School Administrator Newsletter

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Top Ten Thoughts about KMART and Christian Schools

"I told you so," I said to my wife as I looked up from the March 8, 2002, edition of the Orange County Register Business Section. The headline said "Kmart to shut 284 stores, cut 22,000 jobs." I'm sensitive to the fact that some of you may own stock in Kmart or may have a relative that works for that company. Please do not take anything I say personally, but Kmart gives us a great illustration. My original comments to my wife took place a couple of years ago.

I remember two occasions when my wife and I walked into our local Kmart store. The first time was when the store was charging $.25 to get a shopping cart. They had this clever device that required a quarter to get a cart, but you got your quarter back when you returned the cart. I'm sure it was a great idea in someone's mind to solve the problem of keeping shopping carts. However, on that day as I walked through the doors, I could hear shoppers walking in with me saying outloud, "I can't believe they charge a quarter to get a cart!" They were angry; you could tell it in their tone of voice. I thought at the time, "This store is in trouble. A company can't survive if its customers walk in the door mad."

The second occasion I remember was when my wife and I bought some discounted two-liter sodas. We walked over to the camera section to make our purchase, but when I looked at the receipt, I had been charged the full amount. "I'm sorry," the sales clerk said, "you'll have to go to the Customer Service department to get a refund for the difference. I can't help you here." The salesperson at the register could not correct a computer scanner mistake. I would have to stand in the Customer Service line in order to get my $.20 refund. Now I know that's not a lot of money and is not worth standing in line, but it's the principle of the thing that counts. The employees were not able to correct mistakes without putting the customer at an inconvenience. It was not a big thing, I suppose, but it was frustrating if I remember it.

I told my wife after each occasion that Kmart would soon go out of business. You can't keep irritating your customers and expect to prosper. Kmart has irritated too many customers, and, consequently, the company is in trouble.

Now, what does this have to do with Christian Schools? Easy. I'm afraid there are Christian schools which keep irritating customers and wonder why they do not prosper. Have you checked to see if your customers (parents, students, teachers, etc.) come onto your campus irritated, or mad, every day because of something the school does or does not do? Are your employees (office staff and teachers) empowered to make error-correcting decisions in a way that is convenient to customers? I think you can see the connection. Here are some points to consider as you keep the Kmart story in mind.

Drive on to your campus with a fresh eye. Wait until after school gets started and the parking lot is not busy. Take your time to drive or walk through the parking lot entrance and look at everything as if you were doing it for the first time. If it helps, go pick up someone who is not familiar with the campus and ride along with them. Hopefully, you will see things you have ignored or not seen before.
Signage. Do your signs make sense? Is it clear how to get to the office, gymnasium, and restrooms? If your potential customers have to walk or drive around the campus figuring out where to go, it is only natural that they feel frustrated and confused. Those negative feelings are going to get transferred to your school if you don't do something about it.
Parking. Now, don't get mad at me; I'm just trying to help. Do your customers have to hunt for a parking space and then walk by a parking space next to the office that says, "Reserved for the PRINCIPAL"? They may not even think about it, but you have sent the message "The principal is more important than the customer." If that's the message you want to send, then fine. But that little jab at your customer costs you. If parking is so bad that the principal (or superintendent, or pastor, or some other "dignitary") must have his/her own parking space, then make it a parking space on the other side of the parking lot so your customers can have the convenient spaces. Besides, the principal can use the extra steps walking across the parking lot. Burns a few extra calories every day and sends an important message to customers and to the employees.
Paperwork. If parents have their children in your school for years, how many times do you make them fill out their personal information. I can just hear that harried parent who has filled out the same information many times say, "Why do I have to fill this out again. Don't they know where I live?" Find out a way to get rid of the repetitious paper work.
Telephone. Answering the telephone may be one of the more important functions in your school. The impression your receptionist makes in the first few seconds of each call has great impact on what people think about your school. This topic needs its own list of best practices. However, suffice it to say, are people more or less frustrated after they call your school office? Is their telephone experience a positive one? Are callers able to obtain the information they seek? Do they hang up with the impression that your school is a professional place where people are informed and competent? It might be helpful to have a stranger call your school with a common question and give you a report on the impressions they received by their experience.
Trips. From time to time your school may make field trips or trips to athletic contests. Are parents fully informed about what to expect relative to locations, departure and return times, and other details of the trip? How are changes in plans communicated to parents? Yes, you sent home an information sheet before the trip, but have you checked with the parents to see if it met their need for information when and where they needed it? Related to the previous point, does the receptionist have all current information about the trip so when a parent calls to find out something, he/she gets it easily?
Athletics. This activity can be a great source of frustration for parents. There is so much information to communicate about games, times, and places that often parents are the last to find out what is going on. Often the coach relies on telling the players information about games in a team meeting, but the players fail to pass that information on to the parents. Wouldn't it be great if, at the end of the season, your team parents said, "We had all the information we needed when we needed it. It was timely, accurate, and easily accessible, including changes in plans." I'll bet most parents don't feel that way. Find out what it takes, and break through the communication barriers.
Fund Raising. Many schools have fundraisers, like candy sales, going on all year long which can be a source of frustration to parents. At one time this may have been acceptable to parents, but increasingly, parents feel that the tuition they pay should cover the cost of education for their child and they shouldn't be harrassed by fundraisers to pay for what tuition should cover. Survey your parents about their feelings about fundraisers and the impression it leaves about whether or not your school is a quality school. Many parents discern that the time and effort made by faculty and students to raise money in fundraisers is time taken from the education of their children. Charge the tuition it takes to provide a quality program, and you don't need the fundraisers.
Money Collections. This is often frustrating for parents. Individual classes collect money for special projects or field trips and parents wonder why their tuition does not cover these miscellaneous expenses. If these activities are important to your school program why not include them in the tuition? If they are not important to the school program, why do them?
Get some help. Hire a consultant or a professional coach to help you take a fresh look at your school. Someone on the outside of the school can help you with assessments, surveys, and other methods of obtaining customer opinions.

I don't have anything against Kmart. I hope the company is able to turn things around and that their employees can keep their jobs. I do object to businesses, including Christian schools, that continue practices that frustrate their students and parents needlessly. I encourage us all to take a fresh perspective on our practices, with the view to removing those that offend.

I hope this helps.

Clark Stephens

ClarkStephens@AdministratorCoach.com

Copyright 2002 by www.Administratorcoach.com. All rights reserved.

Clark Stephens is a professional coach dedicated to serving Christian school administrators. His mission is to work with Christian school administrators by providing a confidential, professional relationship that supports, instructs, and sharpens the focus so that the client gains maximum achievement for their effort. You can learn more about professional coaching and services available by visiting Clark's website at www.AdministratorCoach.com.

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