ABSTRACT
The steady flow of customer service books and webinars that offer advice on improving customer service is geared primarily toward private business, yet excellent service delivery is critical to the success of any organization——including colleges and universities. Part of the challenge of making service training and thus service competency an integral part of higher education institutions is the language that accompanies the topic. An essential ingredient to defining service excellence for our institution, then, is to figure out which service practices from a broad range of industries we believe might apply to higher education. Bad experiences are accompanied by intense emotions, which make them memorable. People skills are the critical ingredient of service success, including in higher education environments. Employees with strong people skills are able to pick up cues and thus interpret and read what the customer expects and how the customer best receives and accepts service.
