Standard education in higher learning institutions is not enough for attaining learner satisfaction. Usually, the students expect more from the time they are admitted into an institution to the time they complete their education. Primarily, students are important in the daily operations of the school as well as ensure sustainability of the institutions. Otherwise, schools may run out of service. To keep students from opting out and joining other colleges as well as attract more students to the institutions, then it would be prudent to cater for them in a way that makes the school stand out from the competition.
Catering to customers in higher education would mean that educational services provided meet the expectation of the students as supplied by Moore-Jones. Essentially, the provision of such services centered environment is a duty of every member of the institution. Catering to customer needs increases the profitability of higher learning institutions as well as improve student retention. As such, administrators will be better placed at ensuring students are satisfied and that they remain loyal to the school.
Catering to customers should go beyond the services provided by word of mouth. According to Moore-Jones, “admission departments has become marketing departments and no surprise that students expect the pleasant, fun view of the college they had from the brochures to continue while they are there.” Thus, students have tendencies of looking for the services they were promised during admission. For this reason, it is prudent for learning institution to provide actual services they promise customers in admission. As such, the customers will be satisfied with the kind of services they are given which in turn improves feedback and value from the perspective of customers.
Further, students have tendencies of seeking experiences and factors that influence satisfaction solely depends on individual personalities. Additionally, students have different capabilities and the extent to which the institution meets their specific needs also determines the value of education received. Gladwell says that “industrial efficiency experts emphasize best practices to ensure a boost in productivity.” The same cases apply to higher learning institutions. All stakeholders need to ensure that proper educational practices are in place and effectively implemented to ensure that students perform as required.
Overall quality service to students in higher learning institutions is paramount for the success of the schools. Thus, academic officials need to ensure to provide services that meet or exceed customer satisfaction. For this, it is critical for officials consider the opinions of the customers, inform the customers what is required of them and the benefits they gain from the service provided, and they should follow up with the customers.
Catering to customers requires performance measurement to ensure that goals and objectives are attained. Performance measurement in profit-oriented business can be found by following up with customers and collecting feedback. As such, companies are better placed to make an improvement on the products and services they provide their customers which in turn encourage growth. Standards are critical to determining progress; however, performance measures in learning institutions are a challenge. Different factors such as resources in each institution, the capabilities of the students, and evaluation methods hinder abilities to measure educational productivity neatly (Gladwell).
Unfortunately, catering to customers to ensure satisfaction is not always appropriate in gauging the quality in higher education. Higher educational institutions are meant for students to learn from their mistakes, and thus, students are not always right as in the cases for business. Moore-Jones argues that the present generation of students is steeped in consumer culture before going off to school and is then inclined to see books as a string of entertainment to be placidly enjoyed.” Given this method, most students do not attend higher learning to learn and thus are unable to bear their ignorance. Therefore, learning institutions need to be sure not to treat students as conventional customers like in a business that is solely aimed at making profits. Catering to customers in higher learning institutions should not focus on competing for customers; instead, it should aim at attracting the best students nationally and across regions. The marketing strategies employed should critically avoid misleading students about what they ought to do and gain from the institutions.
In conclusion, catering to the customer in higher education has value to both students and learning institutions. Catering to customers ensures that individual students develop personal responsibility in making positive educational progress that has ultimate benefit to societal values. The strategy is critical to ensuring that the individual needs of the students are taken care off and that students are satisfied with the kind of services provided. The institutions also benefit by being identified as best performers and thus continuously attract more students into the institutions. However, catering to the customer in higher learning institutions is challenging because of a lack of proper performance measures. Additionally, treating students as conventional customers is not appropriate in the case where schools are not able to attract the best students.
Works Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. Making the Grade. The New Yorker. 2003. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/09/15/making-the-grade-3
Moore-Jones, Michael. On The Uses Of A Liberal Education: As “Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students” WordPress. http://mmoorejones.com/liberal-education-lite-entertainment-bored-college-students-mark-edmundson/
