Are You Being Served? Good Customer Service in the New Economy

Sounds like this has no relevance to working in schools or leading educational communities?  In reality, it has more to do with you and all of us in a "people" business than we might first think.  

Doing more with less is the new mantra, even for those schools who have enough and then some.  For those institutions who have had to cut programs or faculty or services that families had come to expect, your customers are going to be watching. As soon as they experience a drop in service they will begin to look around for another school.  This means that every person in your employ has to be focused on excellence and connection to the families you serve. 

A parent cannot come into the school without being greeted immediately - no matter how short-staffed the front office might be. You cannot have a parent waiting with no recognition while someone is on the phone; they will feel unwelcome and unimportant. Think about the all-too-frequent experiences we have had of approaching someone to provide service in a department store or a Home Depot or a local bookstore and they are on their cell phone or talking to a colleague or just lost in space.  Do you feel like you matter?  What about the times you have had to wander through a store looking for someone to take your money?  Do you feel valued?

Everyone in your institution is part of your ad campaign.  They ARE your service delivery team. They deserve support to be the best ambassadors they can be and recognition that it becomes more difficult when all of you are doing more with less.  It is not just what happens in the classroom that will keep your school full and your families happy.  It is every little detail that either says "We don't care if you shop here"  or "You are just the person we have been waiting for."

How are you doing?