Customer Service Excellence workshop

On the 31^st of March I attended an internal, compulsory one day workshop on Customer Service Excellence.

Throughout the day we discussed issues surrounding why people may behave as they do (the need for mutual respect/esteem, cross cultural/cross generational issues), how people interact (non-verbal skills, territory, body language, tone of voice) and best practice tips in handling different customer service scenarios.

I found the day useful as a whole and it was definitely a good opportunity to reflect on why sometimes our students behave in the way that they do. On reflection, the day also made me more consider more deeply the type of university I’m now working for and the students who come here. As an ex polytechnic, we have lots of part time students and those who make the commute from home. Another large majority of our students are international. Whilst freshers and induction weeks/timetabling may initially give them some structure to set them off, how disorientating must it be for them when they first arrive? Quite often, these students may find it more difficult to settle into university and form a support network. They can also form territorial groups - something you see in this library on a day to day basis. Cultural differences can be easily misinterpreted when dealing with student issues and we had a thought provoking conversation  about the ‘double life’ culture that some students might lead. It was helpful to recognise some of these differences in the knowledge that often students look to services such as the library for that extra bit of support.

I noted that a lot of the tips discussed we are already implementing here. Simple things like making sure there is appropriate seating at the enquiry desks, so students can sit down and be on 'level' when speaking to us. I'll be interested to take part in the mystery shopping exercise we also conduct staff side every year (going out into shops in the town centre to look at best practice Mary Queen of Shops style. Hmm, MP seems to be cropping up in my blog a lot..) Just recently, mystery shopping has also been carried out on us, which will provide another valuable perspective when we get those results.

I was interested that the rise of students use of secretly recording conversations on mobile phones was flagged. Reputation can certainly be ruined within seconds by comments/videos made my disgruntled students and obviously putting potential students off from attending the university is not something those up above want to make a habit of. So all in all, the workshop provided me with some good tips (especially concerning body language and setting up rooms to get the most out a meeting). We were encouraged to talk about our experiences and this was also valuable, it was good to hear perspectives of those working in different parts of the university.