Customer Service in Financial Aid
Submitted by Tom Rebstock, Team Lead, TG Training

The business world is full of research and statistics about “customer service”, but what does this term mean within the context of the financial aid industry? According to my research, conducted with more than 1300 financial aid professionals during 30 workshops conducted coast-to-coast over the past four years, the No. 1 principle of customer service in financial aid is—deliver accurate, complete information.

Clearly we are living in an information world and our business is to provide information to our customers—students, their parents, our co-workers, our business partners, etc. According to those of you working in financial aid offices, this principle ranks above all others in its importance for defining great customer service.

So how do we accomplish this goal?

• First of all, our team members have to know the federal, state, and institutional financial aid policies and regulations—the whole process. While no one individual can develop an encyclopedic mastery of the entire financial aid database, across the team there should exist the breadth and depth of knowledge necessary to provide accurate information, answer questions competently, and process data efficiently.
  
  
• Professional development and cross-training are two ingredients for developing this base of knowledge within a financial aid office. This ongoing process begins with thorough orientation of new-hires and continues in regular staff training opportunities for experienced team members. Once employees learn the knowledge base for their particular job, they should be trained on other functionalities within the office. “Best practice” schools include this type of formal training as part of each employee’s annual performance and development plan and hold staff members accountable for accomplishing such goals.
  
  
• With the rapid rate of change in our industry, it’s also imperative to implement ways to stay current on our complex set of policies and regulations. It’s up to management to establish regular opportunities to update established guidelines and procedures that are provided to customers and used to serve them. Some schools accomplish this by including informational updates as a regular agenda item on weekly staff meetings. A wide variety of sources are available to help stay current in our field—printed materials, electronic Web sites and listservs, association meetings and conferences, and other professional networking opportunities should all be used to continuously improve the overall knowledge base of your office.
  
  
• Finally, information delivered to customers is only as good as the provider of that data, so your office should take steps to ensure that all employees who deal with customers are proficient communicators. This means that in addition to understanding the information, staff members must be able to speak clearly and concisely, to use a friendly tone of voice and project positive non-verbal messages, to listen actively and with empathy, to ask the right questions to make sure they understand the customer’s true needs, and to treat each customer respectfully while meeting his or her individual needs.

Customer service isn’t easy, but it can make a big difference in retaining your students and helping your organization meet its business and academic goals.