Hi Thomas,
Yes, the approach is sound, and your institution is dead on. The end product is all the matters. We want to produce a quality employee for the employer.
Patricia Scales
A student is came to school for a product...which is education. Most students have to pay for this product or education which make the student a customer. As educators we need to give the student what they are paying for, or more. That means our role is to give "customer service" to our students.
Our institution has defined our customers as the industry companies that will be hiring our grads. That has completely changed the way I approach my students. Although I still see my responsibility as serving the students by providing all the skills necessary to succeed in the field, I see them as the finished product. If I don't provide them everything I can, I am letting down our "customers". Is this approach sound?
Hi Carmina,
Let them know honestly and immediately that they are not always right, and they will abide by rules, policies, and procedures or else...
Patricia Scales
Hi DANIEL,
Nicely stated! Our students need our encouragement. We have to cheer them on. We are some of our students biggest and only cheerleader!
Patricia Scales
Hi Joseph,
Some students are hard to reel in. Continue to give as much encouragement as you can. With encouragement you will certainly keep more than you will lose. We have to be our students biggest cheerleader.
Patricia Scales
Although the student is a customer, he can be difficult to deal with as they are unmotivated and uninterested in their future. They tend to be focused on right now, and can be hard to reach.
Students enroll in our school to get the training they need to be successful. As instructors we need to do our best to teach and motivate our students so they are successful in their chosen field. We have little control over nonacademic barriers but can help and encourage the student overcome personal factors.
What are the steps do you take in dealing with students who demands to be treated as customers (customers always right attitude)?
Hi Kelly,
It is definitely an involvment on each person's part. We as educators must give our students what they need in order to be successful in the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi Quebec,
Nicely stated! A favorite moto of mine, "A student does not care how much you know until they know how much you care".
Patricia Scales
Customer Service in the educational setting should be focused on learning as the top priority. Customer service must also come from a sincere place and must be implemented with sincerity. Even as instructors we have a responsibility to provide customer service that gives our students the impression that we care and we want them to achieve their goals.
In education, the student is the customer in the sense they are there to learn a particular skill set or role. As the instructor, you need to assess what the needs of the student are and how you can assist them with goal completion and success. Customer service is the collaboration of student and instructor in the delivery and synthesis of knowledge and/or skill sets.
Hi David,
Nicely stated! The student, our customer, must be very receptive to our guidance. We as educators have what it takes to take our students to the next level.
Patricia Scales
I slightly disagree. Specifically the customer service and that we can not affect Customer service because it is a function of a product. Before coming to the Postsecondary education field, I worked for over ten years in customer service. Customer service is not just about the product(the Education)but also the delivery thereof as well as the support and friendliness of those around the delivery and transaction of the Product (the Education). The focus with Customer Service is not just upon the delivery but they way we all must focus and direct our efforts in the anticipation of needs and satisfying our customers in relation to our rules and procedures. The question to be asked "would you be happy with the way something was handled?" If the answer is no, then we move forward and rectify, so that the student leaves with a good taste in their mouth.
Customer service is designated in an educational arena as one where the person receiving the educational "services", the student, is our customer and must be the recipient of our services and focus in providing an enriching experience. The purpose with setting our students as customers is to create a shift of focus of an institution in the realization that our efforts are supported by and provided as a result of our students, the customers.
Hi Steven,
I concur! Bottom line is to prepare our students so that they are successful in the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi Terry,
I agree! We have to treat our students as students so that they are ready to be successful in the real world. Students are not always right as they saying goes with customers.
Patricia Scales
This is a interesting question. The Student is a customer and a product. The student is paying to be at school but the industry, that we are teaching these Students for, expect a certain level of knowledge from these Students. It is a fine line between treating these Students as a customer and a Student.
Students enroll in our school to get the training and knowledge they need to be successful. As instructors we need to do our best to teach, train and motivate our students so they are successful in their chosen fields. Instructors have little control over nonacademic barriers but can help and encourage the student overcome personal factors.
Unlike in the business setting where a satisfied customer is solely up to the business supplying the product or service which has more control over the final outcome.
