Schools Learn the Art of Customer Service

American schools are increasingly recognizing that they need to provide great customer service as well as great test scores.

Several Arizona district schools are sending their employees to half-day training sessions at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, where the general manager gives a four-hour introduction to the art of caring for customers. In recent years Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines and the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa have also given customer-service training to schools.

School officials say that customer service is an important element in keeping parents happy, especially where they are competing for new students. It has also been reported that some schools have been "mystery shopped", with students posing as parents to measure customer
service standards.