How the Customer Service Experience Counts for Colleges

For the several years that I worked at a community college, my prior background in customer service operations was a big help. It also helped that I had the support of the school’s leadership, which understood that attention to the customer experience enhances enrollment numbers. By customer, I’m mainly referring to students, but also to internal and external customers, the community, and the people I came into in contact with daily.

As we all know, the slow economy has contributed to record enrollment growth at colleges nationwide. The economy will improve, but it is important to look beyond current enrollment numbers to focus on how colleges are going to retain the students that are now coming into schools by the droves.

Here are five tips to enhance the student (that is, the customer) experience, so that he or she will want to stay at the college long after the economy improves.

1. Provide a positive experience at every touch point. Each time a person contacts the college by telephone, mail, fax, or online, they should be confident that they are going to have a great experience every time.
2. Follow up with each student contact. If you are not capturing each contact, you are missing an opportunity to either retain a student or gain a new one.
3. Follow through on all requests in a timely manner—if you are asked to send out information, make sure that you do so quickly. You will rarely have a second chance.
4. Invest in technology that enhances, not replaces, the overall customer experience. Automated systems that cause people to become frustrated lose you business.
5. Engage you students to ensure student success and provide support systems that go beyond registering for classes. Put yourself in the student’s shoes and create relationships that last beyond the first day of classes—remember, your customers may have younger siblings.

Now is the time examine and reevaluate the overall customer experience your students are receiving. You cannot afford to wait until the economy gets better.

Invert the Pyramid and Retain Your Customers

We’ve all seen business organizational charts that show a pyramid hierarchy—you know, the ones that generally show the customers at the bottom?

Every day we hear on the news that companies are paying top dollar to retain talent—it’s an incentive for employees to stay with an organization. But what if companies decided to invert the pyramid, and start to place the highest corporate value on the people at the bottom—the customers? They are the people who can make or break a company. Why aren’t we incentivizing our customers by placing them at the top of the hierarchy?

It’s time to invert the pyramid, add value to the customers experience when they choose to do business with us. It will not only encourage customer loyalty but enhance your ability to retain your customers. Even in the worst economies, price and the cost of your services take a back seat compared to the overall customer satisfaction and service customers yearn for.

So, what are you going to do to invert your business pyramid?

Influential Leadership Lasts a Lifetime

I had an incredible conversation with a former coworker the other day. You know the ones where you connect like you never lost touch? Without going into too many details, I'll share snippets of the conversation with you. He had just visited my Website and watched a video interview where I was discussing "doing the opposite" of what you see bad in others. We talked about leaders who lead by fear or intimidation, the inexperienced leaders who just “happened” to know the right person at the right time, aka, the suck up.

What I liked most was that our conversation wasn't focused on the poor leadership we have worked with, but on the type of leadership that helped shape our careers. During our conversation, my coworker remarked that the most effective leaders he has worked with, and he has worked for big name corporations, were the ones who were successful at influencing others. Influential leaders make a difference in your career long after you or they have left the company. Influential leaders are able to do more than just quote theories from Keirsey and others. They are actually able to understand and apply the principles. Influential leaders can express themselves with passion and conviction, not avoidance and cowardness, and influential leaders are unafraid to speak up and stand up for their people, not cower in a corner.

I am glad my friend called me at that time on that day; it is because of that conversation that I will keep striving to be an influential leader, and in the process, make a positive difference in others' careers.


What are you going to do to make your mark and be remembered?

Can a Bad Boss Make You a Better Leader?

We have all heard the stories about working for a “bad boss,” or endured one ourselves. I've worked for a few over the years; including one who employed the "Dr. Dre philosophy" (check out my past blogs for that explanation). But it is possible for you to become a better leader from experiences with the overbearing, the unprofessional and the outright awful boss--do the opposite.

Would you believe 40 percent of workers in the business world think they work for bad bosses? Those findings are from a Florida State University study. As for what constitutes a bad boss, the study participants gave a variety of answers:

• 39 percent said their managers failed to keep promises.
• 37 percent said their bosses did not give them the credit they deserved.
• 31 percent indicated their supervisor gave them "the silent treatment."
• 27 percent reported negative comments from their management.
• 24 percent claimed their bosses invaded their privacy.
• 23 percent stated that their supervisor blamed them or other workers to cover up personal mistakes.

Source: http://www.management-issues.com/2007/9/11/blog/some-bad-boss-statistics.asp

So, how do you avoid the pitfalls of becoming a “bad boss” statistic? You start by doing the opposite of the bad you see:

• If you are not keeping your commitments, it is time to start.
• If you are taking credit for others' work, it's time to start giving others credit. Remember, we don’t achieve success alone.
• If you are not communicating with your staff, the time to start is now. Not tomorrow, not after the meeting, now.
• If you think constructive criticism and constructive feedback are the same, it's time to change your thinking.
• If you make a mistake, acknowledge it and move on.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that I find it hard to believe someone would wake up and choose to be a bad boss, but the reality is they do exist, and instead of imitating the bad, learn what makes them bad, do the opposite and become a better boss.

Management Philosophy According to Dr. Dre?

As I often reflect on things I have experienced in my career, I cannot help but chuckle when I think back to a conversation with a director I temporarily reported to. During our first one-on-one, get-to-know-you meeting, I asked him to describe his management philosophy and his response to me was--the Dr. Dre philosophy. Now for those of you unfamiliar with Dr. Dre, his bio describes him as an American record producer, rapper, record executive and actor. Intrigued by his answer, I asked him to explain the Dr. Dre philosophy in further detail. He went on to tell me that it was quite simple, “You get me, I get you back.”

For the record, I should state that I do not have a problem with rappers, hip-hop or rap music. Truth be told, I kind of like it. But, I become a little concerned with one's management experience if you model your philosophies based solely on lyrics from a rap song or rap artist with "doctor" in their stage name. If you find yourself in that position, I feel compelled to offer a little constructive feedback:

• Do not assume just because someone’s stage name has "doctor" in it that they truly have a doctorate in management or leadership, or anything. Do a little initial research just to make sure.
• Don’t assume that informing your employee, “If you get me, I get you back,” will not be perceived as a threat.
• Try not to recite lyrics from rap songs in your initial one-on-one meeting with your employees. Try to wait until the second or third team meeting if you must.

Lastly, if any of the above describes your management style, please do us a favor and change careers immediately.

Ted Kennedy and the Legacy of Leadership

Last week Senator Edward M. Kennedy lost his battle to cancer. Over the weekend I was glued to the TV like most people watching coverage of his life and death. I could not help but be amazed by the fact that in interview after interview, from his family members and colleagues, to the average person on the street, how much he touched people’s lives because of his leadership. What a legacy Kennedy leaves behind, but most importantly, the type of leader he was offers us lessons we can all learn from.

Admit you are not perfect: Senator Kennedy was the first to admit he had made mistakes throughout his life, both personally and professionally. He even stated in an interview that he thought about giving up his senate seat because of some past mistakes and misjudgments.

Use your leadership to help others: Kennedy was known to take up causes of the voiceless, the underserved and the less fortunate. From civil rights and equal pay to education and healthcare, he fought for to right what he felt was inadequate.

Leadership is a privilege, not a right: Some will say Senator Kennedy was given his position because of his family's wealth or brother’s influence. But just like the support he received from those who elected him, leaders need the support of people to maintain their position.

Be an agent of change: Kennedy pursued issues with passion to make changes that would benefit the majority regardless of what opposition lay ahead. Most of us know, sometimes doing what is right is not always the same as doing what is popular.

Never forget to acknowledge others: While watching the coverage, I heard story after story from people who said that they had a problem, wrote the senator and he wrote them back. It has also been noted he felt it important to thank others and was known to send handwritten notes and letters frequently.

Be willing to listen and compromise: Leaders from both parties remarked how the senator had a record amount of bills passed. The common theme to these statements was that Kennedy was willing to listen and make compromises when needed.

As leaders, we should always strive to leave things better than we found them, to make a difference, to take risks and leave a legacy others will remember.

What will your leadership legacy be?

No More Negative Chatter

It never ceases to amaze me that just when you are all set to bet on you, others point out reasons why you shouldn’t. I call this negative chatter. It can bring you down, set you back, and stop you from reaching your goals. But only if you let it.

When I talked to people about wanting to start a consulting company, I heard many reasons about why I shouldn’t do it, including “this is not the time to start a business,” and “most businesses fail in the first five years,” and so on. It reminded me of two other times in my life when I was discussing big life decisions: when I got engaged—almost 20 years ago—and every miserable married person told me how 50 percent of marriages fail, so I should think before I say “I do,” and when I was pregnant with our first daughter and everyone felt compelled to share their horrible labor stories with me.

If I had listened to the negative chatter, I would never have gotten married, had kids, worked a job, graduated from college, or started a business. Don’t let negative shatter deflate your dreams or sabotage your self worth. Here, four tips to help you tune out the chatter.

1. Consider the source of the negativity and remind yourself what’s right about your decision. Commit to looking at all things positively and don’t be afraid to look into the future.
2. See yourself five years down the road living the successful life, knowing that what you are doing now is setting the stage for what you want to do.
3. Dare to dream big. Don’t limit yourself by doubting your skill and ambition before you even try to make your dreams become reality. Doubts are dead ends we set for ourselves. You only fail when you choose not to try.
4. Keep moving forward and don’t look back—even if that means you have to leave some people behind sometimes. They may not have your best interest at heart. Choose not to take the negative chatter with you.

So tell me, how do you say no to no more to negative chatter?
Email me at Patricia@xpectresults.com