METHODS ON COLLECTING TESTIMONIALS from clients and students to grow your FREELANCE Teaching Business
PREFACE 1
WHY COLLECT TESTIMONIALS? 3
Should you make an effort to get Testimonials? 3
Creating credibility with testimonials 4
TESTIMONIALS AS RISK-REVERSAL TOOLS 7
Eliminating student and customer worries 7
Testimonials help students to accept (higher) prices 12
Using testimonials to solve problems 14
TESTIMONIALS ARE DOCUMENTED THIRD-PARTY PROOF 17
Testimonials as a referral system 19
What if you don’t have any testimonials (yet)? 19
What kinds of testimonials should you focus on first? 20
A TESTIMONY IS JUST A TESTIMONY, ISN’T IT? 23
The purpose of testimonials 24
The candlemaker story 25
Spoilt for choice 27
RESISTANCE TOWARDS TESTIMONIALS 29
Is it reluctance or procrastination? 29
What holds you back from asking for testimonials? 30
No time to prepare testimonials 32
Testimonials during workshops and seminars 32
The verbal testimony 33
Reluctant corporate customers 34
TWO KINDS OF TESTIMONIALS 39
Logistical and experience-based testimonials 39
When to use logistical testimonials 40
A series of steps for your first logistical testimony 41
When to use experience-based testimonials 43
How to get ‘meaty’ experience-based testimonials 43
UNEXPECTED CRITICAL TESTIMONIALS 47
What if a testimony includes an unexpected criticism? 47
Testimonials are associated with glowing praises 48
Flipped testimonials are small diversions 49
The advantage of using flipped testimonials 49
TESTIMONY MISTAKES 51
Mixing up feedback with testimonials 51
Testimonials—but I forgot to ask! 55
GETTING TESTIMONIALS IN ADVANCE 57
Three specific points to get testimonials 58
How initial and in-progress testimonials work 60
Different approaches when asking for testimonials 62
ASKING FOR TESTIMONIALS 63
Asking for LESSON testimonials (open-end) 63
Asking for COURSE testimonials (set finish date) 64
Asking for WORKSHOP-SEMINAR testimonials 65
QUESTIONS FOR LOGISTICAL TESTIMONIALS 69
Six core areas to kick-start a LOGISTICAL testimony 71
QUESTIONS FOR EXPERIENCE-BASED TESTIMONIALS 77
The experienced-based questions 81
EXAMPLE: 17 experience-based testimony 84
RANDOM QUESTIONS ABOUT TESTIMONIALS 89
How many questions should you ask? 91
Should clients be informed in advance? 92
What is the correct length for testimonials? 94
Can I change the order or structure of a testimony? 95
Is it okay to edit testimonials? 96
What if the person who hires you is not the student? 96
About testimonial photos 98
TERMINOLOGY USED IN THIS BOOK 101