¡Con Gusto! Why Customer Service Matters at SSH
As early childhood educators, we’re fortunate to be surrounded by children’s joyful faces and to walk alongside them as they discover new things each day. We feel honored to have parents entrust Spanish Schoolhouse with their precious little ones. Building this relationship of trust is super important to us, and that’s why we go above and beyond for our customers.
We’re so privileged to have customers who are like family to us! It’s not just our students, but their parents, siblings, grandparents, and extended families whom we consider to be our customers. Our teachers and staff make a genuine effort to greet every visitor, every day, and make them feel welcome! It’s as if you’re walking into a warm home…. ¡Mi casa es su casa! In fact, many former families tell us that the morning greeting and genuine interest which is shown to each person is something that stands out from their experience at SSH.
The School/Home Connection
One focus that leads to student success is building a strong school/home relationship. We’re constantly enhancing our communication methods to keep parents informed so they can share in their children’s experiences. We value parents’ collaboration through their suggestions, volunteer efforts, participation at parties, picnics, and shows. ¡Mil gracias, padres de SSH! Not only does your involvement support us as educators, but it also helps us understand our students better when we get to know their loved ones.
Not Just a Business Practice
Our view at Spanish Schoolhouse is that customer service is an attitude, not a department. It permeates all aspects of our work day as we strive to create an excellent experience for our children and their families. This is something the Spanish Schoolhouse owners have always been passionate about. They regularly host customer service trainings that inspire, teach, and motivate our staff to exceed our customers’ wishes. We believe in the philosophy that if we take care of our employees, it will all trickle down to the students and our commitment to them!
No matter which Spanish Schoolhouse location you enter, you’re sure to find this same spirit! We may be growing, but we’ll never outgrow the personal, attentive, and family-like atmosphere. Families sometimes switch between SSH locations and they’re pleasantly surprised at how seamless the transition is. That’s because the system we’ve developed over the years guides our programs at every location. When students start at a new SSH school, they feel instantly “at home”.
We’re Listening!
One way we find out how we’re performing is through our annual parent surveys. Every year at this time, we survey parents of current students and those who’ve graduated from our preschool or kindergarten classes. Throughout the year we also survey parents at the end of each After School, Mommy & Me, and Summer Camp session. Not only does this feedback help us monitor the effectiveness of our curriculum, but it also helps us fine tune our customer service.
We can’t fulfill every request, but we try to resolve each issue, implement suggestions, and be as responsive to our families’ needs as possible. Thanks to survey feedback over the years, we’ve extended our hours to accommodate parents who need longer morning and afterschool care. Parents (and kids!) expressed a desire for more activity in the summer, so we’ve added more continuous camp sessions. Parents wanted to be more involved in their children’s learning, so we’ve worked hard to provide resources that support language learning at home. To keep parents better informed, we’ve added communication tools like the “Remind” text system. And many of the locations chosen for our schools were inspired by parents’ requests.
We’re always excited to see the results of these surveys and we compare our performance year to year, always striving to improve. We receive so many heartwarming comments, and it’s feedback like this that lets us know we’re meeting our ultimate objectives!
The enthusiasm, warmth, and patience of the staff are amazing. We don’t feel like clients, we feel like family!
We’re welcomed at the door every morning with smiles and hugs for my child. It sets the tone for a great day, and the warm atmosphere just continues until the final “adios” at the door in the afternoon.
Office staff are always present and always there to listen. They are so observant and never miss a thing/will get back to you as soon as possible.
We receive daily feedback from teachers, informative emails from the office staff and director, and everyone is always available to answer any questions we may have.
It’s a very nurturing environment, which is so important for the kids’ development in this age group. My kids’ teachers show such love and compassion, and the front office always goes above and beyond when I have a question.
Keeping Our Doors and Ears Open
The reality in many service industries is that employees often receive more complaints than compliments. Customers don’t take the time to express satisfaction, but they sure let you know when they’re not happy! Fortunately, in our schools, we have parents who support our mission, give us constructive suggestions for improvements, and share positive feedback on a regular basis. We really do welcome customer input and we hope our parents know that our doors are open. Your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions are what make us better.
Building relationships with families is one of our top priorities. We want to always be worthy of the trust that parents put in us. We firmly believe that having a customer service focus helps us to provide the best possible experience for all who are part of our Spanish Schoolhouse community. It’s our pleasure; ¡Con Gusto!
This could not be more true! I love the warm welcomes that we always receive at SSH Southlake. Every teacher and staff member is so friendly and helps create such a warm and welcoming environment – great for the kids and parents. Thank you!
Thanks, Gina, for taking the time to share your experiences at SSH Southlake! We are so proud of our team there and will pass your kind words along to them. 🙂