Are students customers?

Transcription

Customer Service In the Academic Setting: Candid Thoughts of an Interested Party
AAPICU Conference,
Scottsdale, AZ
February 2010
Richard Hanks, President
Mindshare Technologies
(801) 263-2333
rhanks@mshare.net
CONFIDENTIAL
Copyright © Richard D. Hanks
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Our Agenda
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Introduction
Caveats and Biases
Observations
Suggestions and Thoughts
Q & A Throughout
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Mindshare: Experts in Enterprise Feedback Management
• We serve 25+ industries, 106+ countries, & 26+ languages
• Over 40 million surveys (~65,000/day)
• Named to the Inc. 500 fastest growing private US companies
• Passionate about the customer experience
• Nice guys
• Still learning, every day ‐ “Ancora Imparo”
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(Michelangelo)
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Richard Hanks’ book
"If you are interested in customer service, this is must reading."
William R. Tiefel, Chairman, CarMax, Ritz‐Carlton
“Full of actionable insights that can be put into practice today.”
Nolan D. Archibald, Chairman and CEO, Black & Decker
"Coaches leaders, on why and how to fulfill customer expectations.”
Clayton M. Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School
"Rich strikes a chord with operators.”
Bob Nilsen, CEO, Cafe Rio, Former President, Burger King
Go to:
www.deliverandmeasure.com
“As a student and teacher of the subject, this is the finest book on customer service I've ever read. Why? It's so practical, so down to earth‐‐beautifully bridging theory and principles with techniques and practices. A literal treasure trove of doable ideas!”
Stephen R. Covey, Author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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My Caveats and Biases
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My caveats and biases
1) I offer my profound appreciation
2) Not an expert in academics; an “interested party”
3) Student as a “customer” debate
4) Everyone thinks they’re special, unique, & different
5) Low‐hanging fruit in doing the basics
6) A focus on operations (tactics) wins. Why?
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What qualifies me as an “interested party?”
My favorite team and toughest critics
Accounting ’11
MBA ??
Political Science ‘08
Social Work ’10
Communications ‘07
Consumer Studies ’83
BYU: Accounting ’83
Northwestern: MBA ’86
Cornell: Adj. Prof ’92 - 02
Nuclear Fission ’30
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What else qualifies me as an “interested party?”
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• R. Dermont Bell
• K. Fred Skousen
• Hal Gregersen
• J. Bonner Ritchie
• Lawrence Lavengood
Think
Learn
Challenge
Grow
“Play with others”
Work
Discipline
Goals
Etc ...
Each of these men treated me with THE BEST possible kind of customer service…
courtesy for my efforts, honesty in judging my performance, respect for my potential, encouragement for my future.
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Debate: should students be considered “customers?”
A Student A Customer
IS NOT
IS
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Some quotes off the Internet…
• “Lots of talk about applying customer service principles to higher education.”
• “Simply stated, the term ‘Customer Service’
should stay in the business sector.”
• “Satisfaction is not a correct measurement of quality in higher education.”
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I really, really, really tried hard to understand this point of view. I searched and studied and contemplated. I was empathetic and dispassionate and as academic as I could be…
… and I’ve come to the following robust conclusion:
BALDERDASH! POPPYCOCK! BALONEY!
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Softening my stance a bit…
Okay, that’s a bit too harsh…
Of course there are major differences between business and academics, such as…
– Short‐term vs. longer‐term horizon
– A challenging, complex environment
– Improvement through difficulty
– Preparation for the outside world
– Some entitlement vs. pay‐for‐service issues
BUT, the concepts of customer service apply even more
in the academic setting, because higher education is often behind “best practices” in business.
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Debate: should students be considered “customers?”
My strong belief …
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Students are customers
Family members are customers
Friends are customers
Faculty, administrators are customers
Staff are customers
Donors are customers
Etc.
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Everyone thinks they’re special, unique, & different
“Sure, but my situation is different.”
Whose list of problems is this?
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Financial constraints
Marketing and attracting appropriate prospects
Retention
Recruiting
Training
Productivity
Every organization we work with!
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Everyone thinks they’re special, unique, & different
The measurement and improvement of five basic areas
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The product or service they came to experience.
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The person or team that delivered it.
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The process of doing business with your organization.
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The atmosphere, location, or method that encompassed it.
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The confidence and reassurance they’ve felt during their experience.
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Low‐hanging fruit in doing the basics
• All the “extra‐credit” stuff is lost if the basics aren’t there.
“The wild rush to find the new,
often tramples on what is true.*”
• My recent hotel experience ….
* Quoted by Quentin Cook
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Low‐hanging fruit in doing the basics
my hotel experience
WOW, check these out…
• New showerhead
• Room safe
• 36” Flat Screen TV
• Games and movies
• City magazine
• Wallpaper redo
• Electric plugs up high
• Plastic sign saying…
“Did you forget something?”
Too bad…
• Clogged sink
• 3 bulbs, 2 missing!
• Towel to dry one leg
• Soap to clean other leg
• Bedsheet – super nice hole
• Toilet paper 3‐microns thick
• How small can a shampoo bottle get, really?
How does this apply to you?
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Basics
My three favorite quotes from 13 years in the hotel business…
“Hot food Hot, Cold food Cold!”
– JW Marriott
“Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub.”
– Conrad Hilton
“I want my bath to run hot in two minutes flat. I don’t want to hear plumbing noises. I want a good bed and pillows. I want my breakfast right away. I want good croissants. I want people to be polite to me, and I don’t want to hear their side of the story.”
– Baron Von Rothschild
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A focus on operations wins! Why?
In my experience:
More organizations are failing due to poor execution,
than are failing due to poor strategy.
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Need more execution, less planning
Need more operations, less research
You don’t know what your “customer” is experiencing
Customer involvement is no longer optional
They’ll tell the world if you mess up
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Some Observations
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Some observations
1) Without continuously asking, you won’t know what they’re thinking
2) Student behavior/motivations have changed, what to do?
3) The definition of “real‐time” ain’t what it used to be
4) The fallacy of the “captive audience”
5) Word of mouth may be hurting your loyalty
6) What we learned in Stats 101 about sampling is wrong
7) Silver bullet attitude: “A Complaint is a Gift”
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The need to continuously measure
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We think we know what the customer is experiencing
But …. do we?
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You can’t be everywhere
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Student behavior/motivations have changed. What to do?
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Cell phones & texting
Attention span
Discourtesy
Decreased attendance
Declining commitment and focus
Surely, the “customer” is not always right?
Yes, she is! Or get out of the service business.
Respect is earned, not demanded or assigned.
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The definition of “real‐time” has changed
• Definition of “real‐time.”
Your grandparents’? Yours? Your children?
• Listening and responding to customers will migrate from…
What they remember about their experience? To…
What just happened at their experience? To…
What is happening during their experience?
• Urgency is a perception and a reality! (Kate at restaurant)
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Urgency!
Urgency and responsiveness
will differentiate organizations in the future!
Why?
Almost everything else can be copied!
(Who, what, when, why, where, how?)
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Powerful story!
(Real‐time Feedback, Immediate Recovery)
CAPTURE
FEEDBACK
CONSTANTLY
IMPROVE
SEE REAL-TIME
REPORTS
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The fallacy of the “captive audience”
• There is no such thing anymore
• Have you fired a bank? Fired a dentist? Fired a gas station?
• One specific type of captive audience situation ‐ where bad performance does not always lead to short‐term consequences:
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Health Clinics Medical professionals Academic Family Business = captive geography
= the “God” complex
= tenure
= entitlement
• The walls of protection are falling!
• We must now serve, with competency, with passion, with understanding, and without condescension
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Word of mouth may be hurting your loyalty
Developing loyalty drives success!
On average, it costs 5‐10 times as much to secure a new customer as to retain an existing customer.*
lion
mil
Upset consumers will tell 8 other people about their bad experiences.*
A 5% increase in loyalty can lead to: 25% to 85% increase in profits!**
* (TARP Studies: 1986 – 1998)
** (From “Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services,” by Fred Reichheld
and W. Earl Sasser, Jr., Harvard Business Review, Sept 1990.)
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Word of mouth may be hurting your loyalty
• The conversation goes on, whether or not we are listening.
• Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Ratemyprofessors.com, etc.
• Good
• Bad
For example: What about those we reject, deny, or delay?
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What we learned in Stats 101 about sampling is wrong
• There’s a new world order; n = 1
• What if it’s your steak that’s burned? Your daughter that was denied admission rudely? Your son’s application lost in the mail?
• There is also no longer an acceptable level of satisfaction lower than 100%
(For example: “Pin a carnation on the 4% please.”)
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Steve Weisz
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Silver bullet attitude:
“A complaint is a gift*”
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Ask for feedback – fight the fear and ego
Make it easy for customers to tell you Stop looking for blame and fix the problem
Set goals for continuous improvement
“The really good employees are the ones who
WANT to be measured!”
* (From “A Complaint is a Gift” by J. Barlow & C. Moller, Berrett-Koelhler Publishers, 1996)
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A few suggestions and thoughts
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A few suggestions and thoughts
1) Assign a full‐time champion. (Passion! Authority! Initiative!)
2) Measure! Measure! Measure!
3) Attack the process – attack the details
4) Hold individuals accountable
5) Take action
6) Don’t just sit back and let the Social Media megaphone just “happen” to you.
7) “Fish where the fish are”
8) Create a “customer‐centric” culture
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Assign a full‐time champion
• Passion. Authority. Initiative.
“Every great institution is merely the lengthened shadow of an individual.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
“Stroll every park, search every city,
You’ll find no monument to a committee!”
(Victoria Pasternak)
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Measure! Measure! Measure!
All customers! All “moments of truth”
(Jan Carlzon)
Potential Applications
Student/Family/Friends
Admissions
In‐class Internet homepage
Online support/service
Call center (support/tuition)
Relationship measurement
Market Research
Product experience Enhancement requests New course evaluation Student demographics Employee (Faculty/Staff/Admin)
Employee satisfaction Hiring and tracking Performance reviews
Training
Course evaluation Exit interviews
Ethics and culture
Vendor/Partner
Compliance measurement
Relationship measurement
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Compliance & QC Audits
Mystery shops
Internal quality audits
Process performance
Data Collection
Registrations Risk assessment
Social Media
Social networking pulse
Social feedback & blogs
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Measure! Measure! Measure!
Rule #1 : Listen to the customer.
Rule #1(b) : (You’re NOT the customer.)
The “customer” is the new Rule Maker!
1.
2.
3.
What are the top 5 complaints of students, families, faculty, staff, accepted, turned‐aways, administrators? Eliminate them. Lather – Rinse – Repeat
Understand why. (“How” you’re performing and “why” performing are not the same thing)
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Attack the process! Attack the details!
• Details matter: 1631 King James Bible typo
“Thou shalt commit adultery.”
• “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” This quote is…
Right for life, but…
Wrong for business success (each touch‐point matters)
• Redesign processes from the “customer’s” perspective
• 1,000’s of examples: (Here are a few)
Email and voice mail response (“Today”)
EIWO
Up‐selling syntax (“Drink with that or no?”)
My eye Dr. (adhesive, drops)
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Attack the process! Attack the details!
An illustrative example: ADMISSIONS: One area.
What: All applicants will be notified within ten days of an admissions decision and/or missing application materials in their file.
Why:
Improve the level of satisfaction that prospective students experience during applications and admissions.
Who ‐ Target: 15,000 Applicants, 45 Employees.
Who Accountable: Bob Smith, Champion.
When: Process review July 15 , suggested action, July 22
th
nd, measurement in place, August 12th, improvement noted October 29th.
How: Checklists, cross‐training of all staff, sub‐deadlines, separate check, etc.
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Accountability
Hold people accountable for change
“That which gets measured, gets done.”
If there is no change in…
requirements, stewardship, compensation …
There will be no change in behavior!
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Goal
Take action!
So, now what am I supposed to do with all of this feedback?
So, what is the goal of customer feedback?
Is it … Invitation? Collection? Analytics? Dissemination?
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Action!
Change!
Improvement!
No research/feedback really matters, if there is no accountability for action, change, and improvement.
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Respond! Act!
Action
What kind of action?
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Service Lapse Recovery (Before “at risk” students permanently defect)
Recognition of Stars (Employees/processes)
Problem Remediation (Employees/processes)
Internal & External Customers (Servants serving servants)
Suggestions for new (Products/Services)
Transparency: tell me that you listened, and took action!
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Respond! Act!
Customer recovery
(Not a bad idea, really.)
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Customer recovery
Goes beyond “complaint resolution” –
which solves problems but doesn’t fix them.
A. Provide a real‐time forum to voice their complaint B. Respond immediately!
C. Respond locally: requires local accountability 1. “Fix” the internal issue
• Person – Process – Place – Thing
2. “Fix” the customer
• Contact. Empathy. Accept responsibility. Recover
3. Tell customers what you fixed
• Transparency ‐ loyalty
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Don’t just sit back and let Social Media megaphone just “happen” to you!
Buzz, Catch, Shout
Buzz = what’s the level of chatter about you?
Catch = can you add structure to the unstructured comments?
Shout = are you using this incredible medium to spread the positives about your school?
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Fish where the fish are
• We may need to re‐think our paradigms.
• Bring the mountain to them. • Adapt to their lives.
Examples:
– Professor that uses Facebook to manage class.
– Scout Leader that always sends texts 2 hours before events.
– Short surveys (attention span)
– Real‐time learning
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Opt‐In Tools
T2V
Te xt “I RI
SH2” at T2V
Text “IRISH1” at 41411
41411
V
2
Email
Webpage
Permission Data Base
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800#
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Create a “customer‐centric” culture
Authentic belief and leadership
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How to create a “customer‐centric” culture
• Senior leadership commitment and involvement
• Alignment and communication
• Attitudes: mistakes are okay. “A Complaint is a Gift.” Customers are #1.
• Ask for customer feedback everywhere and continuously
• A structured process for using customer feedback – effective resolution
• Reward structures
• Recognition and appreciation
• Coaching and training
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How to create a “customer‐centric” culture
Please indulge me in one “softer,” “emotional” suggestion…
We are the servants of the of the future generation.
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Perhaps the most important thing…
The most elevating use of service is how it impacts lives. To a group of visiting students, Albert Schweitzer said:
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”
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Discussion
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Thought‐starters
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Someone “tweets” about your school today – what should you do? Do you do?
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Your lieutenant says, “I already know what our students want and need.”
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Does Black and Decker sell drill bits? (Marketing Myopia – Theodore Leavitt – HBR 1960) do you?
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“The variations WITHIN an organization easily dwarf the differences between competitors.” (HBR)
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Moments of Truth at your school
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Balanced Scorecard and measurement
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Market research “sampling” vs. mystery shopping vs. asking all
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Loyalty vs. satisfaction (emotional connection) But, no loyalty without satisfaction.
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THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY
Richard Hanks, President
Mindshare Technologies
(801) 263-2333
rhanks@mshare.net
mshare.net
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Are students customers?

Transcription

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