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The standard perception of good or poor customer service in business also applies to the education industry as well.
Now, more than ever before, colleges and universities have a customer service imperative.
Customer service in the education sector is a must-have and the fact can’t be ignored.
Here is the reason why.
If a student had a bad experience with any educational institution, they would share their story with their friends and relatives, which is likely to have a negative impact on the college/university enrollment and retention rates.
The schools/colleges that meet these customer service expectations can increase retention by 20%.
However, with increased digitization, globalization, and competition, schools and colleges are now acknowledging the importance of considering a student as a customer and offering education as a product (via books and modules) or service (via training, tutorship and paper writing).
Customer service in the education sector has gained even more momentum due to online teaching mechanisms.
Let us discuss the importance of customer service in higher education and different ways to improve it.
The importance of customer service in education has never been clearer as the market density has grown. Offering excellent customer service can create a significant impact on your students along with their community.
Great customer service equals happier and more productive students which leads to better rankings to the educational institutions in the long run.
The reasons that make customer service in the education industry vital are as follows:
Institutions looking to succeed in the long run have started to realize that they do not operate in a bubble.
According to an Academic Impressions survey, only six higher education professionals from 79 colleges and universities graded their school’s student-centric service with an “A.”
Changes are happening at all levels of the institution, but the overarching theme has become “How can institutions serve students better in order to retain them for the long run?”
We have summarized some innovative ways that will help to deliver exceptional customer service and leave a long-lasting experience.
Omnichannel approaches to both communication and sales are fast becoming the new standard for the education sector across the globe.
Implementing customer service software like CRM platforms help in funneling the requests of students and parents from various channels such as email, phone, Facebook, Twitter, etc. into a single interface.
Streamlining all the conversations under one platform helps your team to connect with your students and their parents via their preferred channel and resolve issues faster.
The integration of all channels and providing the best user experience are the key benefits of omnichannel marketing.
Shall we throw light on some of the benefits of an omnichannel marketing strategy?
Learnsignal, the Dublin-based online education platform has helped many students earn accounting and financial services certifications.
The company provides its customers with subscription-based access to online classes, tutorials, and 24/7 access to expert tutors. Being able to provide that round-the-clock support across multiple channels has been the success key to the company.
Parents can be impatient when it comes to a child’s education.
It is the responsibility of any educational institute to provide quick and effective answers to their queries, deliver adequate information and be available every time a parent reaches out.
Just like shoppers, students can become impatient and dissatisfied quickly, which is why you need to react to issues quickly.
The only way to guarantee a high FRT is to leverage advanced tools like live chat software that can be there for your students at any time and anywhere.
How is live chat best fit for customer service in the education industry?
Undoubtedly, the FRT metric is a powerful one and can be the deciding factor between your institute and any other, for parents or students when choosing.
Note: Especially if you provide remote education, you will need to consider adding customer support tools that reflect the brand identity you aim to establish. A smart way to check if your team is providing a fast response is to track the average First Response Time.
A conversational AI bot engages with the users to provide solutions to their queries in a personalized humanoid manner is being deployed for all customer support domains.
Following the AI trend of customer service in the education industry will help make the newly implemented systems more efficient.
37% of students use an educational chatbot to get a quick answer!
AI Chatbot can provide answers to many topics including
An education chatbot can help students, teachers, and staff to provide instant access to information and support enhancing their experience with the institution.
Here are how chatbots help the education sector:
Learning is no longer confined to the walls of the classroom.
The modern student wants a flexible, convenient education that fits into their schedule—without disrupting their lives.
Online learning is fast becoming the future of education and it’s on course to become a $325 billion global industry by 2025.
Live engagement tools like video chat and co-browsing provide a huge opportunity for educators to create personalized and interactive learning experiences while delivering accessible, flexible education.
Using visual engagement tools helps in creating a more personal experience compared to other channels.
Engagement tools improve customer service in many ways like:
“We all need people who give us feedback. That’s how we improve,” says Bill Gates.
To understand your students’ and their parents’ needs, you should collect and analyze their feedback on the quality of teaching, interaction with your staff, and learning environment.
Acquiring feedback is a great way to offer excellent customer service in the education industry as it provides insights into how good your customer engagement strategy is working.
It is the best way to find out if your students and their parents are satisfied with their experience. And, if not, what exactly makes them feel uncomfortable.
Tips to collect feedback to enhance customer service in education:
Self-service education is proactive. Having such options resolves the problem before it becomes a problem.
66% of customers start with a self-service option first before reaching out to an agent.
Working closely with the support team helps to learn where customers face issues or challenges, build educational content to resolve them and provide it to customers before they happen.
Self-service education doesn’t have to focus only on using the product, either. It can also focus on strategy, helping people grow their skills at a higher level.
The self-help option means students and their parents can find any information they seek with no effort from your side.
There are many types of content you can create to provide self-service education:
Having self service-options on your website acts as a one-stop resource that provides answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Students appreciate creating such options for them where they can navigate easily without your help.
Additionally, a FAQ section can help you increase the online visibility of your school, boost the level of student enrollment, and improve the overall customer experience.
Irrespective of the ways you interact with students and parents may be email, phone, or chat, having a help desk will make it easier.
Having a help desk can assist in managing the student experience via measuring and monitoring student communication with a variety of departments.
Help desks have a wide range of features that can really help to enhance customer service in education as well.
Some other benefits of having a help desk are, for example, a knowledge base that can help students find the information they need at any point in time with any human assistance.
Social media is a must-have for schools with the key objective to improve customer service in education and boost satisfaction.
84% of people aged 18-29 use social media. These people can be your potential customers who want to learn more about your educational offers through Facebook or Instagram.
Most of the students turn on social media while choosing a new college or to read brochures. They go for the trending hashtags or location of a school on Instagram and look at the feed.
Generally, there are three main goals of social media usage in education:
Using social media for customer service in the education sector is highly effective for your brand awareness with the help of social influencers. Reportedly, 49% of users depend on influencer recommendations. So do the students.
Micah Solomon claims, “you’re not simply trying to “serve customers.” You’re trying to build your students into responsible scholars and citizens“.
Along with the primary level, customer service in higher education goes parallel. Higher education must create a culture of customer service that will define their brand and image.
So that you can empower your employees and turn them into higher education professionals to deliver the best customer service. It will help to retain more students, mold them into graduates, and achieve student success.
When customer service goes parallel with higher education the outcomes are:
Meeting the demand for excellent customer service in the education industry and treating students as customers don’t demand sacrificing academic standards. It is because the tenets of good customer service, i.e., responsiveness, efficiency, clear communication, and conflict management, have little to do with academic processes.
More and more colleges and universities are starting to adopt customer service as it helps institutions attract and retain students. Institutions must focus on efficiency and allocate resources properly to create economies of scale. You can implement REVE Chat to deliver improved customer service for higher education training and a better experience. Sign up now!
Institutions that understand their students and provide them with rapid and personalized service stand to increase enrollment, improve retention and reimagine market potential. Implementing the above ways will help you to deliver exceptional customer service.
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