A folder of screenshots
You have a folder on your phone called 'wins'. It holds screenshots of lovely messages from students: in the community, in emails, in replies to your newsletter. Some are on your sales page. You are not entirely sure which students you asked, which ones said 'yes, use my name' and which said 'you can share it but not my surname'.
A former student emails asking you to remove her words from the sales page, because she has changed jobs. You remove them, and wonder how many other quotes on the page you could not show permission for if asked.
Why permission gets lost
Praise arrives spontaneously, in places built for conversation. Asking for permission happens, if at all, in a follow-up message that is not stored with the quote. Quotes are trimmed for length and the trimmed version becomes the only version. And testimonials are collected at random moments, often right after a live call, rather than when a student has actually made progress.
- Permission is given in a chat, not recorded with the quote.
- How the student wants to be named is not recorded.
- Edited quotes lose the original wording.
- Nobody knows how to remove a quote everywhere it is used.
- Students are asked at random moments, or never.
What you are allowed to publish, and what any advertising rules require about testimonials, is for you and your adviser. The problem we solve is keeping a clear record of what each student agreed to.
What loose testimonials cost
Your credibility, if a student objects to how their words were used. Time, when a removal request arrives and you have to hunt through pages, emails and ads. And lost testimonials: students who would happily have given one were never asked at the right moment, so your sales page relies on the same few quotes for years.
A testimonial flow with a record
- Moments to ask are set with you, such as finishing a module, submitting a project, or a set time after purchase.
- Students receive a short form asking about their experience in their own words, with optional questions about what changed for them.
- The form asks, as separate choices, whether you may use their words publicly, how they want to be named, and whether a photo may be used.
- Every answer is stored with the original wording, the date and exactly what was agreed.
- Spontaneous praise from chats can be sent a one-click permission request, so it enters the same record.
- When you use a quote, you record where (sales page, email, ad), so removal requests can be handled everywhere.
- Students can withdraw or change permission through a link, and you are told where their words are in use.
| Student chose | What you can see | Where it can be used |
|---|---|---|
| Full name and photo, public | Consent record with date | Anywhere you record it |
| First name only | Naming preference | Public, first name only |
| Internal use only | Consent record | Not published |
| Withdrawn | Date withdrawn and where used | Removal list |
Testimonials you can stand behind
You have a library of testimonials with the original words, the student's permission and naming choice beside each one. Removal requests take minutes, because you know where each quote is used. And because you ask at moments of progress, you gather more varied testimonials, from students at different stages, rather than the same few.
When you write a new sales page, you search the library by topic or outcome and pick quotes you know you are allowed to use, in the form the student agreed to.
Is your testimonial folder like this?
- Your testimonials are screenshots of chats.
- You are not sure which students agreed to public use.
- Quotes have been edited and the originals are lost.
- Removing a quote means searching everywhere by hand.
- You rarely ask for testimonials at a planned moment.