Customer Service
I truly believe we are the customer service center for instruction in our schools. The secretary and the front office staff are the customer service center for general information for parents, but we provide the detailed information about academics for teachers, parents, students, and administration.
Joel Polsky posted on Customer Service with Seven Steps to Remarkable Customer Service.
1. Fix everything two ways
2. Suggest blowing out the dust (my personal favorite)
3. Make customers into fans
4. Take the blame
5. Memorize awkward phrases
6. Practice puppetry
7. Greed will get you nowhere
8. (Bonus!) Give customer service people a career path
Having worked in retail I have a few extra comments on Customer Service. I was essentially THE first person customers dealt with when they had a problem. I learned very quickly not to take it personally by memorizing phrases while actually meaning what I was saying. So here is my list:
1. Be part of the team. (company, project, school, student support team)
2. Be part of the solution. Make finding a way for everyone to be happy foremost and communicate your intent during the process. Creativity is a plus. Dogmatism is a minus.
3. Be honest. I admit that it is very easy to make mistakes. I appreciate parents taking the time to let me know when one may have occurred so together we can fix it. If I am honest about my mistakes, others feel free to be honest when they make a mistake. I do have phrases I memorized to use in retail, but I make sure that I wasn’t being superficial.
4. Respect the other person. I respect the parent who contacts me and takes their precious time to follow up. I respect the teacher who wants to improve situations even if I don’t agree with them. I respect the administrator who wants a better-run school and I will share my expertise with them.
5. State it positively. See Joel’s hint #2 above. I may have more expertise in some technology troubleshooting, but making someone else feel badly about their role will not help in the long run.
