Services Management in Education

Principles
Service Management Principles Ease the Transition for Higher Education
Students
Today’s students are not having the same experience that we did when we
packed our bags and set off to university. Today, they are connecting via video
conference and turning in assignments digitally. Award ceremonies and
performance art begin with IT professionals setting up a live stream. Educators
stay in touch via email, text message and social media. Application processing and
fees are all handled electronically.
Our higher ed institutions are being forced to undergo digital
transformation in the same way as all other industries right now. Service desks,
administration, and IT professionals in the education sector use service
management principles to best support today’s students.

A. Definition of the principles of a public service delivery system

A strong and good-quality public service delivery system should be grounded on
the following five principles, as defined here.
Principle 1: Accessibility
Citizens must be informed in a complete, timely and easily accessible
manner of any activities of government relevant to the exercise of their rights,
and this must include opportunity for the public to scrutinize government
decision-making.
Principle 2: Participation
The right of citizens to have their views and relevant information
considered before a decision is made by the government, at all levels.
Principle 3: Accountability
The obligation of government to meet adequate standards of transparency,
participation and legality by providing effective review of the rules and decisions it
makes.
Principle 4: Non-discrimination and inclusiveness
The equal right of every citizen to access or receive public service delivery
and to have equal opportunity to participate in government activities.
Principle 5: Responsiveness
The capacity of government to satisfy the needs of citizens and ensuring
that citizens are served responsibly by government agencies and officials.
B. Process for implementing principles of a public service delivery system
1. Accessibility
• Accessible: The availability of access and the openness of the
information.
• Intelligible: The quality of the information disclosed, understood as
precise and relevant.
• Reliable: The availability of the information in a timely manner.
THE PRINCIPLES, PROCESSES AND INDICATORS OF A PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY
SYSTEM
6 ASEAN Guidelines on Public Service Delivery
2. Participation
• Breadth:Thedegreetowhichagovernment’sdecision-
makingadequately incorporates
public values.
• Depth: The quality of involving citizens and addressing the levels of
exchange between
citizens and government in a participatory process.
• Outcomes: The goals of the participatory process are in line with the
vision of citizens.
3. Accountability
• Awareness: Providing constant information to citizens.
• Ownership: Accepting responsibility for past, present and future
initiatives of actions
and results.
• Trustworthy: Providing public service delivery that is responsive,
honest and
competent, even in the absence of constant scrutiny.
4. Non-discrimination and inclusiveness
• Equitable treatment: Providing public service delivery to a socially,
ethnically, culturally
and economically diverse society designed to meet individual needs.
• Respect: Creating excellent public service delivery by having
professional interaction
with citizens (passionate, listen and focus on the resolution).
• Mutual trust: Cultivating a culture that promotes a good relationship
between citizens
and government, in which citizens trust the government and the government
trusts
citizens.
5. Responsiveness
• Partnering with citizens: Governments are increasingly engaging
with citizens to
ensure government responsiveness in public services.
• Policy communication: Information flows on policy actions reach all
citizens.
 • Policy representation: The views and opinions of citizens are
reflected in policymaking.
C. Indicators for applying the five principles
The following are the indicators (discussed and agreed by the ASEAN Member
States) that can be used to apply the principles of good-quality public service
delivery and monitoring whether the government stays true to them. See the
annexes for the tools that can be used in this process.
1. Accessibility
• How is information disclosure of local government activities
accessed?
• How can government documents and data be requested in a timely
manner?
• How are government regulations published in a timely manner?
• How does government regularly disclose all information required by
citizens (including the amount of fees to be paid, if any)?
• How do dedicated platforms of the government manage and
disclose information to the public?
• Do citizens easily understand government information?
ASEAN Guidelines on Public Service Delivery 7
2. Participation
Breadth
• Who participates (government should take into account
representation of intended targets and vital sectors)?
• How many people participate?
• How often do people participate?
• How are citizens’ identities protected when necessary?
Depth
 • How are citizens involved in different ways?
• How is the two-way flow of information fostered through meetings,
hearings and surveys?
• How are citizens and institutional relationships promoted?
(It will be measured by the number of meetings and the use of information from
citizens to improve the government policy).
Outcomes
• How do citizens influence decision-making processes?
• How is the quality of decisions improved?
• How does government contribute to citizens’ knowledge?
(It will be measured by the level of understanding and capacity of the citizens.)
3. Accountability
• How does government guarantee the freedom of the press
(reasonable access to information and protection of journalists)?
• How does government respect the rights and freedoms of minorities
(ethnic, religious, linguistic and immigrants)?
• How reliable is the government budget (its completeness, credibility
and performance as determined by a reliable audit)?
4. Non-discrimination and inclusiveness
• Does government provide equal treatment for ethnic minorities and
vulnerable citizens (women and impoverished, poorly educated, disabled, young
and older persons)?
• Is the government provision for basic needs (education and health
services) affordable and equal for every citizen?
• How does the government create employment and provide equal
access to financial resources to all citizens?
 • How does government provide equal political, gender and cultural
representation for
citizens to participate in government activities?
5. Responsiveness
• Does the government listen and stay informed of citizens’
sentiments?
• Does the government explain and provide credible justification for
its policy decisions?
• Does the government adapt and adjust policy decisions to citizens’
demands?
Challenges in the Service Management in Education

1. Paper-based processes

Educational institutions are burdened by cumbersome paperwork and

manual processes, and they find it difficult to maintain records
on attendance , fees, admissions , transport, etc., and track the information
they need. Using School Management System, automate academic processes
to save time and reduce staff workload.
2. Online Registration

Students no more have to stand for hours in the queue to pay fees. Simplify
registration and fee collections with online forms, with the ability to send
automatic notifications, alerts and reminders via email, SMS alerts and push
notifications from mobile devices.

3. Admission & Enrollment

Colleges and Universities are finding hard to achieve admission and
enrollment targets. Aligning people, processes and technology with simple &
user-friendly cloud-based education solution will help institutions to manage
information from inquiry and application to admission and enrollment.
4. Course Management

Designing a course curriculum that can adapt to the changing needs of the
institution is crucial. With a Course Management System institutions can
accomplish a lot with limited resources. Create and track course-work,
assignments, and exam papers in a conducive classroom environment to
support the goal of graduating students.
5. Teacher Evaluation

Tracking the progress of teachers and evaluating the effectiveness of

teachers' work is significant. Teacher evaluation system improves
communication and collaboration between evaluators and teachers.
Student’s feedback will measure teacher’s performance in the classroom and
the automated evaluation process improves student learning skills,
achievement and success.
6. Communication & Collaboration

There is apparently no platform to provide seamless communication

between students, administrators, staff and teachers. Moreover, increasing
student discipline incidents happen as a result of big communication gap
between students and teachers. Web and mobile-based education
management system improves communication through instant notifications
and alerts via email, SMS and push messages to keep the constituents
informed at every step of the journey to build relationship and improve
student retention.
7. Classroom Management Strategy

Schools are finding it difficult to handle tardy students, and solve indiscipline
and behavior issues. Improve classroom environment with discipline tracking
and behavior management system to easily handle tardy students and
uninformed absences.
8. Student Monitoring

Teachers are struggling to monitor student’s activities including attendance,

leave, discipline, assignments, etc. School administrators are lacking in
result-based monitoring tools to track student progress. Automate and
streamline student attendance and absenteeism using student information
system which delivers real-time status updates of student activities to
support learning needs.
9. Revenue Management

It is difficult for institutions to cope with their finances and track their fee
collections and contributions. Seamlessly connect and engage with students,
parents and alumni to strengthen relationship and drive greater success.
10. Forecasting the academic achievement

Institutions are unable to manage information and there are endless delays
in taking decisions based on complete analysis. Dashboard reports and
intelligent analytics are useful indicators for educators to examine
attendance, assignments, grades, etc. and predict student outcomes . Using
data analytics will help institutions to identify students at-risk and deploy
resources to improve achievement and success.

Educational Institutes Face Many IT Challenges Today

 Larger and more complex user bases
Educational institutions tend to have more varied and complex userbases
than private businesses. Their users include students, faculty—both
permanent and adjunct, staff, and alumni. In addition, higher ed campuses
are also often hosting conferences and other events and run into many of
the same IT challenges as hospitality venues.
  Decentralized data
Educational institutions are also often old, with complex administrative
histories. Their IT infrastructure can be decentralized with data siloed
among academic departments, central administration, research institutes,
and even whole colleges within regional networks or larger universities.
This decentralization can make it very challenging to manage requests and
projects that span the entire institution, drawing on resources from two,
three, or more different networks and IT teams.
 Shrinking budgets
IT departments are being asked to do more with less. Despite growing
enrollment, many educational institutions are under even tighter budget
constraints as COVID-related costs and cuts to public funding take their toll.
A study from McKinsey Insight found that heading into next year, “up to 57
percent of public four-year institutions and up to 77 percent of private, not-
for-profit four-year institutions could suffer budgetary shortfalls of more
than 5 percent.”
 New and greater security threats
Cyberattacks against educational institutions are rising in the wake of the
COVID pandemic. Many bad actors see educational institutions as valuable
and vulnerable targets when their overtaxed IT departments struggle to
manage remote learners and instructors. In addition, educational
institutions have a large amount of valuable data, including student identity
information and research data.

How ITSM Helps Educational Institutions Overcome These Challenges

 Provide better insights
End-to-end ITSM management and control provide better insights into how
your organization runs. These insights can inform everything from how you
can optimize ground-level operations up to your institution’s long-term
strategic planning.
 For example, the tracking provided by a reliable ITSM platform can help you
identify trends in your service requests. Are students repeatedly reporting
the same issue with a distance learning app? They may need additional
training at the beginning of the next semester. Are building managers
reporting crashes on a particular model of classroom IT equipment? Flag
that item for a competitor review before your next inventory refresh.
 Reduces costs
The better insights provided by IT service management in the education
sector can lead to better operating efficiency and reduced waste. Both of
which reduce operating costs over time.

ITSM tools streamline problem resolution. As a result, your technicians will

spend less time on each service request, and your users will be back up and
running faster.

ITSM insights also help you identify which resources—human or IT—are not
being used efficiently. For example, are you seeing a large number of loaner
laptops sitting idle in your inventory? Retire or repurpose them next
quarter. Is there a queue for certain study rooms because students value
your new touchscreen displays? Create a new project to provision
touchscreens to the rest of those spaces.
 ITSM increases productivity
Over time, ITSM reduces problem resolution times. Your IT resources will
be more available when your users need them, especially if you’re using an
ITSM solution with self-service tools. For example, your students won’t
need to wait in a phone queue if they can get a simple issue, like a
beginning of the semester password reset, resolved quickly on their own
through a web interface. It can also help teaching and administrative staff
with similar needs.
 It becomes a platform for digital transformation
Many educational institutions find themselves struggling with effectively
carrying out a digital transformation. Digital transformations require a
broad range of coordinated technological, operational, and cultural
changes. Aligning those three elements of an organization just so happens
also to be the goal of ITSM.
 A reliable ITSM platform gives you the tools you need not only to
streamline your organization but to deliver meaningful long-term change to
your institution. ITSM tools will support your transformation project and
help you sustain your changes once they’re complete.
 ITSM improves customer experience
Mature ITSM practices tend to be much easier for IT professionals to follow
than traditional workflows. Objectives will be clearer under ITSM, making
work less stressful. Your service desk portal will organize everything they
need to track. Your staff will appreciate the organized and well-thought-out
workflows you create for them using ITSM principles.

https://blog.c2-itsm.com/service-management-education/

IT in the Educational Service in the 21st Century

Technology Integration for the New 21st Century Learner
A dramatic shift is sweeping through our schools. The signs are all around us.
Third graders texting on their cell phones. Kindergarteners who can navigate an
iPod Touch better than we can. Middle schoolers who already have an Internet
following on their blog or YouTube channel.
These are not the same 21st century learners we came to know over the first
decade of the new millennium. For these students, simply watching videos or
images during class, playing an Internet multiplication game, or even taking turns
at an interactive whiteboard is no longer enough.
These new 21st century learners are highly relational and demand quick access to
new knowledge. More than that, they are capable of engaging in learning at a
whole new level. With the world literally at their fingertips, today’s students need
teachers and administrators to re-envision the role of technology in the
classroom.
 Services Management in Business
Business Service Management
• The practice of managing services in business
• Provides standardized and qualitatively measurable services to a business.
• can in effect be defined as the combination of organizational tasks and
activities designed to provide users and customers with a high-value
service.
Quality in Business Service Management
• It basically assesses how well a service has been given, so as to improve its
quality in the future, identify problems and correct them to increase
customer satisfaction
• encompasses the monitoring and maintenance of the varied services that
are offered to customers by an organization.
Dimensions of Service Quality

Measuring of service quality relies on the customer’s perception and this could be
different from the expected service. To determine the gap between services
expected and perceived service, several models are used like the SERVQUAL
model, RATER model, e-SERVICE QUALITY etc. The main dimensions of service
quality determination are as follows:

 Reliability – This is the ability to perform the service dependably and

accurately, as promised. In software service, it would be the correct
technical functioning of the application and various features such as GUI
features, billing, product information etc.
 Responsiveness – How quickly the services are rendered to the customer
and the promptness of service delivery. With respect to software services,
it would be the ability to respond to customer problems or give solutions.
 Assurance – This is a measure of the ability to convey trust to the
customers and how well they extend the courtesy. Software assurance
 involves the amount of confidence the customer has in handling the
software application or navigating a site, the belief he has on the
information provided and its clarity, reputation etc.
 Empathy – Giving personalized attention, understanding the requirements
and caring for the customers. The software service would include
customized applications, one-to-one customer attention, security privacy
and understanding customer preferences.
 Tangibles – The physical attributes like appearance, equipment, facilities
etc. When we speak of software services, the tangibles would be aesthetics
of the software application or website, navigation features, accessibility,
flexibility etc.

6 Challenges Most Businesses Face

Each sector of the business world has its own set of demands and
challenges. Some of these challenges span sectors and industries and are
common among different companies and organizations. All businesses strive to
maintain top-quality relationships with their customer base, to keep their brands
relevant and to keep their employees happy. Facing and overcoming any
obstacles that arise is what sets a good business apart from its competitors.

1. Maintaining quality customer relationships

If you have known your clients for years, have well-established relationships with
them and take time to meet with them when you can, it might not be a challenge
for you to retain these customers. However, sometimes it can take effort to earn
and maintain customer loyalty.
Our society has become more consistently connected as technology has evolved.
Chances are, your customers may be continually shopping, even unintentionally.
With advertising, re-targeting, social media, online shopping and cell phones,
information has never been more immediately available than it is now. To
maintain quality relationships with your clients, you need to present, adaptable
and personal.
2. Meeting customer needs
Maintaining quality customer relationships also involves meeting your customers’
needs. Being aware of what the customer is looking for and how they want to get
it is an important part of being a successful business. As a business grows, it is
important for management to continue to prioritize the needs of their clientele.
Meeting customer needs includes asking for customer feedback, acting on their
suggestions and making an effort to change or update products and services to
better serve them. Customers are more likely to recommend businesses that are
known for supplying excellent customer service, so remember to put your
customers first.
3. Preserving a good reputation
Today, customers’ reviews and impressions of businesses are frequently spread
using the internet. As the speed of information increases, it can become difficult
to stay up to date with your business’ public reputation. Here are some tips on
how to preserve your business’ reputation:
Be aware
One of the most challenging aspects of monitoring your reputation is knowing
where you need to look. There are hundreds of platforms where people can share
feedback about their experiences. In addition to searching these platforms
yourself, you might also seek the help of companies that provide these services.
Companies like TrustPilot search the internet and social media for mentions of
your company alongside particular keywords. They can then send a report or
notification if an issue arises so you can address it immediately.
Be responsive
Make sure to be responsive to both positive and negative reviews. When
someone is happy, you will want to thank them. If someone is dissatisfied you,
you may want to apologize or offer to help fix the problem. Potential customers
who check reviews can be just as impressed with a quick and competent response
as they would be to a positive review. The efforts you show a disgruntled
customer can greatly boost your public reputation.
Promote yourself
If you know that a client is happy with your services, ask them to leave a good
review on a platform like Yelp, your website or social media. Also, if you receive a
great review, you can further strengthen the relationship with the reviewer by
thanking them publicly. As a result, you have made a customer with positive
feedback feel appreciated, and you have also advertised the quality of your
business to a wider audience.
Remember your employees
In addition to regular reviews about your company, products and services, there is
also the potential for employee reviews. Your employees are one of your most
influential tools for public outreach. Current or former employees may talk to
their friends, share your advertising content or post about their job on social
media. They also may leave reviews for the benefit of job seekers on hiring
platforms. How they portray your business will depend on how they are treated in
the workplace. Every employee has the potential to be a powerful asset to your
business’ public reputation.
4. Retaining employees
The hiring goal for businesses is to find the perfect fit for a job. After an employee
is hired, businesses must then work to retain the employee. Hiring, training and
educating employees takes time and resources. Good employees are a valuable
investment.
In recent years, a significant portion of employees tends to switch jobs as often as
every five years. To retain a quality member of the team, it is important to
appreciate their work, supply appealing benefits and offer a competitive salary for
their particular position.
Appreciate their work
Appreciation is one of the main factors in retaining a quality employee. If an
employee does not feel appreciated, they may decide to seek employment
elsewhere. Appreciation includes acknowledging their accomplishments and
contributions, listening to their feedback and praising them for a job well done.
Supply appealing benefits
It is critical for an employee to consider important benefits like healthcare,
vacation days and paid time off when they are deciding to work for a business. In
addition to standard benefits, efforts like employee discounts for company
products, wellness programs or office holiday celebrations to be the extra perks
that help someone to remain happy working for a company.
Offer a competitive salary
Good employees make an effort to know their worth. Most employees stay
informed on what other professionals with similar credentials are being paid in
similar jobs. If they believe another employer would value their work more, they
may seek a different position. If an employee is valuable to a company, they
should be always be paid accordingly.
5. Finding an effective brand
Branding is a critical part of today’s business world. By staying in front of your
audience and engaging with them, you ensure that you are a recognized leader in
your specific field. This goes far beyond packaging and traditional advertising,
however. To avoid being perceived as unknown, you need to stay present to your
audience and gain their trust. Here are some steps for good branding:
Be consistent
Your message may change, you can have multiple slogans, and your advertising
campaigns will look different based on the target audiences. Your brand,
however, is what people recognize. Presenting something consistent will
constantly remind your audience that you are a name they know and can count
on.
Establish trust
If you have ever substituted an off-brand ingredient for one that you usually buy,
you understand the importance of trusting a brand. When people know your
brand, search out your product and trust the results, you have a solid base
customer that is likely to remain loyal. That loyalty is worth investing time and
effort into being a recognizable and trustworthy brand.
Target new customers
Through effective branding, you can gain referrals. When someone is dedicated
and loyal to what you have to offer, they will remember your brand and will share
it with anyone who needs anything similar. An important goal for branding teams
is finding a balance between providing excellent service for your current
customers and seeking to appeal to new customers. Because an effective brand is
so important to new customers, building a strong brand and reputation with help
ensure your business’ growth and success.
6. Marketing in a saturated marketplace
As information becomes more readily available and the public’s attention spans
get shorter, you will have to market strategically to attract potential customers
with a unique and effective brand. This means you need to communicate your
core message in your headline or within the first few seconds of a video.
Think about how fast a finger moves as it is scrolling through social media. Savvy
marketers know that to attract customers, they have to both capture attention
and hold it. Here are some ideas on how to market in a saturated market:
Be creative
Do not hesitate to be innovative and be bold with your strategies. Win attention
and then explain your message simply but memorable. Sometimes you can create
curiosity through unique methods with will drive the audience to learn more
about you.
Shoot a video
If attention spans are low, consider whether someone would rather read a
message or watch a video message. Video can make an instant visual impact that
you may not necessarily get through copy or even photos. Buying television
commercials, using video sharing websites and posting clips on social media
platforms are just a few of the ways you can utilize video to further your
marketing strategy.
Include a call to action
Once you have viewers’ attention, be sure to give them somewhere to go. Use
language, such as Instructions like these not only encourage your audience to
continue viewing your content, but they also can produce measurable results like
new accounts, increased customer interaction and new subscribers.

Top 5 challenges in business service management

Challenge 1: Scheduling
As organizations start or expand service departments, many don't realize the
challenges in scheduling field workers. Organizations with field workers who
schedule calls manually should consider automation. But even with automation in
field service management tools, organizations still face issues like the following:

 accounting for travel time to schedule service calls realistically;

 predicting a service call's length, so the field worker gets to the next call
within the scheduled window;
 ensuring each service call has a worker with the right skill set;
 integrating the available time with each worker's schedule and
incorporating real-time changes;
 manual intervention that could cause event overlap for a single worker
or booking two workers for the same service call; and
 sending timely schedule changes to workers.

If scheduling problems happen frequently, organizations can suffer from lower

customer satisfaction, poor ratings and increased operational costs. Organizations
can improve how workers schedule calls with scheduling applications.

Challenge 2: Costs
Field service management has different cost categories, including scheduling,
travel and ROI.
Scheduling. When organizations pay for regular service contracts, efficient service
plays a major role in profit. So, scheduling challenges come into play.
Organizations must schedule recurring service calls at convenient times, like when
a worker is in the area and won't incur higher travel costs.

Travel. GPS and mapping technologies can help assign a service call to the closest
person, and the apps can automatically provide the best and safest route without
the worker entering the address into a cell phone or navigation screen. The
address automatically pops up on the in-vehicle tablet. This approach can save
workers' time and money and reduce fuel and vehicle costs over time.

ROI. Organizations typically invest in the people, and the return is the revenue
that people generate. Business leaders must decide whether to invest in higher
salaries for more experienced field workers or training for entry-level people
coupled with lower salaries. To simplify how organizations track ROI, they can use
analytics tools to track workers' revenue.

Additionally, organizations can reduce other investments, like automation or self-

service, to improve ROI. For example, customers who can schedule a service call
online through a self-service portal cost the organization significantly less than
those who call and schedule with live agents.

Challenge 3: Process tracking

From the business worker's arrival to payment receipts to post-call customer
feedback, organizations may struggle to track field service processes. Workflow
automation can help with this challenge.
Mobile integration with a cloud-based field service management tool can help. If
an organization equips its field workers with tablets, they can see call details upon
arrival, including customer name, the issue at hand, past issues, credit limits and
more. They also can see their names assigned to calls, and if they need to
communicate in real time with someone in the office, they can click a voice or
video call button from the tablet.

Challenge 4: Time and performance management

Time and performance management are at field service management's core. Like
in a contact center, if workers take too long, they become inefficient. If they rush,
they may not solve the customer's problem. So, organizations need KPIs to
measure field worker success.

Each organization must identify important KPIs and measure them regularly. For
instance, GPSes can automatically note workers' arrival and departure
times. Workers also can use apps to request that customers provide satisfaction
ratings. Managers must regularly review this data to address small problems
before they grow.

Challenge 5: Customer experience

Among the challenges in field service management, CX most affects an
organization's success. Any management technique, software automation or
training program ultimately must help create excellent CX.

In field service, excellent CX requires simple scheduling, on-time arrivals, issue

resolution, fair prices and follow-ups. Software automation can help with these
areas but, most importantly, can track CX. In-office customer service agents can
pair with on-site field workers to follow up with customers, ensure satisfaction or
resolve issues.
How important is good customer service?
Customer service has an impact on both existing customers and potential
customers. Did you know that 68% of consumers would react by telling family and
friends about a bad experience by posting it on a social network. And almost 50%
of customers claim they would switch to a new brand after just one bad
experience!
And as each Facebook profile has an average of 338 friends , one negative
experience can quickly reach thousands!
However, there is great value in ensuring you deliver positive customer service.

1. Increases loyalty and satisfaction

Happy customers are less likely to stop doing business with you. Plus, if they’re
loyal, they will spend more. By using customer service to help them, you can save
costs on marketing, helping you reach profitability faster.

2. Improves word of mouth recommendations

Good customer service is good marketing.
If a customer is unhappy, they will tell their friends or complain on social media,
resulting in a negative perception of your brand. However, if someone is happy
with the service you provide, they can influence their network to visit, shop or
buy from you.

3. Understand your customers better

What problems do your customers have issues with? What kind of feedback do
they share with you? And how can you improve your product or service?
Without customer service, you’re just guessing. With customer service, you have
the answers. Directly from the customers themselves.
How you communicate with customers differs from company to company.

5 examples of great customer service

Here are five ways to stand out from the crowd to help you deliver excellent
customer service.
Let's get started!

1. Respond as quickly as possible

One of the biggest factors in good customer service is speed, especially when a
client is requesting something that’s time sensitive.

2. Know your customers

Great interactions begin with knowing your customers wants and
needs. Customers love personalization. Get to know your customers, remember
their names and previous conversations. If needed, make a note of what was
discussed previously so you can refer to it the next time you meet.

In January 2020, Starbucks launched their "Every name's a story" campaign

focusing on improving relationships with their customers. The award winning
campaign promotes inclusivity, recognition and acceptance at Starbucks stores
across the world.

3. Fix your mistakes

Not taking responsibility of your mistakes is a sure fire way to getting a bad
reputation. Transparency is important in business and customer service is no
different. Always strive for a high quality output as it shows you have a high level
of standards.

An Amazon customer ordered a new PlayStation for his son for Christmas. When
the shipping company delivered the parcel, the customer was away and had a
neighbor sign for the package. The neighbor left the package outside the
customer’s house and unfortunately, it soon disappeared. When the customer
realized what had happened, he was left in complete shock!

Even though Amazon was not to blame for this mistake, they were quick to
resolve this by not only sending a new PlayStation in time for Christmas, but did
not charge for the extra shipping.
The Customer Success team at Amazon showed great empathy here towards the
customer. Rather than sticking to their refund policy, then chose to do good. And
that's what matters most.
4. Listen to your customers
Listening to your customers will not only result in an indebted and happy
customer, it can also go a long way in terms of keeping yourself on their radar for
future business.

A three year old named Lily Robinson wrote a letter to Sainsbury’s, a UK grocery
store, a letter asking why ‘tiger bread was called tiger bread and not giraffe
bread?’. Lily was clearly onto something, as the bread really does look like a
giraffe print!

In most cases, these types of suggestions are met with a simple "Thank you".
But, to Lily’s surprise, Chris King, the customer service manager of Sainsbury’s
responded with “I think renaming it to giraffe bread is a brilliant idea!”. Several
months later, the bread was renamed to giraffe bread.

5. Think long term – A customer is for life

Think long term when dealing with customers. By keeping customers happy, they
will be loyal and through word of mouth, will do the marketing for you. In fact,
according to author Pete Blackshaw, a satisfied customer tells at least three
friends (whereas an angry customer tells 3,000!)

3 ways to improve customer service

If you want to improve relationships with your customers, start by making small
changes to your customer service.
No matter how great your business is or how talented your team may be,
customers will always remember the interactions they have with your company.
Here are a few customer service tips to deliver a better customer experience:

1. Deliver context-based support

When customer service teams have a 360-degree view of a customer’s needs are
better at finding opportunities to improve customer experience.
An overwhelming majority (76%) of consumers expect customer service reps to
know their contact, product, and service information history.
Yet, according to Microsoft's report on the State of Global Customer Support,
nearly half of respondents say agents almost never or only occasionally have the
context they need to most effectively and efficiently solve their issue.
Customers feel frustrated whenever they have to repeat themselves or believe
that customer service lacks the knowledge about their issue. By unifying customer
information with a CRM, customer service reps gain the context and ability to
resolve inquiries in a single interaction.

2. Innovate the customer journey

Customer experience has become the driving force that determines whether a
customer will stay or abandon your business. However, the methods of delivering
a memorable customer experience has changed over the years.
Back in 2013, Walker Information surveyed more than 300 customer experience
professionals from large B2B companies to gain insights on future trends.
While email was the most common communication channel (77%) with
customers, they predicted that online communities (68%), social media (63%),
and corporate websites (61%) would come to dominate the way customers
interact with companies.
Were they right? And how has the situation changed since?
Sprout Social’s report shows that 88% of marketers understand the importance of
customer service appearing on social media with nearly 45% of consumers
surveyed saying they have reached out to a company on social media.
While this is just one sample of the evolution of customer support, companies
must innovate their customer journeys to adapt to today’s technology, platforms,
and demands.

3. Invest in human and automated service channels

Losing loyal customers is detrimental to every company’s bottom line.
In CallMiner’s 2020 Churn Index Report, 43.3 million people are switching
companies and 88.3 million are considering switching for reasons that could have
been avoided. That’s more than $35.3 billion in lost revenue due to unplanned
churn.
Companies that fail to invest in a combination of human and automated self-
service channels are missing opportunities to create loyal, satisfied customers.
Automated self-service channels, such as a knowledge base, offer customers the
ability to solve issues on their own.
However, if they can’t find the information that they need, that’s when human
service channels, such as real time chat, serve to complement customer support
and address issues quickly before frustrations escalate.

Conclusions
Working in a customer service department isn’t glamorous.
In most cases, service agents are the lowest paid people in your company, they
work ridiculous hours (24/7) and have to deal with unhappy customers.
Yet customer service is the most important department you have.
(Maybe it’s time to give them a raise?).
Poor customer service can kill your brand overnight.
While great customer service can help you become a market leader - to the level
that companies are now using customer service as a way to stand out against the
competition. Are you ready to do the same?
Start delivering better customer service today!