What Customer Experience Means for Schools

Customer Experience (CX) is the rage in the service organization world. McKinsey, the elite global consulting group, is all about CX these days, pushing its clients, and anyone else who will listen, to focus on reducing the "friction" for customers in engaging with the business. The idea is to make the CX as friction-free as possible as a way of reducing the barriers for people to access services.Friction points happen anywhere customers (in our sector, read parents) interact with the school. Enrollment, paying tuition, conferences, and assessment reports are all examples, and there are many, many more. The idea is that reducing friction (anything that makes completing the transaction difficult) makes it easier for people to continue their relationship with our school.Forrester suggests mapping your customer "touchpoints"; touchpoints are where the friction happens. The touchpoints that matter most are "[c]ritical steps in journeys where customers are paying the most attention, are most anxious, or appreciate value the most."The problem is that school people, especially teachers, tend to be allergic to conversations about CX. Chances are that the moments that cause teachers the most problems are touchpoints where parents pay attention, are anxious, and/or appreciate value the most. Maybe a way of beginning the conversation is to engage your faculty in identifying these sorts of moments and strategizing about how to reduce the friction, because high friction only means more problems.