| Four Good Customer Service Habits for Faculty and Administrators | |
Today, parents expect, if not demand, a higher level of service from teachers and administrators. Employing good “customer service” habits in schools can improve communication with parents, lead to student learning success, and improve the morale of school employees. This article presents four customer service habits for school officials and teachers to adopt and master.
1. Be considerate. Whenever a parent sees the school name or phone number on caller ID, s/he may panic. The instant fear is that something has happened to his or her child. So when you call a parent, immediately put the parent at ease by opening your calls with, “This is (caller’s name) from ABC School. (Child’s name) is fine. I’m calling about _____.” When you look for ways to be considerate in your communication with parents and students, your efforts will be noticed and appreciated.
2. Acknowledge student and parental concern. Acknowledging concern helps you convey empathy and compassion thereby helping you make an emotional connection with students, parents and colleagues. Here are ways to acknowledge concern when things go wrong:
• “I can understand how frustrating it is when ….”
• “I realize how complicated it is to …..”
• “I cannot imagine how upsetting it is to …..”
• “I know how confusing it must be when….”
3. Seek to understand the concerns of the student and/or parent before trying to get them to understand your position. Seek first to understand. Before you try to prescribe a solution to a problem, before you quote policy or tell them what you cannot do, have a clear understanding of the person’s viewpoint. How has the problem impacted the parent or student? Do they feel embarrassed, wronged, frustrated, or powerless? Try to empathize with what the other person may be experiencing and feeling. When you respond, communicate your full understanding of the problem from the other person’s perspective.
4. Think about what else your students and parents need. When I conduct customer service training sessions, I ask my participants to imagine they’ve come across a man stranded in the desert. “What do you think the man in the desert needs most?” I ask. The immediate answer from the entire group is always water. I then explain that every one of their competitors will attempt to give the customer what s/he needs the most. To go above and beyond, companies have to do more than the obvious. Going back to the man in the desert analogy, I ask, “What else might the man in desert need?” Some of the responses I have received are:
• Food
• Sunscreen
• A ride out of the desert
• A cell phone so he can call his family
• Sunglasses
• Shade
• Someone to talk to
• A camel
These answers were absolutely on track. Beyond the obvious – water - we can think of several other things someone stranded in the desert might need. In the same manner, when serving students and parents, we need to not only answer their questions and meet their expressed needs. We need to work proactively to identify and meet their unexpressed needs. We can create more value for students and parents by simply thinking through what else they might need.
As parents demand better experiences, and as schools work to create the best learning experience possible, service is now a crucial focus for schools. Adopt and apply these four customer service habits school-wide, and you’ll gain student and parental satisfaction, as well as boost employee morale.
Myra Golden helps companies completely restore customer confidence in their brands after service failures. Considered one of the leading experts in customer recovery, she has helped hundreds of organizations rethink and redesign their complaint response processes so they are positioned to retain more customers, improve customer satisfaction, and increase profits. Myra has designed customer recovery programs for such companies as Verizon Business, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, National Car Rental, Michelin Tires and Frito Lay. She is co-author of Beyond WOW! The Service Leadership Approach to Exceptional Customer Service.