Survey on the use of subscription agents by libraries in commercial law firms
Index
  
 
 

The following results were obtained from the completed questionnaires of 36 law firm libraries and 3 subscription agents. All the libraries were based in London, but were of varying sizes. The 3 agents were all the larger subscription agents used by these libraries (Swets Blackwell, Ebsco and Rowecom); unfortunately the specialist agent used by many libraries did not respond. Conclusions and recommendations are based on further results not included here, alongside a literature review and research into services offered by subscription agents.

Agents used by libraries
The libraries surveyed use various agents, and some use more than one. The results show that while there are a total of 20 customers for the major subscription agents, there are almost as many customers who use the specialist agent, Legal Library Services. Three other companies were also named as agents: CMS, Martin Lovell, and Brand & Co. Within the law library sector there is therefore as high a usage of the smaller agent as there is of the major international agents.
  Agents used by respondent libraries

 		 
 

 
  Number of subscriptions placed
Libraries were asked how many subscriptions they placed through agents. There was no apparent pattern to this, and an even spread of results was obtained.

 		 
  Number of subscriptions respondent libraries place through agents

 		 
 

 
  Length of the agent-library business relationship
Libraries were also asked how long they have used their current agents. The results show that fewer libraries have remained with the same agents for longer time periods. There is therefore a tendency to switch agents after a certain number of years, which could be for various reasons, such as dissatisfaction with services, cost, or a need to use the agent who offers the best quote for services rendered.

 		 
  Time respondent libraries have used their current agents

 		 
 

 
  Analysing the individual questionnaires, there was no apparent relationship between the agent used and either the number of subscriptions placed or the length of time they had been used. All agents had customers who placed a range of numbers of subscriptions, and all had some customers who were relatively new and others who had used them for many years. This suggests that agents do not treat customers very differently according to the number of subscriptions, and therefore the amount of money, they bring to the agent. Neither does the higher number of subscriptions affect the library's decision to move agent where necessary. The fact that the length of the relationship varied also suggests that a sense of loyalty is not necessarily an influence in the termination of the business relationship.

Most important service areas
Libraries were asked to rate the 5 services they felt were most important. Prompt responses, an efficient renewal process and speedy claiming gained both the greatest number of ratings in the top 5, and the most first and second places. Invoicing according to requirements and knowledgeable staff were also amongst the top 5, but with respondents giving them more varied ratings of importance.

The services which agents thought customers found most important were quite similar. The agents each named 3 or 4 of the top 5. All 3 respondents knew that knowledgeable staff were highly important to libraries; other responses varied.

 		 
  Most important areas of service for respondent libraries

 		 
 
Service Number of libraries who placed them in each position of importance

1st
 		2nd
 		3rd
 		4th
 		5th
 		total
Efficient renewal process
 		16
4
 		3
 		2
 		25
Friendly staff
 		2
1
 		1
4
Invoicing according to requirements

1
 		7
 		4
 		4
 		16
Knowledgeable staff
 		1
 		6
 		4
 		3
 		4
 		18
Low service charges
1
 		3
 		2
 		3
 		9
Proactive provision of information
2
 		1
 		4
7
Prompt responses to requests
 		9
 		4
 		5
 		6
 		2
 		26
Regular updates on work in progress
1
 		2
 		4
 		5
 		12
Speedy claiming
13
 		1
 		1
 		8
 		23
 
 
 
  Performance of agents in these service areas
Libraries were also asked if they were satisfied with these services, as received currently from their agents. It is notable that these are extremely subjective judgments, and two libraries receiving exactly the same level of service may have very different opinions of that service, depending on their expectations.

 		 
  Respondent libraries' satisfaction with services

 		 
 
Service
 		Satisfied
 		Dissatisfied
renewal process
 		21
 		5
friendliness of staff
 		26
 		1
invoicing
 		23
 		4
knowledge of staff
 		18
 		8
service charges
 		22
 		3
provision of information
 		15
 		8
response times
 		11
 		14
updates on work in progress
 		10
 		14
claiming
 		12
 		13
 
 
 
  There are very few problems related to service charges or friendliness of staff. However, these areas were also amongst those least placed in the top 5 important service areas. The people and costs are therefore not the main issues libraries have problems with. The only areas where fewer respondents are satisfied than not are in speed of response, updates on work in progress and claiming. All of these are services which require a certain amount of proactiveness on the part of the agent, in keeping the customer informed. These issues are strong enough for a quarter of the respondents to admit having considered ceasing to use an agent. A further quarter already did not use agents.

Types of agents with the most satisfied customers
The level of satisfaction with each agent used was calculated, by looking at whether a customer had considered ceasing to use an agent, and the number of services they were dissatisfied with. In the following table, LLS refers to Legal Library Services. Swets and Blackwell were in the process of merging at the time of the survey, and were named separately by libraries. Some libraries use more than one agent, as shown.

 		 
  Agents used by satisfied and dissatisfied customers

 		 
 
No of satisfied customers
 		No of dissatisfied customers
2 Blackwell
 		1 Ebsco
9 LLS
 		2 LLS
2 Swets
 		2 Rowecom
1 LLS/Swets
 		1 Swets

1 unnamed

1 Blackwell/Swets

1 Ebsco/Swets

1 LLS/Swets

1 Rowecom/Swets

3 more than 3 agents
 
 
 
  It is those libraries who only use Legal Library Services, the specialist agent, who were shown to be the most satisfied with the service being received. This may be because the smaller agent has been able to focus on the specific needs of law firm libraries. The larger agent, with a wide range of customers, is unlikely to be able to focus on a particular sector in this way.

Relevance of the number of agents used
While those who use Legal Library Services seem more content than others, there also seems to be a pattern relating to the number of agents used. Where more than one is used, customers are far more likely to be dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction may be for various reasons, such as being able to compare the services of each and therefore finding them to vary greatly in quality. However, the greatest problem is likely to be that the library is duplicating effort in having to maintain a relationship with a number of agents. This defeats the primary object of using an agent, to reduce the amount of work for the library and its organisation. Where a library maintains contact with a number of agents, this is not far from maintaining contact with a multitude of publishers. There is also a reduction in financial savings, since less time is saved by the library, while service charges are being paid to more than one agent.

Services used and services offered
Alongside this, the research showed there to be something of a gap between the perceptions of service providers and their customers. In their responses to the survey, the agents were shown to be quite in touch with their customers in terms of the services which were important to them. It was seen though, by researching the literature and the promotional material of the large subscription agents, that the focus of these agents at present is the development of new 'value-added' services alongside the traditional ones. However, the value of this for the customers in this sector is not clear. Very few of the respondent libraries claimed to use newer services such as electronic journal licensing or consolidation services. This may be because they do not realise that their agent can provide such services, or because they have already found other means of obtaining these services where necessary. While agents see these services as their future, most law firm libraries still perceive agents merely as vendors of the traditional subscription services. It is therefore important that the intentions of the larger agents are communicated to their customers before they begin to feel neglected as non-purchasers of these new services.

The need for communication
From this research, it seems that the obvious key to a successful business relationship between law firm library and subscription agent is two-way communication. If the needs of the customer are different from the aims of the service provider, the customer should inform them that this is the case. Where the customer makes clear their expectations of the level of service to be provided, then the service provider is obliged to try to fulfil these expectations. However, if they are unable to do so, this needs to be made clear to the customer. Problems exist with the service relationship where there is a large gap between the service expected and that received. If each side of the relationship makes clear what is expected, then these expectations are easier to fulfil.

 		 
  In conclusion, the following recommendations were made:

 		 
  For libraries:

 		 
 
  • Use smaller, specialist agents if a high quality, individualised service is expected
  
 
  • Do not use multiple agents, as this defeats the purpose of using an agent at all
  
  For agents:

 		 
 
  • Tailor services to individual customers or sectors wherever possible
  
 
  • Do not leave behind those customers who only use traditional services
  
  For both:

 		 
 
  • Make continued efforts to communicate and work at developing a strong business relationship.
  
 

Hannah Fogg