Customer Engagement Basics in ECE
While I do not formally work in Customer Success, I work in a highly customer-facing industry where customer success is a non-negotiable priority in many facets…
Early Education.
I have 20+ years invested in developing relationships and building bridges with families based primarily on trust and the delivery of quality educational services.
Not simply delivering a quality education, but teaching, sharing and utilizing all the means to customer success.
That list is long and broad...
To oversimplify: Education, research, digital applications, books, experiences, learning management systems, SaaS, CRMs, websites, and communities help the aforementioned achievement.
Long-story short, I understand what people need and how to discover those needs as well as learning gaps that were not anticipated.
Being an educator is much like surveying.
(Bear with me…do you like metaphors and analogies?…)
TEACHERS LOVE THEM!
As a surveyor, one would (as noted by the Oxford Dictionary), “examine and record the area and features of land so as to construct a map, plan, or description.”
In working with customers in any field, you loosely follow a similar process as to understand the foundations and then help develop the map to achievement that delivers their success with a service or product so you can build that relationship on the foundation.
There is also customer discovery that happens prior to meeting customers based on knowing what is high quality in your industry and discovery that happens from the support we provide in uncovering customer needs.
Where do we begin?
Before you build you must survey, and excavate.
What are the specific hurdles or roadblocks in each journey?
What is causing them and how do you solve for each individualized learning need?
To answer these questions you need a customer map and some key tools.
A few key items to remember:
Know your business well.
Knowledge is power in understanding how to individualize your approach. As an educator, you learn your students and then teach to their needs. The same is true for other industries as well; you learn your customer base and then support to their needs.
Be authentic and marry this with a little charisma.
Be your best self, be kind, and truly WANT to help people. Sprinkle some likeability in there! You do not have to be like someone else, but there are qualities such as a helpful, solution-oriented attitude that could cultivate your best self. This is a soft skill that has informed my growth in so may impactful ways and in developing partnerships…it works!
Listen to understand.
Understand and research their needs and solve problems they actually have and some that could arise from your current observations. Take organized notes and maintain a portfolio for each student or customer.
Ask tailored questions.
You listened, now map the solution with questions that fill your tool box.
Find real solutions.
That’s it. Fix their issue so they can know success. This involves troubleshooting, methods and techniques on their map to correct their hurdles and roadblocks. This part is a definite bucket-filler in a customer relationship as it builds trust and credibility.
Measure the efficacy and impact.
Have the tools solved the issues? Do we need to re-evaluate and use different measures? In this phase you will re-visit the map and continue to solve for the issues or learning gaps. While we expect success, this phase can also be anticipated as we support varying styles of learners or customers.
Care.
Check-ins go a long way in your customer base to improving their experience. Nurturing the relationship ALSO builds trust and improves communication. Remember the computer desktop game The SIMS? When their needs were not met their little beacon would dim. Do not let your customer beacons dim if you can help it! Make sure THEY feel empowered in utilizing your services.
Improve the experience.
The bare minimum of a service can work, but why would you stop at that point when there are endless possibilities to improve the quality of someone else’s experience? I’m not saying throw everything you know at them! Based on their map, what opportunities are useful for them in this next phase? Thinking in these terms will build your toolbox and theirs.
This is not an all-encompassing list, but it wIll help you build a strong foundation in not just education, but any industry.
~FIN~