We need to PREACH customer service in our schools. That’s
right PREACH.
PREACH is an acronym for the six major elements of any good
customer service vision statement and program to rally people around.
If we can
get people to PREACH customer service, all will be well.
PREACH
Professionalism providing expertise with the ability to know what to do
and to doing it
Responsiveness responding to student needs and providing assistance right
then and there
Empathy seeing things from a student’s perspective, connecting
with students and displaying friendliness
Accessibility being open to students and reaching
out to them
Confidentiality treating students and their issues with respect, trust and
discretion
Hospitality welcoming students and showing them that they are valuable
and important.
Professionalism -
To be a full professional means you know what you are doing and can provide
expert assistance to a student or a client of your office or functional area
such as registration or financial aid, admissions, teaching and the like areas
of activity in which we are involved. People need to know their jobs and those
of offices and areas that intersect with them. For example, people in
admissions should know about the financial aid area as should people in
registration. Faculty should know aspects of registrar’s function like add
drops to be able to help students. Advisors should know all the areas to be
able to do their job professionally.
To make sure this happens people need to have regular
training and updating to keep them informed and at their peak of service. We
all know that faculty teaching a subject need to stay up-to-date on any changes
and shifts in their areas and need time to keep up. Well, other professionals
throughout the school also need time for training to keep up their skills and
be assured their ability to be fully professional is kept current.
This also calls on people to serve the internal community
well by making certain that there are good and transparent communications.
There are too many colleges and universities that we work with in which less
than professional communications harms the entire customer service effort.
Supervisors in particular need to realize that part of their professional
activity is making certain that all the people under his or her purview are
kept informed about procedures or any changes to policies so they in turn can
serve students well.
Responsiveness This
calls on people in the college community to respond to student needs when they
arise and not make them wait. This does not mean always doing things to meet
needs that should not be met such as students who complain that they are
smokers and have nowhere to smoke on campus if yours is a non-smoking school.
It does not mean they are always right or you need to meet their every wish.
What responsiveness refers to is reacting to student when he or she comes into
the office. Stop what you are doing and
wait on him or her. If you cannot be interrupted, explain why and set up a time
to help the student before he or she leaves the office without being helped at
all
It can also mean for faculty to respond to students in the
classroom who have questions or who look as if they are not getting it. Stop
and make sure that students are indeed following the lecture or discussion.
Check in with them and see if there are any confused looks and then respond to
them. If the need cannot be met for a student who for example is having trouble
with an aspect of a calculus class right in class, then set up a time to tutor
that student.
Make sure that students are tended to when they need help. Do
not make them wait or be ignored. That is being responsive.
Empathy Look at
issues and things from a student’s point of view. Get into their shoes and try
to feel what they feel and need. Reach out to them. Do the Hillel
thing. Do unto students as you would
want done for your so, or daughter, mother or father. Following this rule
will make you identify more with students and meet their personal and emotional
needs which helps with their feeling of an
emotional ROI as well.
Accessibility Be available
to help students at all times. Remember they really do come before other things
at the school. Nothing is more important than servicing a student so when one
comes to the office stop what you are doing and wait on him or her. Do not make
them wait. If you must finish something, at least let the student know what you
are doing and will be with them as soon as possible.
Accessibility also means that you can be accessed by
telephone and email. When the phone rings, answer it. In fact, the phone should
be answered witho9in three rings. Do not make the person leave a voice mail
which you will likely not ever get back to you as our experience at most
schools shows.
Emails needed to be responded to within 24 hours at the very
most and really should be cleared by the end of the workday. If you cannot answer
emails right away, set up an automated resposne on the computer to at least let
the sender know you have received the email and will be back to him within 24
hours. Then make sure you do so.
Confidentiality.
Provide the student with the confidence that the information she is sharing will
stay between the two of you. If you need to involve someone else, make sure the
student knows that another person will be brought into the communication. Treat
the student with respect and discretion just as you would want to be treated.
Hospitality Realize that you are the official welcome for
the college or university and need to treat all students and others withy cordiality.
Everyone should receive a warm smile and welcome in your words, tone of voice
and actions. You are the greeter for the school after all in every single
situation, Keep in mind that the students want to feel as if they are important and
valued. Little shows that than a welcoming attitude that says I am happy to see
you. How may I help you?
There is little that is more important to good customer service
than the welcoming and hospitable attitude that lets students know they are the
most important people on campus. If anyone ever feels that students are an
imposition, unwelcome or an interruption, that person is in the wrong job and
ought to be replaced.
If a vision statement and a customer service program PREACHes
these elements, it will succeed.
If this article has value for you, you'll want to get a copy of the best-selling book The Power of Retention by clicking here.
www.GreatServiceMatters.com
info@GreatServiceMatters.com
413.219.6
No comments:
Post a Comment