Happy students mean higher retention, higher referral rates and higher conversion rates.
So how do you ensure your students are happy?
1. Know your students and talk with them – regularly. When was the last time you greeted your students as they entered your building? When was the last time you introduced yourself to a student, asked for their name and asked how you could help them today? When was the last time you took a student out for coffee or lunch and talked about them rather than your institution?
Make the time because you want to build the relationship with the individual when they are happy and excited about being involved with you – not when they are upset.
2. Train your staff on student service policies and practices. You want everyone on your team that interacts with the student (prospective, current, alum) to be ready to consistently deliver the same valuable experience.
3. Keep it real. A consistent experience doesn’t need to be cold and lacking personality. Establish guidelines and parameters but give your staff room to be themselves because, after all, people do business with people and part of your success will come from dedicated staff that take personal pride in serving the student. (Read this article as just one example.)
4. Educate and empower your staff. Teach them more than just the policies – teach them the reasoning behind the policies. Then be ready for and open to questions and suggestions – because, after all, your staff are the people that directly engage with the student and are responsible for their satisfaction!
Allowing your staff to make informed decisions that are in the best interests of the student will pay off in the near and long-term – so make sure you support this.
5. Exceed expectations. In order to accomplish this, you must also establish and manage expectations so make sure you are sharing relevant, valuable information when you talk with the student.
Explain the process and why it exists – this also provides you with great student commentary on your processes!
6. Think long term. Would you risk $40,000 in potential sales for $75? That’s what one store manager recently did with me – and only his district manager understood my arguement which means the front-line person failed and the customer had to escalate the situation to senior management. Since most customer just walk away with their money, you need to make sure your front-line staff understands the role in the organization’s success and takes personal responsibility for consistently delivering superior service.
So is that late fee really that important?
