Customer Service
The student counsellor must know how to provide value and quality to students and education institutions.
Customer Service
The student counsellor who provides good customer service is more likely to close the sale successfully and attract future students through word-of-mouth recommendations and solid results.
Value
The student counsellor should consider ways to add value to the service to prospective students. Knowing what students value can help him/her focus on areas of significance to them. In most cases, students appreciate value for money, attention to detail, and quick response time.
Value for Money
One of the main reasons international students choose to live and study in a destination country is that it represents good value for money. That is, its living expenses and tuition costs are lower than in countries with a comparable standard of living and education standards. Education institutions often provide information about living costs for their international students. The student counsellor should be familiar with this information.
Other factors about a destination country which may be significant to international students include:
- Language, society, people, and environment
- Recognition of qualifications
- High-quality education systems with superior outcomes
- A variety of student accommodation to suit different budgets and needs
- Support services for international students
- Quality assurance
- Government regulations and safeguards to protect international students
- Permission to work.
The student counsellor provides value to prospective students by helping them compare tuition options and costs at various institutions, and living costs in different destination countries and locations within the countries. That is, he/she saves the students a great deal of time and effort by gathering and collating the relevant information and converting it into equivalent terms. This makes the choices clearer and easier to understand for students, thus helping them to make an informed decision. In particular, the student counsellor can add value by selecting and compiling information which fits the individual profiles and preferences of prospective students.
In addition, the student counsellor’s assistance with preparing and lodging enrolment and visa applications can be invaluable to students who would otherwise struggle to understand and meet the requirements.
Attention to Detail
Another means of adding value for students is through attention to detail. This starts with careful attention to prospective students’ preferences, backgrounds, and profiles. With this information, the student counsellor can narrow the range of suitable course offerings and increase the depth and specificity of the information provided. That is, he/she can provide more comprehensive, accurate, and relevant information to students pre-enrolment and pre-departure.
Attention to detail is critical when assisting students with the details of their enrolment and visa applications. Applications are processed more quickly and have a much greater chance of success when they are made on the correct forms, with correct terminology, fields filled in accurately, and relevant supporting documents attached appropriately.
Response Time
Students appreciate quick responses from the student counsellor. This does not mean that the student counsellor should always answer quickly even if unsure of the correct information. Rather, he/she should advise the students of the likely time needed to obtain correct information, then seek the information diligently and respond promptly as soon as the correct information is available.
Quality Control
Prospective students respond to the quality of the service provided by the student counsellor. That is, they are more likely to enrol in a course about which they have received comprehensive, accurate, and relevant information which has been attractively packaged.
Quality refers not only to the relative excellence of the service but also to the processes which lead to excellent service. The student counsellor’s agency may or may not have a formal quality assurance system, but usually has contractual obligations concerning service quality. In any case, the student counsellor should concentrate on providing excellent service with comprehensive, accurate, and relevant advice. The key to this is to set up procedures to ensure consistency of service.
Excellence
The student counsellor can provide good service by providing relevant, accurate, and comprehensive information and advice. To achieve this, he/she needs to match information to each student by:
- Questioning and careful listening to find out each student’s individual preferences and circumstances
- Diligently researching courses, education institutions, and destination countries
- Carefully considering the student’s desires and the available courses to find the best fit for the student
- Selecting information to present the best options to students
- Packaging information so it is clear and easy to absorb.
In addition, the student counsellor should answer any questions from the student quickly and accurately. Once students have decided to enrol, the student counsellor should focus on giving them the best advice and assistance possible in relation to enrolment and visa applications and supporting documentation.
Consistency
Consistency of service is essential for reliability. This relates both to the information and assistance given to students and the way in which it is supplied. The student counsellor should ensure that processes used to gather and distribute information are stable and provide dependable facts and figures. He/she should provide about the same level and type of information about courses and advice about enrolment as about living in the destination country.
Accuracy
The information and advice the student counsellor provides to students must be accurate – and reviewed thoroughly to ensure that is valid and current. It should not be misleading and should give students a realistic view of studying and living in the destination country.
Procedures
Standardising procedures for dealing with students and educational institutions generally improves the quality of service, contributing to efficiency and consistency. The student counsellor should follow the procedures set out in the agency’s policy and procedure manual (or equivalent). If there are no set procedures, he/she should establish personal procedures for routine tasks, including:
- Handling enquiries
- Preparing enrolment and visa applications
- Handling money and documents
- Keeping records of enquiries and enrolments
- Obtaining new information
- Packaging and distributing information.
Standardised procedures can simplify carrying out routine tasks. However, student counsellors should be careful to ensure that they remain flexible enough to cope with irregular circumstances and the idiosyncrasies of individual students.
Refer to A3 Regulatory Systems and A4 Legal Requirements for a discussion of quality standards in the regulation and registration of education institutions, and in relation to agents’ contractual obligations.
Extension Questions: When dealing with students and education institutions:
- How does customer service relate to student care?
- How can the student counsellor provide value and quality in customer service?
- What interpersonal skills are important?
Interpersonal Skills
Dealing with Students
Personal interaction plays an important role in students’ perception of quality of service. Honesty and integrity are essential for a good relationship with students. The student counsellor should be courteous and friendly, and show interest in the student’s particular circumstances. Note: Personal hygiene and appropriate dress standards are also important.
Types of Interactions
At various stages, the student counsellor could interact with students as casual enquiries, serious enquiries, applicants for enrolment, pre-departure enrolees, post-departure, and post-course. He/she should make sure that interactions with students are appropriate for the type of contact.
Honesty, Integrity, and Accuracy
Honesty, integrity, and accuracy are indispensable when dealing with students. Most students can recognise insincerity quickly and will walk away as a result. Moreover, honest and ethical behaviour helps build a good reputation, which will result in word-of-mouth referrals of new students.
Formal and Informal Communication
Procedurally, formal communication uses set personnel, procedures, and documents, whereas informal communication uses casual personal contacts. Linguistically, formal communication involves precise vocabulary and syntax to ensure the official message is clearly and accurately understood, whereas informal communication is more imprecise and colloquial.
The student counsellor might use informal communication to develop rapport with prospective students. However, he/she should communicate official information about courses, visas, and living conditions formally to students, and verify it in writing.
Problem Students
From time to time, the student counsellor may encounter problem students. Problems might include time wasting, aggressiveness, indecisiveness, lack of co-operation, lack of intelligence, etc. As a first course of action, the student counsellor should remain patient and try to find a more effective way to interact with the student. If this is not possible, the student counsellor should initiate any set procedures for dealing with problem students, and/or refer the student to a supervisor.
Dealing with Education Institutions
Types of Interactions
The student counsellor can interact with a number of different people at an educational institution, depending on its size and structure. Contact could be with personnel from international marketing, student admissions, student support, accommodation services, academic administration, etc. Interactions with institution staff should be appropriate for the type of contact.
Honesty, Integrity, and Accuracy
Honesty, integrity and accuracy are crucial when dealing with educational institutions. Education institutions may refuse to deal with a student counsellor who enrols unsuitable students or fails to fully inform students of requirements.
Formal and Informal Communication
Formal communication is likely to be used for official information such as written marketing material and enrolment processes and documents. The student counsellor may communicate informally with personal contacts in the institution.
Language and Cultural Differences
The student counsellor should be aware of any language or cultural differences which can affect communication and service. In particular, the student counsellor should pay attention to greeting styles and preferences for formal or informal language. Miscommunication between the student counsellor and education institution staff can result from different understandings of terminology.
Refer to B1.2 Communication with Education Institutions and B3.3 Cultural Awareness.
Extension Questions: When dealing with students and education institutions:
- What types of interactions does the student counsellor have with students?
- What types of interactions does the student counsellor have with education institutions?
- What formal and informal communication is used?
- What interpersonal skills are important?