Hello, How May I Help You Today
The importance of good customer service to schools and business.
Excellent customer service is the lifeblood of education and business.
Customer service is just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate type of activity. Leon Gorman
I have served people for most of my career as an administrator and teacher. We provide a vital product to community-an education. Our students and parents are customers. We must create an environment conducive to learning. Success cannot be attained in the classroom if we don’t deliver a great product.
We must inform the parents about the progress of their child. The dialogue is understanding and compassionate as we deliver how well their student is doing in our classroom. The parent needs to feel welcome in the school and comfortable asking any questions. It’s our responsibility to deliver an excellent customer service experience.
I am sure if you have school-age children that you expect a great conversation and greeting when you walk in the building. As citizens of a community, we expect courtesy and excellent service when we sit down with our child’s teacher or principal.
However, you don’t find this experience in some schools and business. In some cases, the provider of the services has the attitude they are doing you a favor by even speaking to you.
Politeness goes a long way in business.
Civility, politeness, it’s like a cement in a society: binds it together. And when we lose it, then I think we all feel lesser and slightly dirty because of it. Jeremy Irons
If a business desires increased profits and return customers, politeness and excellent customer service must be practiced during every transaction. Customers are willing to spend 17 percent more on purchases as a result of excellent service at the point of sale. We all appreciate excellent customer service and are eager to reward the business and employee with a high satisfaction survey and return business.
If the service is horrible, I will go to another business to spend my hard-earned money. We don’t deserve to feel unwelcome when we are checking out or speaking to someone on the phone. Rude comments and aggravation should not come from the person either behind the register or over the phone.
I was on the phone with an auto repair shop a day ago. I’ve always had a great relationship with the owner and the shop manager. Their services are excellent, and the repairs are flawlessly done. However, in recent years, as the business expanded, more employees were hired.
Most are great people with exceptional service skills. However, when I made a call about repairs to a vehicle, I wasn’t greeted; instead, I was rudely told to place the phone to my mouth. I was offended by this comment and almost hung up. I informed her of how rude she was, but, of course, she thought she wasn’t.
She not understanding her rudeness was a problem. Not being able to recognize when you are rude to a customer, in my opinion, is because of a lack of training in customer service.
Please educate your employees on customer service.
No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education. An educated workforce is the foundation of every community and the future of every economy. Brad Henry
I am a former school administrator, and customer service was an integral part of my job. I am a firm believer excellent customer service not only improves schools but businesses as well. However, to reap the benefits of exceptional service, a manager or principal must train the frontlines. Those frontlines consist of teachers in a school building and the ones on the sales floor in any business.
Without proper training, a person may not recognize how their attitude is affecting their interaction with a person. We are all emotional beings, and our lives can carry over to our communications with customers and students. However, we must leave those at the door and remember the treatment we want when we transact business or enter a school building.
Furthermore, we cannot blame the customer for whatever went wrong. It’s our responsibility to make it right. Yes, customers or parents are demanding, but we must ask questions and ascertain how to correct the problem.
Dissolve conflict with a smile and courtesy. We must teach these ideas to our customer service representative and teachers, and provide them with scenarios they may face in the teaching or customer service experience.
Allow them to role-play different situations and discuss what went well and how to improve. Creating different scenarios can allow an employee to see in real-time how to act in a difficult situation. When I was a school administrator, I often posed conditions to my teachers they may encounter with a parent or a student.
Training is invaluable and can go along way in improving a business or a school, but without it, failure becomes more of a possibility.
We must treat each other with respect if we want it in return.
Honest communication is built on truth and integrity and upon respect of the one for the other. Benjamin E. Mays
In business, education, and essential human encounters, we must treat each other with respect. If you want it in return, you must give it.
I have a part-time job in a retail establishment. Ever since I began working there, several customers mentioned to management how polite and respectful I am when they are at my register.
Other employees regularly make the statement of how enjoyable I make the checking out process. When I receive these compliments, I often acknowledge my southern upbringing. I was raised to treat people with respect, and it carries over to my teaching and second job.
I do this because I expect it when going to a business or school building. I anticipate a greeting of hello and may I help you. We all want this when we walk into an establishment providing a service. No one wants to spend their dollars in a store which treats them disrespectfully. Furthermore, I can’t see a parent sending their child to a school where they feel unwelcome and unwanted.
How many of us have deserted a business we loved because of a horrible experience. On occasion, it’s hard to leave because the product provided is exceptional. However, sometimes, the loss of a great product is warranted when the service leaves you feeling misused and upset.
We all deserve respect when we either send our children to a local school or patronize a business. Our dollars fuel the economy, and without our resources, the business world would fall apart. I don’t understand how a person can stand behind a counter and scowl at a customer when their job hinges on repeat business.
Excellent customer service is hard to find, but we appreciate the teachers and business professionals who make it their mission to provide an exceptional experience for all involved.
