Students are not customers nor are they not customers. They are investing time and money with a purpose in mind. However, I do feel that the customer label is more appropriate at the adult level. Many of our students are concerned from the start that they get immediate value from their investment so at times it is important to have a customer service attitutde as an instructor.
Hi Lacey,
Good customer service is a must! I always tell personnel the best compliment that we can receive is to have a student refer someone to our institution.
Patricia Scales
Hi Rosemarie,
I love your outlook when it comes to customer service! It is simple, treat others the way we would like to be treated.
Patricia Scales
Hi Gwendolyn,
Absolutely! As instructors, we have to keep the atmosphere inviting for students to make them want to return each day.
Patricia Scales
I agree. We should view customer service as customer oriented with the principal objective being to educate. We must understand the needs of our special customers both academic and nonacademic in order to best serve them. Instructors must perform in a professional manner at all times, listening attentively to students, treating them fairly and equally with respect and kindness. This should go a long way in inspiring the student to want to learn.
I agree. As someone with a retail background, I can tell you that customer service is key. I also have the experience that, if they have a wonderful, and memorable experience in the institution, that not only will they race about you to family, they will refer your institution to friends and everyone they meet. Word of mouth is the biggest form of advertising. By focusing on the student as a customer, we make it so that our business as a whole will thrive.
By using the techniques I have learned in previous courses, developing a well rounded curriculum with stated objectives and a clear and concise goal for the class, we are giving our students the tools they need to enhance their experiences, and pass their classes.
In an educational setting, the student is the reason for our daily educational delivery. We are in a position to enhance the learning of one to many individuals, depending on the circumstance. We must remember that satisfied customers will strive to do better and dissatisfied customers will leave an uninviting atmosphere.
Hi William,
I concur! Rules must be established and enforced upon the students. They are our customers, but they must have guidelines with excellent customer service provided to them.
Patricia Scales
treating students as customers will work as long as they follow basic rules that apply to any job or task. They must show up on time when they are scheduled and and have studied materials that were assigned.
A better phrase would be customer-orientated whereas the educational setting would do the following:
Focus on the student.
Understand the needs of the student.
Providing the student with the necessary tools to succeed.
Hi John,
I love your outlook! I can tell you put your students first. Students are no doubt the most important people in the building. We have to appreciate them and show them our appreication because without them we do not have jobs.
Patricia Scales
We uneed our students in order to be an institution. Without our students we are not a school.Customer service in a school is extremely important. All students must be treated with respect and kindness. Going that extra mile for all of students makes the educational environment a place were students want to go. Always be friendly, firm and fair.
Hi Shaun,
I agree! Instructors have to be sharp in all areas not just academia to deal with students. Our students have a ton of personal problems, and we have to point them in the right direction to get help so that we can keep them as students.
Patricia Scales
First, students in an educational setting are different then say a restaurant customer. If students are not academically succesful, they don't get to come back. Obviously a car dealership couldn't operate in that manner.
An educational institution should first and foremost have the focus on the student and educating. In this type of institution, instructors must be flexible and good problem solvers. This includes being responsive and effective.
Excellent course and I have enjoyed reading all the posts in this forum. My view is that the "student" should not be told by the institution that they are a customer. I believe that to many students take this meaning of customer to that of the way society see's customer. From the time we all begin school at the earliest age we are students, are treated as such, and expected to act as such. Now that we are grown and money becomes a focal point (profit) we are customers? I feel there are very few people with the maturity and responsibility level to be able to handle that customer title the right way. To much sense of entitlement and the thought that I paid for it so why should I have to work for it. I see it everyday! My students are made aware on day one that this is your education and that you will get out of it what you put into it! I will give you my very best and then some but you must meet me half way and together we can make your goals a reality. But the hard work must come from you as that is your responsibility as a student, to learn.
Hi Ralph,
Great response! You are definitely on point! We certainly have to keep our students happy and sell them on returning the next day.
Patricia Scales
In order to address this- I believe we first have to adress-what does the customer want. The student (customer) wants to increase knowledge- they want validation on items they believe to be correct and if not they want answers. They want their product (knowledge) the same as any other customer- as quick as possible, easy to understand,in a professional manner, and with the attitude that they are important as a customer.
It is then given to them within those guidelines. Because the student / instructor dynamic is unique as a customer service perspective the instructor must assure that the 'listening"/ communication aspect is in full circle- if I give out information and you do not receive it, have I really given you the product that you wanted. SO feedback becomes the important leg of the tripod of the planning/execution/feedback model because it is the only way you know that all three elements were indeed performed correctly. Bottom line: I teach, in order to teach I must plan the information- I must effectively deliver it in a professional manner that involves the student, and then I must assess by feedback and listen to the feedback to assure the circle is complete. If done where the student believes they have 'learned' new information or has been validified- then they are happy customers.
Hi Dell,
I concur! We have to keep the stakeholder(student) happy!
Patricia Scales
In an educational setting customer service should focus on the student. The student is paying for a service and that service is enhanced knowledge to someday better their life style of living. The student is the stakeholder.
Hi Kanisha,
Absolutely! Without students there is no institution.
Patricia Scales
