| November 8, 2011 Customer Service in Student Financial Aid

Presenters Sara Blackburn, Financial Aid Advisor Terri LeGrand, Associate Director

Customer Service

How do you feel about your school’s financial aid office customer service?

The second strongest factor in an attendance decision is, “Can I afford it?” If customer- oriented service in financial aid does not help answer that question while making the potential student feel good about how he or she was treated, your school has lost a new student. Dr. Neal Raisman, The Power of Retention: More Customer Service in Higher Education

Definition Customer Service is an organization’s ability to supply their customer’s wants and needs. Excellent Customer Service is the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer’s expectations. Sbinfocanada.about.com

Meeting Basic Needs Friendliness Understanding and empathy Fairness Control Options and alternatives Information

6 Keys of Customer Service 1. Attitude4. Information 2. Listening5. Follow Through 3. Personalization6. Extra Mile Efforts

Tools for Effective Listening Concentrate on what they are saying. Avoid multi-tasking while in conversation. Take notes. Listen without interrupting. Restate the issues.

Test FAFSA Fafsademo.test.ed.gov User name: eddemo Password: fafsatest

Going the Extra Mile Offer additional help. Check students’ records. Learn other departments. Be pro-active. Provide community service.

Walk-ins Assist walk-ins before phone callers. Acknowledge people ASAP. Consider privacy. Arrange furniture. Be prepared.

Preparation for Walk-ins Appropriate forms (plenty of copies) Pens, clipboards Campus maps Sign-in sheet for busy days Business cards Brochures and cards Information slips

Etiquette: The Do’s and Don’ts of Do Use greetings and closings. Check spelling and grammar. Place yourself in the reader’s position. Be patient for replies. Make the subject line specific. Use please and thank you. Don’t DON’T include confidential information. DON’T label a message urgent unless it really is. DON’T use all capital letters. DON’T send a message when you are angry. DON’T forward a message unless necessary. DON’T say anything negative about another person.

CONCLUSION Questions Comments Discussion and tips

Contact Information Student Financial Aid Office P.O. Box 7246 Winston-Salem, NC p f Sara BlackburnTerri LeGrand