Get More Students with Amazing Testimonials

Last week I spoke to you about internal feedback; now it's time to cover PUBLIC testimonials!

Est. reading time: 5 minutes - thank you for devoting this time to YOUR GROWTH today 💛

If you haven't read my last article about internal feedback, you can access it right here; it's essential you read through it, as there are some crucial steps to complete before you jump onto today's content:

Like I said there, your key to more Dream Students lies with YOUR EXISTING STUDENTS. A satisfied and happy student will rave about you to everyone they know.

So let's say you already asked your existing students about how you're doing, and you took action on areas of improvement.

Now it's time to ask for public testimonials. (I'd ideally do this with a few weeks/a month of difference between the two requests)

I don't have to explain why and how public testimonials are gold for your business. I'm pretty sure you also regularly check what people say about a product, a service: a restaurant, a massage service, a doctor, a school, etc etc.

Public testimonials may be the last push of reaffirmation to someone new checking you out in person or online.

Now, depending on the type of business you run, I recommend you use different platforms for those testimonials for your education brand.

TEACHING BUSINESS WITH A PHYSICAL LOCATION:

You should by no means underestimate the importance of Google in this case, especially Google Business. Start here to set up your page if you don't have one.

When people look for a service provider in their area, most of them will google it, and if you have a (well maintained) google business page, this will be the first place where they come across you.

You can add posts here, links to your blog, website, post special offers, gallery, and you can get TESTIMONIALS. So once you have the page up and running, send out its link to your existing students and ask for their opinion.

ONLINE TEACHING BUSINESS:

If you teach online, especially if your brand is international, I would totally recommend you set up a TrustPilot account and send an invitation to your existing students, asking them for a review.

Don't be surprised that your initial ranking will start at 3.5 stars (Trustpilot tries to keep it a fair game, and this is one of their rules), so it's better to give it a boost by inviting a group of people at once, so they push this number up within a few days.

You will also get an "embed link," which is excellent; we placed a TrustPilot review request at the bottom of our classroom page so people would be reminded often if they haven't left a review yet - see below.

Why is it good to ask for internal feedback before requesting public testimonials?

If you don't regularly ask for internal feedback, or if you don't take action on issues raised, you might end up with people complaining about your service in a public testimonial. Whereas if you have an open and honest culture at your school, and people know they can turn to you with their problems, they will highlight this in the public testimonials.

Once I had a mum come back to me in the internal feedback saying they are thinking of leaving, as her son is so bored with our classes and they don't know what to do.

In response to her comments, I set up a meeting with the mum and the teacher. In that meeting, we honestly discussed how everyone sees the situation, and together we decided to offer a different group to the boy.

By the time I asked for public feedback, the boy was happy in his new group. And the mum highlighted in the public testimonial how we resolved her issue and how happy they were with the outcome.

Do you feel the difference? I'm not talking about hiding issues. If all the reviews about a service are perfect, that might be suspicious. But you feel how different we come off, as people who took action on a complaint, whereas having the complaint right there on our wall.

Even if you get a complaint in a public testimonial, it's not the end of the world if you reply and follow up appropriately. So no worries, this is just a little trick.

What about language?

Both Google and Trustpilot accept testimonials in any language, and there's a translation option for viewers, so they are both ideal.

Should you ask for testimonials on your Facebook Page?

If you have a Facebook Page with good traffic and it's the go-to place of potential students, then definitely yes, but the above two would be higher on my priority list.

Should you offer a reward for leaving a testimonial?

While I'm pro-reward when referring a friend, I'm not particularly eager to offer rewards for testimonials. I want all reviews to be fully honest and genuine; I don't want to receive reviews just to get a coupon, whatever. So I don't do rewards for testimonials.

There are, of course, many other platforms you can choose from; these are the ones I found most helpful and valuable. And my goal is to give you immediately applicable, great solutions, not overwhelm you with a complete list of options.

But if you want to know more, just come and post in the community; I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for coming along! I appreciate you!

Hugs,

Eszter