7 Higher Education Customer Service Trends & Tactics

What is one customer service trend happening within higher education? How does this trend translate into a usable customer service tactic? 

To help customer service professionals in higher education, we asked business leaders this question for their best advice. From hosting interactive tours to treating students as clients, there are several strategies that may help you boost student satisfaction at your organization. 

Here are seven higher education customer service trends to consider: 

• Host Interactive Campus Tours 
• Implement a Self-Help Option on Your Website
• Utilize AI Chatbots

• Provide Students With Flexible Learning Opportunities

• Embrace Digitalization

• Treat Students as Clients

• Leverage Preferred Communication Channels

Host Interactive Campus Tours

One thing that we have seen and are also trying to incorporate is interactive on-campus visits. These visits are a great opportunity to showcase our school’s facilities and school spirit. 

It is not enough to read about our schools online. It’s so much better when our students are about to get a more hands-on feel for the environment. From sitting in on classes, games, or practice sessions, they are able to start building meaningful connections from the very beginning.

Mike Orchard, College Athlete Advantage

Implement a Self-Help Option on Your Website

A self-help option offers students the information they are looking for immediately with no effort from your side. A knowledge base, a one-stop resource that provides answers to the most frequently asked questions, is a great way to up your game when it comes to customer service. 

Scholars appreciate a place where they can navigate easily and directly without human intervention. FAQ sections also increase the online visibility of your school, boost the level of student enrollment, and improve the overall customer experience.

Amit Raj, The Links Guy

Utilize AI Chatbots

Something I see more and more in higher education websites is the use of AI chatbots. These help service customers 24/7 and offer great initial support to students, faculty, and staff. This translates into a very useful customer service tactic because you can service customers even when your employees are not working. 

It gives you 24/7 support, and chatbots can resolve simple problems. For more complex matters, they can redirect you to a real customer service rep who can assist you further.

John Wu, Gryphon Connect

Provide Students With Flexible Learning Opportunities

After the pandemic, a lot of universities had to grasp flexible learning and remote learning. In 2021, a lot of universities have kept that same flexible mentality and providing students with more customer service to aid their entire learning experience. Flexible learning is here to stay overall.

Olivia Young, Conscious Items

Embrace Digitalization

Universities have had to adapt to many changes as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Creating virtual social events post-pandemic will be important to allow students to enjoy the social aspect of college, even if they are studying from home. They’ll also allow students to connect with anyone anywhere, enhancing their college experience with diversity.

Saskia Ketz, Mojomox

Treat Students as Clients

One of the trends within higher education to improve customer service is by treating paying students like customers. The advantages of this strategy include improved student satisfaction and loyalty. 

Managing students as clients also leads to increased retention, which is an important revenue source for higher education establishments.

Stewart McGrenary, Freedom Mobiles

Leverage Preferred Communication Channels

One rising trend among higher education institutions that I’ve noticed is the use of messaging apps in customer service. To meet universities’ younger audience where they are, as an additional channel of offering support beyond the typical email and chatbot, I am seeing a lot of schools allowing current and prospective students to contact them through apps like WhatsApp and Signal. Universities are getting wise to the fact this is how younger people communicate and even prefer to interact with businesses. 

Leaning into this approach, higher education institutions can allow students to shoot a message to the customer service team through WhatsApp or Signal, and get a response in the same way they normally would via email or the website’s chatbot. Once configured on the customer service team’s side with software, it really isn’t that different from responding to chatbot queries.

John Ross, Test Prep Insight

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