The Power of Effective Customer Service In The Education Market

What makes for a loyal education market customer? The answer doesn’t just hinge on the quality of the education product you’re selling, but also on the effective customer service you provide to backup your product.

In today’s competitive education market, it is more important than ever for companies to provide friendly, effective, and helpful customer service to retain education customers. People become or remain loyal customers based on the availability, knowledge, and friendliness of your customer service team. This is essential in the world of education where educators need to have problems and issues resolved efficiently and even immediately when a product isn’t working correctly, when they are experiencing product delivery issues, or if they have a simple question about how to purchase a product.

Along with your sales team, your customer service team is the “face” of your business. By training them to use positive language and create a rapport with the customer, you’re ensuring this group will deliver high-quality service and that customers will view your product and company in a positive light. The other important ingredient is that customer service representatives should have a thorough understanding of the education market and how the product, program, or service they are supporting works in that market. It is important for them to understand the full context of who is calling them and the nature of the problem.

Here are a few things your customer service team can do to provide top-notch service:

• Keep current on your product and services. Be knowledgeable about any updates or changes so they can better serve your customers.
• Have a good understanding about how the product or service supports education goals and how educators use the product or service.
• Listen to what the customer is calling about and repeat what he or she is saying, asking for clarification when needed. Taking the time to understand the issue will help reduce customer frustration and show them that they are a valued client.
• Use positive language when talking with customers, such as “It’s my pleasure,” “I’m happy to help,” and “Great question … let me find out for you.” Using positive language sets the tone for the customer’s response throughout the call.
• Even in the event the service rep is not able to help the customer, the use of positive language and tone can soften the impact of how the message is received.

By taking time to train your customer service team with these tips in mind, you are setting up your product and organization for success.

Our staff at MMS Education is available to serve as your outsourced professional resource to provide seamless, skilled support for all of your customer service needs. Give us a call at 866–382–6116 or fill out this form to see how MMS Education can help you reach, engage, and measure impact in the pre-K–12 education market.