Clive Betts University of Exeter Practical customer services skills delivery in Higher Education Partners: Imperial College, London and Loughborough University

Perceptions  “Students are not customers in any conventional sense of the word…”  “…students are undoubtedly consumers of what universities provide.”  “…the idea of customer service in a University should stay in the campus bars and shops where it belongs.  “Providing a true service-centred environment is everyone’s job and the inspiration for delivering more than lip service must begin at the top.”

Why bother? The bad student/parent/sponsor experience Dependence on the “T” grant NSS, ISS etc results Media league tables Media stories HEFCE agenda Institutional agenda It’s all about RISK… Solved by inappropriate, or unnecessary, costly interventions that have no impact on the service or staff concerned.

My aims  To inform the HE community  Describe the range of successful customer service skills interventions used in the sector  Give a contextual discussion  Show how these interventions provide the best approach for different needs.  To provide information and resources to help people decide how to approach customer service issues in HEIs.

How  Lots of background, gather facts and figures  Reading around  Talking to people  Visiting sites  National survey  Case studies  Approaches in different institutions  Activities of different groups and staff  Other sector comparisons

What I want to know 1.What are the issues? 2.How do institutions address them? 3.Who’s involved and what happens? 4.Does it work?