he higher education industry is changing. Are you changing, too? Is your institution following “market forces” by charging professors and staff to change their view of students -- to treat them like “customers” who have entered into a contractual relationship with your school?

Traditionally, higher education organizations are social institutions, dealing in the public good, rather than dealing in commodities transactions. However, “with the rise of mass higher learning, tight public funding and intense competition for students, universities are often encouraged to see students as “customers.” But should they?” asks Geoff Sharrock.

In the era of tuition in the hundreds of thousands (and the resulting student loans), tight and rarified job market, and overall prevailing consumer culture, is public good our newest commodity? 

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Question:What happens if you make an investment in training, but you don’t choose the right program? What happens when your investment is wasted and good will evaporates because there is no follow-up reinforcement or coaching? 

When your attempt to provide training is just lip service – because it doesn’t really address your employees’ needs, it’s inexpensive and you think “it will do,” or there’s no follow up and everything goes back to the way it was before – you are sabotaging your organization’s success and not leveraging one of the highest ROIs you can earn.

You can successfully use training to address customer service, process efficiency – and employee engagement, retention, productivity, and innovation – all at the same time.

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We live in a reputation economy. What your customer experiences directly with your staff - good or bad - not only impacts your bottom line but also your online reputation. “Customers today have a louder voice (think Yelp and other rating sites), have access to more information on you and your competitors, and as a result expect an increasingly awesome experience. And they should,” says Christine Comaford.

Your organization profits and your reputation is enhanced when your clients benefit from a seamless customer service experience aligned to your brand:

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In a well run organization, valued customers can be internal or external. We define a customer as anyone we serve. That means, depending on your responsibilities, there may be no difference between internal customers – serving your fellow employees and management – and external customers who purchase or use your goods and services.

We then define good customer service as the experience all of us want to have when we are the customer. It should reflect what your organization believes and the values you share, as well as providing the same treatment to everyone in the organization whether it is the president or the front line person. 

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In a recent survey, McKinsey found that government agencies ranked among the last in customer satisfaction among 11 researched industries. When dealing with government, whether it’s the City, State or Federal agencies, we have all experienced customer service situations where civil servants are not just difficult, they are downright uncivil.

Consider however, what they are up against: the competing demands of keeping up with all of the Federal/State/City requirements and regulations and trying to maintain composure with customers who are late, belligerent, poorly informed, and/or difficult to explain things to. Public sector employees are constantly challenged.

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Every dollar you spend to operate your small, public, or donation-driven organization is a conscious decision and is many times a trade-off of competing priorities. That’s why there are four critical factors to consider when adding to your team:

1.      Hiring: “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the price of a bad hire is at least 30 percent of the employee's first-year earnings. For a small company, a five-figure investment in the wrong person is a threat to the business,” notes Falon Fatemi. Proven hiring methodologies can enhance teamwork, reduce turnover and provide you with a competitive edge. 

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“A trip to a major museum exhibition these days can feel more like a Black Friday sale at Walmart than a rewarding adventure in esthetic uplift. So much so that a Gauguin retrospective at London’s Tate Modern, in 2010–11, elicited a slew of complaints on the museum’s Internet message board,” reports ArtNews.

So how do you consistently provide a rewarding, positive visitor experience? Where does the visitor journey begin? 

Conventional wisdom might have you believe that the “adventure in esthetic uplift” starts when the visitor crosses the gallery threshold and starts reading the text that accompanies the exhibit.

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Would you hire an accountant who didn’t know how to use a ledger? Would you put your trust in a contractor who’d never handled sheetrock? A taxi driver without a license to get behind the wheel?

You get the idea.

So why are you entrusting your company – your best customers, your reputation, your future earnings – to frontline customer service employees who lack empathy and empowerment? An empathetic customer experience from your frontline employees creates loyalty and return business.

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Here's the good news: Your hard work is paying off and business is booming! Customers are calling. Customers are buying. And it’s time to interview and onboard more staff to create the customer experience that will take you into long-term success. 

And then the rub: The hiring process is time-consuming; you are new to this and need some guidance; and making an offer to someone only to find out you’re not getting the performance you need is an expensive mistake.

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The news about Nike’s purpose-driven marketing and how successful it has been is everywhere. A recent feature the Newsday Long Island Business section goes into detail about Nike’s controversial ad with the former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Most brands steer clear of this kind of advertising for fear of customer alienation. What was the reaction to Nike? Their stock and sales are going up, up, up. 

Why is Nike so successful? 

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Sexual harassment awareness has been a hot topic in light of the #metoo movement, and now New York State has passed legislation requiring all companies with 15 or more employees to provide mandatory sexual harassment policies and training, even to interns. 

By January 1, 2019, every employer must have a written sexual harassment policy and provide sexual harassment awareness training.  

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A recent New York Times front-page article speaks about “Baring a Bit of Your Soul to Connect with Voters.” The premise is that a highly personal touch in story-telling “… can help to spread a candidate’s story in a way that…can inspire donations.” Unlike typical advertisements, candidates share not only their definitions of leadership, but also their beliefs, their experiences and their pain. These videos are so effective because candidates come across with authenticity and credibility.

In this world of exploding social media and competing priorities, how do YOU make a difference?

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Let’s answer some basic questions: Who is the customer? What is customer service? How do you create customer service excellence?

We define a customer as anyone that we serve. That means that there is no difference between our internal customers – serving our fellow employees and management – or our external customers that purchase our goods and services. The customer isn’t someone who exists only between 8am and 5pm. By encouraging and promoting this within your organization you reinforce the skills and attitudes of customer service excellence that are beneficial to your employees and to your paying customers.

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In the high-stakes world of donor dollars, foundation grants, and community competitions … how are you faring? Competition is fiercer than ever, time and attention given to your services is way down, and your digital footprint can live in infamy. You have probably updated the information in your presentation to reflect your latest successes and numbers … but when was the last time you updated the way you present yourself and your organization?

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While the importance of workplace culture is well-understood, how to build a great culture is less established.  This article includes five common myths  about culture-building -- as well as five strategies for cultivating a unique, healthy, sustainable organizational culture.

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Just like Windows 95 is so last century, so is thinking that only you or your sales reps can bring in new business. Just as you know about updating your technology regularly, you also need to update your selling strategy. When you help maximize your customers’ sales potential, you’re strengthening your own organization in teh process — and your own profitability.

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