How to Get Prizewinning Testimonials for Your Studio

How to Get Prizewinning Testimonials for your Studio

Through your website, you can (and should) give visitors information about your dance studio’s mission, history, upcoming events, and classes offered. When it comes to the big sell, though, it’s far better to let someone else do your bragging – namely your dance parents and/or the dancers themselves.

But how do you get testimonials that will benefit your school the most? Here’s how to obtain high quality testimonials that will draw more new dancers to your studio.

The first step to using testimonials on your website is, of course, to collect them in the first place. While getting testimonials is pretty straightforward (be bold and ask for them from your most satisfied parents & students), collecting the information needed for really persuasive testimonials requires a slightly different process.

Guide Dance Parents into Giving a Focused, Specific Testimonial

Although you can certainly ask a dance parent while they are at the studio, sending a testimonial request by email or personal note is more thoughtful. When you do this, be aware that the specific questions you ask your dance parents will play a major role in the quality of the testimonials you’ll receive.

For example, consider the following two testimonial requests:

“Hi Rebecca,
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recital! I’m always looking to feature feedback from happy dancers and dance parents on my website, so could you please send me a short paragraph describing what you like best about the studio?

Sincerely,
Elena (Studio Owner)”

vs.

“Hi Rebecca,
I’m so glad to hear that you and little Jenny had a wonderful recital experience this year! I would love to feature feedback from happy customers like you on the studio’s website.

If you’re willing to share your experiences, please send back your responses to one or more of the following questions (or feel free to write your own message).

  1. What about the recital did you enjoy the most?
  2. Has taking dance helped Jenny in other areas of her life? If so, what are they?
  3. What is Jenny’s favorite thing about coming to the studio?
  4. What have you enjoyed about your experience at the studio?

I’d love to use a photo of you and Jenny (which we can take in the studio if you’d like), or a photo of Jenny in a costume on recital night.

Thanks in advance!
Elena (Studio Owner)”

The second email increases the likeliness that a specific benefit or positive result will be brought to the attention of new prospects. These types of testimonials are much more powerful than generic compliments. To demonstrate:

The first request above might result in a testimonial that sounds a little like:

“We love Figtree School of Dance. It’s awesome in every way, and the recital was wonderful. Thanks Ms. Elena!”

The second request might result in something more like the following:

“Before our daughter Jenny began dance classes at Figtree School of Dance, she was shy and uncomfortable around other children her age. She has really blossomed through taking dance and has made many new friends. She is learning wonderful dance technique, but also is becoming a positive, confident young woman thanks to the staff and community at Figtree!”

Encourage specifics from your customers, and they’ll provide the much-needed social proof that can turn wavering prospects into new dancers in your studio.

You don’t have to use the entire testimonial!

Sometimes the kindness and enthusiasm of a customer results in a loooooong testimonial. As wonderful as testimonials are, to do their job they need to be readable. Nothing says you have to quote an entire testimonial on your site. Consider shortening it to five lines of text (or less). As long as you keep the overall impression the testimonial gives, it’s perfectly fine.

If a dance parent gives you a very long, but awesome, testimonial and you want to use more of the comments, you can break it up into several segments and scatter it throughout your site.

And the best spot to place testimonials is…

It’s an excellent idea to have a testimonials page on your dance studio’s website – having one can really impress parents considering dance studios in your area. In addition, though, add a testimonial here and there throughout the site. It increases their impact when you interweave them with the content on your webpages, giving them a better chance of being read by more of your site visitors.

If your testimonials are focused, specific, and well placed throughout your website, this powerful technique will convince new prospects of the benefits of their children taking class at your dance studio. Which means more new dancers coming through your studio’s doors!

Best wishes,
Stacey


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