Practical customer service in
universities - is it all bunk?
The outcomes of a project examining
theory and practice in UKHE.
Aims of the session
 Present results of the LFHE project
 Highlight case studies
 Introduce some practical ways of engaging
staff with some key issues
Project aims
 Look at underlying theory and practice
 Look at the particular situation in HE and
what Institutions do about it
 Provide information and resources to help
people decide how to approach customer
service issues in HEIs
Universities are different…?
 Who are your customers?
 What is a service?
 Why are you here?
Students + their sponsors
The University
Enterprise
partners etc
Each other
Local & regional community etc
HESA,
Funders etc
So… is it all bunk?
 Empirical data
 Three main areas of research
 Service logic
 Social exchange theory
 The service quality construct
Service logic
 Service provision not uniform
 In HE:
The student experience
Supplementary services
Core services
Social exchange theory
 The customer experience is a co-created
product
 “The product or service students acquire
derives value from their striving to achieve
it…”
 Customer-customer interaction is
important – sense of shared responsibility
Service Quality Construct
 Service quality and its perceptions are tied
to:
– Outcome
– Environment
– Interaction
Filling the gaps
 Promises made
 Intentions in service
design
 Understanding of
customer expectations
 What the customer
really expects
 Reality experienced
 Standards of service
as it operates
 Intentions of the
service design
 Understanding of
customer expectations
Organisational culture
Strategic initiatives geared to delivery and measuring
customer satisfaction across Institution
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Aware of need
to provide
better service.
Formalised customer sampling
in some areas.
Pockets of awareness, informal response to
customers.
No appreciable recognition of customer relationship.
Imperial Customer Service Academy
5* Research is not enough:
developing the best for everyone
Pressures for change
World class reputation, but:
 Hovering below the mid-point of NSS
 Bureaucratic procedures
 Need for cross-departmental collaboration
 Want a more supportive environment
 Average level 2 in terms of awareness
Finding a focus
 Overall importance of student experience
 Early success in development of catering
and retail outlets
 Senior champions
 Desire for long-term change
 Practical orientation
 Predated Clive’s research
Developing a model
 Successful internal DLM programme
 Yale Academy
 Customer Service Institute
 Local exemplars
 What we had done already
The plan
 Cross-College representation
 Mixed status teams
 Sponsoring Managers
 Internally driven
 External consultancy support
 Online forum for sustained participation
Programme
 Launch – surprise sampling of customer
service
 Seven one-day events
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•
•
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Introduction – where we are now
Establishing a baseline and raising expectations
Measuring opinions
Handling difficulties etc
 Presentations and finale
Changes to plan
 Response to rapidly deteriorating climate
 Project overload
 Summertime slippage
Project examples
 Internal measures of customer satisfaction
 Improved use of video conferencing
 Signage and personalisation of department
 College Open Day
 Graduation
Review and Learning: Next Steps
 Keep it simpler – no mixing of groups
 Engage better with Sponsoring Managers
 Encourage participation of ‘champions’
 Identify projects from outset
 Recruit from within a division to create
closer focus
 Run a shorter programme
Early Indications
 More than half logged on in advance
 Sponsoring Mangers engaged in first two
days
 All turned up an hour early on day two
 Enthusiastic interpretation of ‘rules’ on first
day
In conclusion
 Meet the gaps between expectation and reality
 Focus on changing attitudes as well as getting
systems and processes right
 Get the basics in place
 Engage Senior Management
 Use a framework
 Employ someone to oversee it all
 Monitor constantly
 Offer skills development