Why Customer Service Training is a Must for K-12 Staff
If you’ve been paying attention over the last few years, you may have noticed a shift in the relationships between K-12 staff and parents. 2020 heightened everyone’s sense of danger and has put us on high alert for not only our personal safety, but the safety of the students.
Unfortunately, when COVID-19 hit the U.S., schools fared worse than many institutions as we dove headfirst into a sink-or-swim situation with online learning. Similarly, many parents felt as if they were drowning as they navigated the unfamiliar territory of virtual school combined with work-from-home scenarios, or a loss of income.
In 2023, many of us still carry our metaphorical “wet clothes" into staff and parent conversations like soldiers into battle. The stress of a new normal has taken its toll.
As voters and stakeholders, K-12 parents rightly have the upper hand and the most to say about which bonds will pass in your district’s next election. And on top of that, parents determine whether they will stay or leave a school district based on their level of satisfaction with the school (and staff) as a whole. Having fewer students in the district means having less funding for your school. And less funding compounds into even lower parent satisfaction.
Suffice it to say, satisfactory staff/parent relationships are vital to the health of any district. Most important of all, a healthy district can have a greater impact on student learning outcomes and social-emotional well-being.
That’s why it’s critical for school systems to invest in customer service training for their staff, to help improve the customer service experience for parents and community members, while also helping to boost morale and buy-in for your team.
How to Improve Parent/Staff Relationships through Customer Service Training
So, as an administrator, principal, or communications director, how can you ensure that every interaction between parents and school staff is a positive one?
It’s simple—integrate good customer service into every exchange!
As an experienced veteran of K-12 communications and public relations, I have developed an award-winning K-12 customer service curriculum and have won multiple bond elections for school districts (including a billion-dollar bond) by cultivating cooperative relationships with parents in my district.
Keep reading to get some of my essentials for customer service training, to find out who needs it most and why and to learn my best tips for getting your staff on board.
Who needs customer service training in the district?
Every member of staff who interacts with parents or community members should have a good foundation of customer service essentials. That includes teachers, principals, vice principals, and just about anyone on the payroll. But, most of all, your front office staff are the first to field questions and are the go-betweens for 99% of communications between parents and teachers.
Your front office staff are the most impactful representors of your brand.
If you want to make the biggest impact on parent satisfaction within your district you have to invest in your front office staff first and often.
In their November 2022 National Report on the Impact of Parent Satisfaction on School Districts, K12 Insight wrote, “school districts that communicate clearly, completely, and consistently, at the proper frequency and in a courteous, timely manner, will tend to have more Promoters [parents who promote and advocate for the school] and fewer Detractors [parents who are likely to speak negatively about their experience and pull their children from the district]. The relationship between higher customer satisfaction and better standards of communication tend[s] to correlate with lower student attrition.”
And yet, historically, the front office staff typically has less access to training and professional development, often feels underappreciated, and doesn’t fully understand the vital role they play in the district’s success.
Something has to change!
Getting Staff on Board with K-12 Customer Service Training
In my experience, leading K-12 customer service training for central office and secondary campus paraprofessional (clerical) staff, I’ve discovered that they aren’t always willing participants when we first meet.
Often, they don’t understand why they’ve been singled out for training and they can subsequently view the added attention as a punishment.
It’s important to keep in mind that your staff can’t be in the right mindset for customer service training if they think they’re under attack.
I remember one particular customer service training we led in an urban district where a lot of the secretaries were second or third-generation immigrants with only GED certifications.
We were called into the district because interactions between staff and parents had been less than ideal. Parents complained about the staff’s attitude over the phone and in person. District support was dwindling.
When we arrived, we took a “temperature check.” Staff was already on the defensive. One secretary even asked, “Are we in here because we’re in trouble? Are we on a list?” It was important that we change the “temperature” in the room by clarifying how the training was for their benefit and intended to support them and give them the tools they needed to do their job well, reduce their stress, and make life easier for them day to day.
But in order to do that, we had to get them to relate to us first. Fortunately, my team is a group of very diverse trainers who have either been secretaries in elementary and secondary schools, in central office positions, or all of the above.
When my team and I go into a different community, we observe the staff’s mannerisms so that we can give them examples that get to the heart of the problem in a relatable way. In this particular setting, we used Spanglish to give them examples. They immediately started to relate to us and were able to soak up the customer service essentials that would eventually turn public opinion in their favor.
It’s important for administrators to take note that anyone can buy training and bring in someone to talk to their group, but for your staff to truly receive the training, someone has to break that barrier and get buy-in before learning can begin.
K-12 Customer Service Essentials
The element that most customer service training is missing, unfortunately, is the human element. We’re not just supporting blank slates, we’re supporting staff who have frustrations at home, trouble paying their bills, children of their own in the school system, fights with their spouse the night before, and so much more hidden baggage.
That’s why my customer service training is rooted in self-care.
It’s the idea that you cannot support your campus unless you put the oxygen mask on yourself first. You can’t deal with upset parents, frustrated teachers, people walking off the job, or angry cafeteria workers if you are not at your best. So we spend a huge chunk of the time teaching self-care at the front end.
We provide staff with effective techniques for mindfulness, self-awareness, breathing, and journaling. And we point them to resources for book studies, online communities, podcasts, and more.
Once we’ve given them a foundation of self-care and tools they can use to invest in themselves, then we teach them how to deal with disruptive customers.
We teach staff that every interaction has to include these four essentials of customer service:
Always provide a warm, inviting experience for all customers that goes above and beyond their expectations.
Focus on positivity during all customer interactions.
Listen to understand customer needs.
Treat all customers with kindness and respect.
Conclusion
Customer service training is not just a “nice idea” for districts that can afford it, it’s essential for boosting the morale of staff members and turning the attitude of your community into a positive one for your district.
This type of training makes your staff members feel supported, appreciated and prepared for the emotionally challenging nature of their jobs.
Making the parents/customers feel safe is the first step toward putting students first. But in order to facilitate positive parent/district interactions, you have to first get staff on board, make sure you are focusing your efforts on the appropriate team members, and make self-care one of the core elements of your customer service training.
Then and only then will you create a positive environment where students can learn, thrive and achieve their fullest potential.
Interested in having me work with your school team? Send me an email at veronica@veronicavsopher.com to talk about my in-person customer service training and leadership retreats.