Thinking of students as customers can be difficult and rewarding at the same time. Rewarding because it gives a lot of opportunities for the instructor and student to share ideas and learn from each other based on experiences whether from job experience in the training field or other work experience. Difficult or challenging because sharing ideas can some times give the student the feeling of friendship rather than advising.
Hi Clive,
Students need to know that they are responsible for their education and as the instructor we will do all we can to help them succeed, but effort has to be made on the student's part.
Patricia Scales
Hi Joshua,
I concur! Students/graduates are life-time customers! If they were treated fairly; they will tell others about your institution and will be happy about the time they spent at the institution.
Patricia Scales
It really doesn't matter what kind of setting you have for Customer Service, but in an Educational Setting, the students are our customers. We need to treat them with the same respect and dignity that any establishment would when a "guest" walks through the doors.
Our students are also good "word of mouth" communicators, so it's important to set the tone of customer service from the moment they walk in the door. It also doesn't stop at the moment they graduate either. These students/graduates/alumni will forever be our customers!
Instructor can help student ,by explaining to the students their personnal responsibilities, and why its important to observe and followed.
Hi Daniel,
Nicely stated! Give them what they need and have paid for, but they must be held accountable. Do not sacrifice standards to please a student.
Patricia Scales
Customer Service in education seems to me to be like any personal professional service. You need to work with the student as best you can to meet their desires, while maintining your integrity and being responsible. Your doctor, your lawyer, and your accountant need to do what you need or want, while not compromising their professional ethics and while providing the best outcomes.
Hi John,
We certainly have to do a fine job to get our students job ready. Our students really need role models to look up to so that they know how to act as a professional.
Patricia Scales
It's true that without students schools will shut down, but I veiw my students as more of a product. We are molding and prepairing them for our ultimate customer the industry that hires them.
Hi Brian,
We as educators must do our due diligence to ensure our students are getting what they are paying for. Most students really and truly want to be challenged!
Patricia Scales
Hi Paula,
I agree! Opposition definitely comes about in an educational setting. We have to let our students know and show them that we genuinely care about their success.
Patricia Scales
Hi Tiwauna,
You are on point! Education is certainly an investment! It is imperative for us as educators to sell our students on returning the next day. As you have stated, our students will be around for a while.
Patricia Scales
Make sure the focus is on the student and not the material. I always make sure that the student feels that they got their moneys worth out of my class.
The student is considered our customer. I am providing a service as the facilitator of their learning experience. We walk a fine line, wanted the students to succeed, but knowing that they must be challenged to apply their knowledge. The challenges are sometimes met with opposition, and make our customers unhappy. We must let the students know that their best interest is always taken into consideration.
Customer service is described in an educational seeting as those who are beneficial or in need of the service we provide. In other words, the student will be view different but similar to a retail customer. Both customers would have our attention, however the retail customer will make a purchase and immediately leave whereas the educational customer has made an investment for their future and during this time they have gathered various views to assist with the investment made.
Hi Alexander,
You are on point! I can tell you do not miss a beat, and you lead by example. I love your perspective as an educator!! Keep up the great work!
Patricia Scales
Customer service in the educational setting is defined by the students success and his or hers completion of goals. I agree the student needs to understand there responsibility in the classroom. But then the instructor must follow through with things like, immediate responses to emails and questions, and grading that is up to date. The most important thing for me is transparency for the student. With things such as grades,Final reviews, projects and exams. Then there is no question what the students role is and what needs to happen for them to have a positive student/consumer experience.
Hi Rick,
Students no doubt make the business, and we want to provide impeccable customer service so that they want to continue to come and so that they will tell others about us in a good way.
Patricia Scales
According to this series, the main point that I saw was that in the educational system we can filter out our returning customers through the process of testing. In the business world, these same customers that maybe you don't want back, can still walk through the doors if they so choose, unless legal recourse prevents them from doing so. Having worked for a "for profit" institution for 6 years now, I see how important it is for the company for the students to return. They literally write our paychecks. So for the ones we want to keep coming back, we need to understand how to cater to certain needs to that the student so they will feel a part of the school and want to stay.
Hi Mitchell,
It is our number one duty to make a positive impact on students lives.
Patricia Scales
