be successful at providing access and

assuring sustainability, museums must recognize that visitors have

different expectations and are looking for different experiences. The

easiest—and often the most underused—visitor service assessment

exercise is to see the museum through the visitor’s eyes and take note of

what is working and what is not It is often difficult for museum staff to

offer an unbiased look at their institution, seeing it as a personal attack and

making excuses. My research findings show that visitor service staff is

faced with exponential challenges, balancing explaining to visitors why

the museum has added additional fees while successfully routing calls

from the museum’s main switchboard. At the same time front-line staff

are also charged with improving visitor experience, increasing

membership, providing adequate training and—a commonplace among the

art museums from the findings—trying to accomplish this in an

unsupportive organizational infrastructure. One has only to imagine the

benefits of all museum staff taking a step back and examining the museum

in its entirety. Such an exercise will continuously improve the museum’s

offerings and create a positive visitor experience.

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4. Look to the best practices of customer service experts

including children’s museums and science centers, for-profit corporations and the hospitality industry

No two art museums are the same. They each have different needs,

collections, audiences and missions. Recognizing that it would be

impossible for one visitor service model to fit diverse and distinct needs,

museums should look to a variety of successes and be able to pick and

choose elements that fit the needs of their particular institution. Initial

research indicated and findings confirmed that the limited number of

available visitor service resources in the museum field, coupled with the

lack of awareness of existing ones, is an obstacle facing art museums in

their effort to become visitor-centered. Art museums should look outside

of their sphere to the best practices of other parties who have struggled,

tested and succeeded at creating positive service culture and are reaping

the rewards. Potential resources include children’s museums and science

centers, the hospitality industry, and corporate/retail customer service.

As discussed earlier, the issues and challenges facing art museums

and their relationship with visitors are deep-rooted in tradition and will

require a lot of effort to undo. At the same time, children’s museums and

science-centers, known for their hands-on interaction and attention to play

and discussion (something we know from Marilyn Hood’s research that

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visitors want and feel that they are not getting in art museums), are

booming in popularity with the public.94 Museums have recognized this

draw and some even see children’s museums as the bell-weathers for all

museums.95 Art museums can learn from the efforts of children’s

museums and science centers and utilize applicable strategies.

An unlikely source for museums at this time is the for-profit

corporation. Corporations, like Washington Mutual and Home Depot are

continuously updating their customer care structures and strategies and

museums can look to these models to help with the visitor-to-client

transition this project calls for. Some argue that there is no place for

corporate structures and strategies in museums, asking the question, can

museums use corporate models without succumbing to

commercialization? With this caveat in mind, museums can decide under

what circumstances these proven techniques are implemented and marry

strategies with their own.

“Service is energy. It’s about how people feel in your museum.

When you walk in, what’s the initial hit? Is it soulful? Fun? Think about

what you want it to be and create it.”96 This quote from an interview with

94 Pitman, “Muses, Museums and Memories,” 8. 95 Kathleen Brown, interview, 26 March 2004. Will Phillips, Founder QM2, interview with author, 19 March 2004, Poway, CA. 96 Holly Stiel, Founder, Thank You Very Much, Inc., phone interview with author, 5 April 2004.

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Holly Stiel reminds us that it’s all about how one makes visitors feel.

With a background in the hospitality field, it is not surprising that she sees

service this way. In hospitality terms, any museum is a place for the

visitor. As Zahava Doering has argued, when someone is taking their time

to come and spend time with you, it is your responsibility to ensure that

they are comfortable and having a positive experience. This is what the

hospitality industry is known for, especially the Ritz Carlton and the Four

Seasons hotels where service is paramount and infused within the

culture.97 The two-time winners of BBB award for service, the Ritz now

offers service training to other industries. The Four Seasons, on the other

hand, takes service a step further and customizes it for each guest.98 In

general, the hospitality industry recognizes that people have basic needs

and has developed strategies to meet those needs. Art museums can tap

into their knowledge base instead of reinventing the wheel, because, as

Holly says, “service is simple, but it’s not easy.”99

In Conclusion

Visitor service was revealed in this study to have multiple

meanings and embodiments, from stocking brochures and selling tickets to

97 Kathleen Brown, interview, 26 March 2004. Will Phillips, interview, 19 March 2004. Greg Harris, interview, 19 March 2004. 98 Holly Stiel, interview, 5 April 2004. 99 Ibid

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providing customer service and facilitating the visitor experience. While

this multiplicity confirms that there is no clear understanding in the

museum field of what visitor service actually is, what is more troublesome

is the recognition on the part of visitor service staff that they are struggling

on so many fronts and feel unsupported by his/her own institutions and the

museum field in general. Though many museums claim to be visitor-

centered, a gap still exists between theory and practice. While the museum

professional literature espouses the importance of the visitor, it doesn’t

provide practical, tangible resources and strategies to make this a reality.

The recommendations provided here should help museum directors

understand the importance of supporting visitor service on all levels. At

the same time, the recommendations for visitor service managers offer a

framework for implementing a successful visitor service program. Art

museums that follow these guidelines should see improvements in the

visitor experience and position themselves for long-term viability.

Moreover, this research should be of value to all museums who profess to

care about the people who come through their turnstiles.

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Appendix A: What Visitors Need The following descriptions are taken directly from the VSA study:

1. Comfort. “Meet my basic needs.” Visitors need fast, easy obvious access to clean, safe, barrier-free restrooms, fountains, food, baby-changing tables and plenty of seating. They also need full access to exhibits.

2. Orientation. “Make it easy for me to find my way around.” Visitors

need to make sense of their surroundings. Clear signs and well-planned spaces help them know what to expect, where to go, how to get there, and what it’s about.

3. Welcome/belonging. “Make me feel welcome.” Friendly staff

helps visitors feel more at ease. If visitors see themselves represented in the exhibits, in the programs and on the staff, they’ll feel more like they belong.

4. Enjoyment. “I want to have fun.” Visitors want to have a good

time. If they run into barriers (like broken exhibits, activities they can’t relate to, intimidating labels), they can feel frustrated, bored or confused.

5. Socializing. “I came to spend time with my family and friends.”

Visitors come for a social outing with family or friends (or to connect with society at large). They expect to talk, interact and share experience.

6. Respect. “Accept me for who I am and what I know.” Visitors

want to be accepted at their own level of knowledge and interest. They don’t want exhibits, labels or staff to exclude them, patronize them, or make them feel dumb.

7. Communication. “Help me understand, and let me talk, too.”

Visitors need accuracy, honesty and clear communication from labels, programs, and staff. They want to ask questions, and to hear and express differing points of view.

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8. Learning. “I want to learn something new.” Visitors come (and bring the kids) to learn something new, but they learn in different ways. It’s important to know how visitors learn, and assess their knowledge and interests. Controlling distractions (like crowds, noise and information overload) helps them, too.

9. Choice and control. “Let me choose; give me some control.”

Visitors need some autonomy: freedom to choose, and exert some control, touching and getting close to whatever they can. They need to use their bodies and move around freely.

10. Challenge and confidence. “Give me a challenge I know I can

handle.” Visitors want to succeed. A task that’s too easy bores them; too hard makes them anxious. Providing a wide variety of experiences will match their wide range of skills.

11. Revitalization. “Help me leave refreshed, restored.” When visitors

are focused, fully engaged, and enjoying themselves, time flies and they feel refreshed.

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Appendix B: Visitor Service Survey February 14, 2004 Name (or attach business card with this information) Title Name of your museum Email address Contact information 1. Does your museum have an autonomous visitor service

department? yes no

If yes, can you provide a brief description of the department structure? (titles, department and reporting structure—attach extra pages if needed)

If no, who is the point person for visitor service issues at your museum? Who do they report to?

2. What are the responsibilities of the visitor service staff at your

museum? 3. What are your current visitor service goals? 4. What visitor service challenges does your museum currently face? 5. How is visitor service staff trained?

Please provide a description of that training. (Who provides the

training? How often? What topics are covered?)

6. How are volunteers who interact with the public trained? 7. How was the point person for visitor service at your museum

trained for his/her position? (on-the-job; customer care training; prior position, etc)

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8. Some museums have policies for how all non\visitor service staff interact with visitors. Does such a policy exist at your museum? Please explain.

9. What role do security officers play in relationship to your visitors? 10. What role do volunteers play in relationship to your visitors? 11. Do you know of any current model visitor service programs at

other art museums or organizations? If so, list them. 12. Which literature, if any, do you consult for visitor service

information? 13. What specific resources have you found helpful on this topic? 14. As a museum professional, which of the following would you find

most useful? Please explain.

Guidelines for leading your institution to establish a visitor service plan.

A matrix of examples from the field that show successful visitor service implementation strategies.

A compilation of visitor service resources including literature and contact information for other museum visitor service professionals.

15. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about visitor

service at your museum or in general? 16. Would you be willing to answer additional questions by phone or

email? If so, which method of contact would you prefer? 17. Are you interested in a copy of my results? yes no 18. Can I quote you, or would you prefer that this survey remain

anonymous?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

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Appendix C: Visitor Service Survey Extended Quotes and Data

1. Does your museum have an autonomous visitor service department? 34 respondents to survey- questions with info from 32 respondents

Yes 16 50% No 16 50%

If no, who is the point person for visitor service issues at your museum? Who do they report to?

Of “no” How many have dedicated VS staff?

Autonomous VS org. structure breakdown: • Asst. Manager, VS Asst (cashier), Supervisor, PT cashiers

VSM Director of Marketing (#07) • 30 Greeter Volunteers, Cashiers & Audio Tour Attendants

Audio Tour Supervisor, Box Office Supervisor VSM Deputy Director of Marketing & Communications Director (#25)

• VSM Director of Marketing & Communications (division includes membership, PR, museum shop, editor and graphic designer and visitor services) (#22)

• Visitor Service Coordinator (#19) only! • 6 FT VS & sales staff Supervisor of Visitor Services

Manager of VS & Group Sales (#18) • 15 Officers VSM Director of Operations (&Executive &

Deputy Directors) (#17) • VSM Chief of Protection Services (#13) • FT/PT Visitor Assistants Senior Floor Supervisor VSM

Director of Retail & Visitor Services Director (#12)

Yes 9 56% No 7 44%

• 10 Admissions desk, membership desk, box office 3 Supervisors VSM Director of VS & Retail CFO CEO (#16)

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• VS Rep VS Specialist Visitor/Volunteer Services Coordinator Director of Marketing & PR Director (#09)

• Volunteer Coordinator Care Manager Head of Retail Director of VS & Business Activities (#08)

• Gallery Aide Volunteers Visitor Research Coordinator Welcome Desk Staff Assistant Director of VS Director of Marketing (#03)

• 3 PT Box Office Associates, 4 PT VS Associates, 8 PT Coat Room Attendants FT Asst Box Office Manager, FT Box Office Manager, FT Assistant Director of VS Director of VS (#33)

• Front Desk Staff (paid and volunteer) VSM Development Dir & CEO (#04)

• 18 PT Gallery Attendants VS Assistant Manager VSM (#02)

Assimilated VS breakdown:

• Information Desk Coordinator Director of PR/Marketing & the Human Resources Director (#15)

• 3 Receptionists Reception Supervisor Director of Operations (#29)

• Head Visitor Service Representative (#05) • Visitor Service Manager Director of External Affairs

(#26) • 3 PT Receptionists Visitor Service Manager Head

of Public Programs & Deputy Director (#27) • Visitor Information Deputy Director of Marketing (#23) • Visitor Service/Museum Shop Manager Director (#06) • Visitor Services & Volunteer/Intern Coordinator

Director of Development (#14) • Group Sales (front desk & membership) Coordinator

Director of Administration (#01)

No dedicated VS staff breakdown:

• Concierge Volunteers Community Relations Officer (#10) • Director of Public Relations (#20)

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• Associate Development Director, Store Manager, Director of Operations Deputy Director (#24)

• Manager of Membership & Director of Development (#21) • Development & Marketing Director or Asst. Director

(#28) • No one (#31) • Registrar who supervises security and Public Info Officer (#11)

2. What are the responsibilities of the visitor service staff at your

museum?

Security/Safety • Guard collections • Safety of visitors • Opening/closing the galleries Customer Service • Provide customer service • Greet • Soothe ruffled feathers • Respond to visitor & staff requests, inquiries & needs • Assist wayfinding • Coat check • Lost & Found • All Guest Services • Crowd Control Phones • Answer switchboard • Answer general museum questions via phone • Automated attendant telephone system • Special Event ticket sales/reservations via phone Admissions • Process ticket sales (including admissions) • Knowledgeable about POS system • Group Sales • Group check in Membership • Sell memberships Accessibility • Maintain large print labels for exhibitions

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• Review signage for consistent verbiage & messaging Audience Tracking • Attendance tracking/reporting (also checking visitors when

admission free) • Gather zip codes Training • Train/assist in managing volunteer groups (incl. interns) • Train info staff Scheduling • Schedule info desk • Schedule Tours • Volunteers (incl. scheduling and inquiries) Docents • Schedule tour docents • Help write monthly docent newsletter • Recruit & hire new docents Responding to Visitor Comments • Visitor comment cards • Website comment response and follow up Retail • Sell audio guides • Retail sales

Misc. • Research & report visitor satisfaction • Promote special exhibitions • Stock brochures • Facility rental

3. What are your current visitor service goals?

Visitor Experience • Create a pleasant, welcoming, rewarding experience (for repeat

visitors and word of mouth) • Improve visitor experience • Make visitors feel welcome and respected • Improve customer satisfaction

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• Provide a safe and pleasant environment for guests and employees

• Increase/Provide excellent customer service Membership • Increase/sell memberships • Retain members • Reciprocity issues with membership (visitors expect benefits

because they belong to larger inst.) Audience Development • Attract diverse children and parents • Attract more visitors, more school groups and more

professionals • Provide educational and fun programs Get to know visitors • Accurately record attendance and retail sales • Collect zip codes and demo info (audience data) Accessibility • Improving signage/wayfinding Admissions • Revamping volunteer concierge program • Reduce discretionary admissions? • Streamline ticketed exhibition process Misc. • Enhance visitor amenities -coffee bar • Develop dedicated VS staff • Better Parking • Effectively manage the phone Training • Educate visitors about current exhibitions • Comprehensive grasp of events and schedule w/in building • More proactive interaction with public

4. What visitor service challenges does your museum currently

face?

Admissions/Membership • Increasing visitation • Increasing membership Signage • Poor signage (info &directional)

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• Lack of consistency in signage Entry Area • VS desk location • 2 points of entry with one manned entry station/causes

confusion • Provide more welcoming entry area • No obvious point of contact in entry Events • Staffing special events year round • Maintaining pleasant crowd control at events Building • Parking limitations • Construction of building limits access • Maintain standards in transitional period while main facility is

renovated • Building design issues • Location (not near other museums/transp. options difficult)

Limited Budget • Budget cuts leading to staff reduction and job consolidation • Limited budget • Budget constraints Security • Complaints about guards following visitors • Erase negative connotations of security l Staffing • Lack of volunteers • Finding & recruiting qualified staff • Staff problems- aging &volunteer staff, naïve to inst.

Expectations, low-paying job hard to get quality Fees • Visitor dissatisfaction due to elimination of free day • Visitors don’t want to pay admission charge/try to get in free • New special exhibition fee that people aren’t used to Infrastructure • Breath of VS responsibility • Lack of updated software • Phone system (currently revamping due to numerous

complaints) • Challenging subject matter (cont. art)

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• Leadership doesn’t understand value of good customer service/cultural change to increase customer service will be hard

• Transitional problems from security model to security as visitor service model (internal)

• More knowledge of changes w/in museum • New management & policies Training • Conveying and enforcing museum rules and policies in a

friendly manner • VS new dept- Inconsistent training • Managing visitor expectations • Balancing needs of visitor with goals of artist and curator • Diffusing angry public • Taking complaints • High stress and fast paced ticket sales • Training • Put on the best face for the museum

5. How is visitor service staff trained?

Key findings- MCA Chicago and Palm Springs have model programs

∗ Overall, no standards/system in place for training. ∗ Majority on-the-job, no formal training in place! ∗ Frequency/duration varies- some last hour/minutes, some last a

few weeks, some have monthly meetings, some yearly ∗ Topics covered all over the board: customer service, general

museum info, selling memberships, POS, answering phone Good Quotes: “No formal training. Much of job is common sense so if you have customer service experience (which all of us do) you can learn and improve as you go along. I attend monthly all staff meetings and pass along info through binder which holds all important info which staff must sign off on and refer back to.”

Who trains new staff:

• VSM (or head of VS) • Other VS staff • No formal training

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• Management/supervisors • Outside customer service person • Combos- VSM and other --Admissions manager and head of VS

dept. do trainings • Membership manager, for special exhibition trained by the ED,

Dir. of Ed and visiting artist • Deputy director of Marketing first week of employment

Only two involve outside depts. in regular VS trainings: • Before each new exhibition, the artist, curator and senior staff brief

VS staff on show and other relevant info • Monthly meeting with different dept. in museum-- different dept.

to come to our monthly meetings to explain their role.

How trained: • OTJ (sometimes with supervision) • Procedure Manual • 1/1 • Customer Service Manual • Training checklist (consistency)

Anomalies • The PR staff and curator acted out a skit on how not to handle

visitors • 4-hour training and are required to 1 hour audio tour. • ½ day meeting everyone and getting a sense of what everyone does

and how it’s all connected. Finally, on the job ½ day watching and gradually move into responsibility

Frequency/Duration:

• Daily • Two times per week • Monthly • Periodical • Yearly

Topics: • customer service • General museum info: general info, exhibit, event awareness • POS system • selling memberships • answering phone inquiries

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• accessibility (people with disabilities) • museum procedures • benefits • crowd control • audio tours • attendance record keeping • body language • First Aide- CPR and use of a defibrillator • computerized collections data software and how it will assist

visitors. (#27) • VSSpecialist & VSRep are also protection officers when not at

admissions desk. (#9)

All staff VS trainings: • Diversity and Customer Service trainings • Discuss new policies at monthly staff meetings- new exhibitions or

events, customer service skills, membership issues and updates.

6. How are volunteers who interact with the public trained? What percentage of VS staff is volunteer? • Volunteers don’t interact with public • Used very little for front line due to specifics of work and

union affiliation What does Docent Training look like:

• Docents in training will follow along with tour groups to observe the veteran docent. When a new exhibit opens there is a docent meeting with the ed. staff and exec. Director. After the meeting, the ED gives a tour where they take notes and it’s videotaped for those who miss.

• Docents self train on exhibits and collateral What does volunteer VS training look like:

• OTJ • Same as VS staff • Brief training • Via manual

Self training: • gallery guides/greets familiarize themselves with exhibits and

material and study museum collateral

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7. How was the point person for visitor service at your museum trained for his/her position?

8. Some museums have policies for how all non\visitor service staff

interact with visitors. Does such a policy exist at your museum? Please explain.

9. What role do security officers play in relationship to your visitors? • Staff are security (no traditional security officers) • Security • Primary security/answer questions if needed • Cashiers • Work info desk

Other Notes: Given info to help visitors- go on walk-throughs with curators …. Work closely with VS staff

10. What role do volunteers play in relationship to your visitors? • None • Museum Shop • Customer Service • Lead tours • Special Events • Little to none • Sell memberships • Audio tours

11. Do you know of any current model visitor service programs at

other art museums or organizations? If so, list them. No Others named: LACMA Getty The Strong Museum MCA Chicago SLAM Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Walker

12. Which literature, if any, do you consult for visitor service information? • None • Local/Statewide info • Internet • Museum Books • Customer Service • Museum Professional Associations • Other Breakdown: Museum Professional Associations VSA AAM VSPIC/listserv Books/Magazines • Variety of pubs • Customer Service material • DDI Customer Service Training • Books on the museum experience • Customer Service for Dummies • The Experience Economy- ED read it and it is the basis of

program and influences how the VSO’s interact with the public! Palm Springs (#17)

• The Good Guide: A Source book for Interpreters, Docents & Tour Guides

• MSA or MSA magazine • Volunteer Program Administration

13. What specific resources have you found helpful on this topic?

Disney Hospitality AAM None Personal experience in prior orgs Staff N/A Other NPs and museums

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VSA AAM VSM VSMUS listserv Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Fund Retail Local resources Museummarketingtips.com There are zillions- most of which are not good

14. As a museum professional, which of the following would you

find most useful? Please explain. Good Quotes: Why they want what they want:

• “I would like to know if other museums have the same challenges we do (i.e. people not wanting to pay admission) and if so, how they deal with it.” (#29)

• “Each museum is different with diverse demands. It’s a big question- call me and I will elaborate.” (#26)

• “All info to enhance our performance would be useful” (#4) • “I personally would find information regarding other VS programs,

their training methods and policies most helpful. I would also be interested to see how other institutions were able to make the conversion, how difficult it was, and whether or not the conversion has been deemed a success.” (#17)

• Would like to see examples and case studies from other museums so they can pick and choose as needed (#16)

Importance of VS • “We are part of retail and visitor services, but we are truly on our

own. The bastard department that gets bounced around. We used to be part of external affairs.” (#12)

• “The VS Department is really the “back bone” of the whole museum’s operation- we are largely responsible for the visitor’s experience at the museum (we can make it positive or negative).” (#19)

• The dept. was largely an afterthought until we had some blockbuster shows. At that time the museum realized it needed to focus on the visitor experience as well as the art.” (#22)

Misc.

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• “I am not a museum professional. I assumed responsibility when prior person went on maternity leave” (#27)

• “Follow the footprint of the hospitality business- hotels do it best “guest services.”

• “We simply treat people with respect, we try to make them feel welcome and comfortable. A little boy, about 4, told me that he likes to come to my “house” That’s what its all about!” (#9)

• “Wish us luck- we’re just implementing a program (implemented 6/1/04)” (#18)

15. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about visitor

service at your museum or in general? Hospitality

• “We train our staff and provide them with the resources to act like a concierge at a hotel- they assist visitors with all requests regardless or not the pertain to the museum. We will recommend restaurants, blues clubs, etc. and assist our visitors with directions, reservations or whatever they need. Our policy is to never answer a question with “I don’t know” but instead “Let me find out” We empower the visitor services staff to give refunds and make decisions concerning customer satisfaction so that problems are resolved quickly without escalation. Visitors who write comments receive personalized written responses and all visitor comments (received via comment card, website and phone) are reported to the entire museum staff weekly so that everyone who works at the museum remains focused on issues of concern to our visitors.” (#33)

General VS • “My position was spun off from a larger position within the ed.

dept. in mid-2000. Increased visitation and a sudden large bequest has brought the museum much press since 2001. I expect the VS area will expand in the future and someone younger and more experienced in the museum world will be hired for my position.” (#27)

• “The division of VS from membership and security creates challenges for us. We didn’t fit anywhere perfectly within the org structure because we integrate so many different disciplines.” (#25)

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• “While a broad application of concepts may be ideal, museums vary significantly, so you have to pick & choose what ideas, practices, policies work best for your own institution.” (#7)

• “In general, our museum staff is limited in number due to budget constraints, so each staff member wears many hats

• “Currently undergoing many changes as the museum gears up to move and expand” (#24)

• “In my opinion, there is little information on visitor service for museums- the most important position.” (#23)

• “Tourist museums are interesting dilemma, don’t have to care about visitors so much, so diverse” (#16)

• “Our service is excellent and we receive many compliments on how we receive, educate, and deal with the audience.” (#28)

• “Being a VS Rep has many rewards. We get to meet many interesting people, work in a beautiful area and learn about many different works of art and artists.” (#5)

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Slide 1

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Getty on the hill On the way to Parking

Circular information desk in entryMap and Guide Kiosk by Tram exit

Getty greeters outside the TramParking booth ahead

Appendix D: J. Paul Getty Museum Arrival Sequence

Slide 2

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Today at the Getty Mapdetail

Today at the Getty Offer Daily detail

Today at the Getty Close-upToday at the Getty wall signage in entry

Appendix D: J. Paul Getty Museum Arrival Sequence

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Slide 3

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Appendix D: J. Paul Getty Museum Arrival Sequence

One of the many exterior

directional signs

One of the Many interior directional signs

Today at the Getty

Exhibitions detail

Slide 4

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Appendix D: J. Paul Getty Museum Arrival Sequence

Interior color-coded orientation kiosk aerial view

Interior color-coded building orientation kiosk with maps

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Slide 1

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Appendix E: Museum of Contemporary Art, ChicagoArrival Sequence

Exterior museum information signage detail

Exterior expansion signage

Building exterior

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Slide 2

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Appendix E: Museum of Contemporary Art ChicagoArrival Sequence

Exterior museum information

another view

Lower level entrance

Lower level entrance another view

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Slide 3

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Appendix E: Museum of Contemporary Art ChicagoArrival Sequence

Lowe level entrance

Yet another view

Reception/Admissions desk

Stairs to entrance

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Slide 4

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Appendix E: Museum of Contemporary Art ChicagoArrival Sequence

Reception /Admissions desk front view Interior directional signage by

stairs

Color-coded wayfindingsignage

Interior directional signage by elevators

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Slide 5

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Appendix E: Museum of Contemporary Art ChicagoAmenities

Comfortable seating near the elevators

…with many stalls

Sleek and clean restrooms…

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Slide 1

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Appendix F: Portland Art MuseumArrival Sequence

Exterior museum signage

Exterior museum information to the side of entrance

Exterior construction project signage

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Slide 2

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Appendix F: Portland Art Museum Arrival Sequence

Admissions window with stanchions

Visitors entering the museum

Museum exterior view of entrance

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Slide 3

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Appendix F: Portland Art MuseumAmenities

The hard-to-find museum cafe

Interior of the small restroom

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Slide 1

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Missing!Visitor Service in Art Museums

If found, please call…

Visitor Service WorkshopMeghan Arens

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Slide 2

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Visitor Service…is it really that important?

Yes! • Recent Harvard Business Review and Wall Street Journal

articles maintain the serious need for customer service to retain and increase business. It’s no longer about the product alone!

• Service businesses have long known that if their customers don’t like the experience provided, they won’t come back

• Public has multiple leisure-time options and minimal leisure time…

• Where do you go? How are you treated? (have participants reflect on a good and bad VS experience)

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Slide 3

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How does this affect your museum?

• Attention, or inattention, to visitors impacts your bottom line and your ability to fulfill your mission

• The success of your museum is directly tied to the satisfaction of your customers

• The average business never hears from 96% of its unhappy customers

• Instead of vocalizing their complaints, they just don’t come back AND they tell their friends

• A dissatisfied visitor will tell, on average, 11 people of their bad experience (and via the Web, its exponential)

BUT…

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Slide 4

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How does this affect your museum?…THERE’S HOPE

• A satisfied visitor will share good experience• A customer’s willingness to refer a friend results

from how well he/she is treated by front-line employees

• Cutting customer defection by just 5% has the effect of boosting profits between 25% and 95%

• Conversely, it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one

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Slide 5

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Do art museums need visitor service?

• Yes, the customer is central to the mission• Yes, excellent customer service helps the visitor

enjoy their experience and makes them want to return (and tell others!)

• Yes, we need to be visitor-centered to compete

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Customers Are Important

• Major Donors• Donors• Members• Volunteers• Visitors• Public

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Customers Are Important

Relationship builds with…

• Repeat attendance• Purchase• Subscription• Membership• Donation• Public advocacy

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Okay, we get it…so what do we do now?

• Get to know your visitors (discuss Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)

– What do they value?– What are their needs and expectations

• Understand the visitor experience– See your museum through their eyes

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Get to Know Your Visitors What do they value?

What are their needs and expectations?• We know that visitors…

– value spending leisure time in comfortable surroundings– see the museum as a whole and don’t differentiate between

services offered, exhibition quality, or attitudes of front-line staff

(Discuss how to get to know your visitors?)

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Understand the Visitor Experience

• When does the visitor experience begin?– Is it the decision to visit?– What about your promotional material/collateral?– Is your website more than a billboard?

• How is your museum presented?

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Things to look at…

• Arrival Sequence• Amenities• Personnel

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…Arrival Sequence

• Directions- Can they find you?

• Road Signage- Do you have any? Are they consistent?

• Location- Will they know when they have found you?

• Parking- How easy is it?

• Building Signage- Can they find their way in?

• Building appearance- Will they want to come in?

• Arrival Sense- “We made it! We’re here!”

• Orientation- “What do I do? Where do I go?”

• Reception and ticketing- Is it obvious?

• Wayfinding- Consistent, guided… or mysterious?

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…Amenities

• Restrooms- Available, adequate, accessible, clean?

• Coat/parcel check- Can visitors easily and securely unload their baggage?

• Seating- Available, would you sit there?• Ambiance- How does the space “feel”?• Food• Store

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…Personnel

• Front-line• Support staff• Behind the scenes staff

Is service to visitors everyone’s job?

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The Art of Service

• Get institutional buy in- yes, WE need this• Is there a budget?• Where should VS be located?• What should VS do?• Training, training, training!

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Get institutional buy in- yes, WE need this!

• Must come from the top down• Everyone must walk the walk. It’s not just one

department doing the work• Do research to lend validity to the program

– Talk to other industry professionals and colleagues– Talk to other businesses, hotels

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Is there a budget?

• Is there ever?• Service doesn’t cost a thing- Everyone associated with the

institution can make a difference• Each person who walks in your door, visits your website,

or calls has the potential to spend money Do you want to let them get away?

• Can your institution afford not to do this?

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Where should VS be located?

• In order to keep the focus on service, consider making VS its own department, guided by key staff

• Make the team, and staff, as important as the duty dictates. Service is important. It’s front-line and highly visible- no matter where it takes place!

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What should VS do?• Make the first impression?• Change the “stigma” of the institution?• Assist other departments?• Talk up everything that’s going on in the museum?• Evolve to take on changing responsibilities?• Encourage membership?• Sell tickets?• Answer phones?• Promote a positive visitor experience?• Make it a one-stop shop for the visitor?

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Training, training, training!

(Share survey results here)

• Have clear expectations for great service• Set guidelines/standards of service and help

everyone follow those guidelines• Train all staff to the standards• Make it fun• Make it important to each individual• Recognize and Reward

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Measurements of Success

• Job satisfaction and employee/volunteer retention. Improved morale!

• Increased interest in employment and volunteer opportunities

• Increase in annual revenue• Increase in annual attendance• Increase in sales • Increase in membership and donations

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Creating an action plan

• Work together- your department and other departments

• Work together- your institution and it’s governing bodies

• See what you can do to improve service- there’s always a way!

• Be realistic about your goals. Don’t set yourself up for failure

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Areas that require excellent service

• Education• Membership• Development• Protection Services/Security• Food Service• Administrative• In other words…EVERY AREA!

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Now…it’s up to you!

• Develop a system to hear the customer and then respond in a timely manner

• Ask your customers and listen to what they are saying

• Develop a visitor service team

• Develop visitor service, philosophy, mission, values and standards

• Communicate those values to everyone

• Train, train, train!• Set realistic goals• Evaluate your service strategy

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Thank you!

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