What continuing education providers can learn from Amazon. Todd Gibby Hobsons President, HE @tgibby

1. “CUSTOMER” IS NOT A FOUR-LETTER WORD
WHAT CONTINUING EDUCATION PROVIDERS CAN LEARN FROM
UPCEA NE REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Todd Gibby, President, HE, Hobsons (@tgibby)

2. “CUSTOMER” IS NOT A FOUR LETTER WORD
WHAT CONTINUING EDUCATION PROVIDERS CAN LEARN FROM
UPCEA SOUTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Todd Gibby, CEO, Intelliworks
Guy Felder, Program Director, University of Houston

4. WHY WE AVOID THE WORD
CUSTOMER…

5. THE GRAND DEBATE

6. TOP TEN REASONS WHY WE DON’T SAY “CUSTOMER”
1. Education is not a business
2. See above
3. See above
4. See above
5. See above
6. See above
7. See above
8. See above
9. See above
10. See above

7. WHAT IS A CUSTOMER, REALLY?
cus·tom·er Noun /kəstəmər/
A person or organization that buys
goods or services.

8. POP QUIZ
Do you offer a service?
Do people pay you for that service?
Do you compete with others that offer
a similar service?
Do you want those who pay you for
that service to pay you again for
similar services?

9. YOU MIGHT BE A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION…

10. WE’RE NOT SAYING “THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT”
"If I'm a customer," the student thinks, "and the customer is always right, then why
am I getting a C in this class?" The next logical step in that thought process is to visit
the instructor -- followed by the department head and the dean, if necessary -- to
demand an A, the way any other customer would demand satisfaction at any other
place of business.”
-Source: The Chronicle for Higher Education, January 31, 2007
-Rob Jenkins, associate professor of English and director of the Writers Institute at Georgia Perimeter College,

11. RESPONSIBILITY IS MUTUAL
R I
E T
S Y
Institution P
O
Student
N
S
B
I
L

13. How do we help?

15. What do they expect of us?

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3qltEtl7H8

17. WHY DOES CUSTOMER
SERVICE MATTER?

18. CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
2005 2010
Institutions
Number of public institutions 1,738 1,705
Percentage of all institutions 39.6% 36.8%
that are public
Number of private, nonprofit 1,745 1,713
institutions
Percentage of all institutions 39.7% 37.0%
that are private
Number of for-profit institutions 909 1,215
Percentage of all institutions 20.7% 26.2%
that are for-profit
Enrollments
Public institutions total 13,085,114 14,909,531
Public institutions as a 74.5% 71.9%
percentage of all students
Private, nonprofit total 3,589,454 3,924,278
Private, nonprofit as a 20.4% 18.9%
percentage of all students
For-profit total 899.896 1,893,712
For-profit as a percentage of all 5.1% 9.1%
students
Source: Carnegie Classification, January 2011

19. INQUIRY MANAGEMENT MATURITY
Maturity Levels Characteristics
Level 4 – Innovators (0%) • Fanatics about data quality and governance
• Develop understanding of student needs and motivations
• Routinely perform closed-loop marketing measurement
• Apply tech effectively to manage multiple student touch-points
Level 3 – Cultivators (25%) • Ongoing reporting on size and shape of inquiry pool
• Use processes to manage data quality
• Use shared and centralized systems to collect and manage inquiries
Level 2 – Collectors (55%) • Beginning stages of systemic inquiry management
• Basic period reporting on inquiry pool
• With decentralized inquiry capture comes additional manual processes
• Ability to directly communicate w/ past inquiries, improving effectiveness
Level 1 – Responders (21%) • Lack fundamental collection practices
• Provide “just the facts” responses
• Lack consistent reporting of inquiry pipeline
•Characterized by low-tech or manual processes
Source: Demand Engine: “Adult Marketing Needs a Makeover – Now!” (July 2011)
Base: 77 Institutions

20. PUBLIC OPINION OF HIGHER ED INSITUTIONS
Public Private For-Profit
Positive Negative Positive Negative Positive Negative
35%
48% 52% 52% 48%
65%
Source: Harris Interactive, August 2011

21. HIGHER ED NOT VIEWED AS SERVICE ORIENTED
Statement: Colleges/Universities do not care if students succeed,
only if they enroll and pay tuition.
60
50
40
30 For-Profit
Non-Profit
20
10
0
Agree Disagree
Source: Harris Interactive, August 2011

23. WHAT EDUCATION CUSTOMERS EXPECT
1 As few barriers as possible
2 Friendliness and understanding
3 Control over their options
4 Assurance that their voice matters
5 Convenience and flexibility
6 Help when they need it
7 Clear benefit from their investment

24. A FEW THINGS TO NOTE FROM
AMAZON.COM (AND OTHERS)

25. SO WHY AMAZON.COM?
1. They basically INVENTED the idea of online service.
2. They know how to bridge the gap between online and offline interactions.
3. They deliver the right information at the right time to the right audience.
4. They learn from their mistakes.
5. They inspire others to provide even better service.

26. ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS…

27. SHOWCASE POPULAR SERVICES

28. PROVIDE MORE DETAIL

29. GET PERSONAL

30. OFFER RESOURCES

31. Empower Employees

32. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwE1zb9fiVs

34. HOW ZAPPOS “WOWS” THEM…
• Service is accessible
• Customers are heard
• Agents are empowered
• Communication is clear
• Decisions are made quickly

35. How we have leveraged this
Online

36. Offline:
First Call Resolution

37. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO
“WOW” CUSTOMERS…

38. It all started with a shoe order and a blog.
1. What do we really do for people?
2. How do we help them?
3. What do they expect of us?

39. What do we really do for people? (or who are we)

40. HOUSTON PICKS UP THE PHONE

41. THE JOURNEY TO BEING CUSTOMER FOCUSED
From: We have a staff who does that To: Everyone answers the phone
Customer Director
service Rep
Customer Marketing Operations
service Rep
Customer Coordinator
Student
service Rep worker

42. ENHANCE ONLINE EXPERIENCE
• Highlight key offerings
• Provide search and directory
up front
• Give a clear benefit statement
– “How We Can Help”
• Offer multiple channels to
contact us and stay informed

43. OFFER ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/COMMUNITY
• Informational videos via
YouTube
• Feedback and blast messaging
via Twitter
• Community engagement via
Facebook

44. Funnel Relevant Messaging

45. Proof positive
Through the launch period of our CRM
668 Inquires
and the re-design of our website we
have seen a positive change in our
inquiry traffic from phone to web.
21 via
316 chat
239 via 92 via
from live for
phone email
Website two
weeks)

46. COMPARISON
7/7/11 to 7/14/11 10/7/11 to 10/14/11
Touchpoints Touchpoints
Phone Email
Email 19% 22%
30%
Chat
Phone 17%
60% Web
Web 42%
10% Chat
0%

47. OCT/SEPT YOY GROSS REVENUE
September October
$330,000
$210,000
$90,000 $120,000
2010 2011

48. Major Outcomes
• Funnel to conversion forecasting takes guess work out of
filling classes
• Funnel guides marketing decisions
• Advisors and programming staff worry less about filling
classes and more about meeting potential student’s needs
• CRM provides valid data to help leadership understand and
make decisions about offerings

49. EAGLE LEARNING’S LOFTY CHALLENGES
• Because the majority of our programs
are graduate programs, our target
audience tends to be nontraditional
students that work full-time, often
have families, and are not able to be
on campus very often.
• Since we have a lot of different
programs that operate
independently, it was really important
that we standardized our branding
across multiple communication
channels.
- Amy Thornton, Program Manager,
University of Southern Mississippi, Eagle
Learning Online

50. ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE
UNIFIED BRANDING
• We were able to create program microsites
and inquiry forms for every unique program
while creating a consistent look and feel that
portrayed the image we were looking for in
Eagle Learning Online.
RIGHT PROGRAM FOR THE RIGHT STUDENTS
• Able to collect appropriate information to
direct students to the programs that were
right for them.
PROGRAM BUY-IN
• We’ve learned that getting faculty on board
often requires the help of another faculty
member who’s already on board.

51. THE RESULTS?

52. HOW CAN WE BECOME MORE
CUSTOMER CENTRIC?

53. THE KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Know your students’ motivations
2. Hire good communicators
3. Build “hoop-less” admissions / financial aid processes
4. Take a proactive approach to student advising
5. Automate routine communications
6. Hire faculty suited to online teaching
7. Set and maintain high standards for student/faculty
communication
8. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate
9. Check your program’s vital signs regularly
10. Use cross-functional teams to develop enhancements
and improvements
Source: American Public University System and Intelliworks

54. ABOVE ALL…BE HUMANE.
A LITTLE PERSONALIZATION GOES A LONG WAY
• Offer a clear path to service
• Provide multiple touch points:
– Inquiry Forms
– Phone Numbers
– Online Chat
– Email
• Personalize follow up
Source: Fast Company Magazine, September 2006
• Be proactive not reactive

56. AND, JUST FOR THE
RECORD…