Episode 3: The Power of Testimonials

Your school's website probably has testimonials. But do they make prospective parents feel something — or just fill space? When a Dean of Enrollment compares his school's generic quotes to a competitor's gut-punch storytelling, he and a colleague uncover what's really missing: vulnerability, specificity, and the courage to let families share the hard part of their journey too.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to EM Chronicles, where we turn the big ideas in enrollment management into stories you can feel. I'm Claude Anderson. This is episode 3, The Power of Testimonials. Let's begin.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Rachel Nguyen found Marcus Cole in the faculty lounge, staring at his laptop with a half-eaten sandwich beside him. As director of communications, Rachel had learned to read body language, and Marcus, the dean of enrollment, looked like a man who had just discovered something uncomfortable. You look like someone who found a typo on a billboard after it went up, Rachel said, pulling a chair over. Marcus exhaled and turned the laptop toward her. Worse, I spent the morning going through our website side by side with three competitor schools. And honestly, Rachel, their testimonials are making ours look like we asked a chatbot to say something nice about us. Rachel leaned in and scrolled through the screen. What do you mean? Look at this one from Ridgewood Academy. A mother writes about how her son came home in tears every day from his old school because he couldn't keep up in reading. She describes the exact moment his teacher at Ridgewood called to say he'd read his first chapter book on his own. She talks about the look on his face. You can feel it. Rachel nodded slowly. And ours say things like, Great school, wonderful community. Exactly. And it hit me, we have those stories. I hear them all the time during re-enrollment conversations. Parents tell me incredible things. A dad told me last week that our art program is the reason his daughter gets out of bed in the morning, that she went from refusing to go to school to begging to stay late for studio time, but none of that is anywhere on our website. Rachel sat back. So the stories exist. We're just not capturing them. It goes deeper than that, Marcus said, closing the laptop. I've been reading about why testimonials actually work, and it's not about having nice quotes, it's about emotional connection. When a prospective parent reads a testimonial from someone who faced the same fear they're facing right now, something clicks. It's not logical. It's more like, this person gets me. This school understood their kid. Maybe they'll understand mine. That's exactly right, Rachel said. I had a moment like that myself, actually. Before my daughter started here, I was terrified. She has ADHD, and her old school basically told us she was a disruption. I remember reading a testimonial from a mom at another school who described the exact same experience, and she talked about how her son went from being labeled a problem to winning the science fair. I cried reading it. That testimonial is why I applied there first. Marcus looked at her. You never told me that. It's not something I usually share at work, but that's the point, isn't it? The most powerful testimonials come from families who are willing to be vulnerable about what they went through. The struggle is what makes the story real. And that's what we're missing, Marcus said. Our testimonials are polished and safe. Nobody talks about the hard part, the before. They just say the school is great. But prospective parents aren't looking for perfection, they're looking for someone who's been where they are. Rachel pulled out her phone and started making notes. So what if we completely rethink how we collect these? Instead of sending a survey that says, tell us what you love about the school, we actually sit down with families and interview them, ask them to tell us the story of their child's journey, where they started, what the turning point was, where they are now. Yes, and we need diverse voices, not just the obvious success stories, parents of kids with learning differences, alumni who took unconventional paths, teachers who can talk about watching a student transform over three years. The richer the range of perspectives, the more prospective families see themselves in our community. And format matters too, Rachel added. Video is huge. When you can see a parent's face as they describe that moment their kid finally felt like they belonged, that's something a written quote can never replicate. Marcus nodded, a new energy in his voice. Let's build this out. I want a real strategy, not just a page of quotes. Can we meet with your team this week? I'll set it up for Thursday, Rachel said. And Marcus, we should use these everywhere, not just the website. View books, social media, admissions events, even the follow-up emails we send after campus visits. Agreed. If these stories are as powerful as we think they are, they should be the backbone of everything we do. A week later, Rachel and Marcus sat across from Dr. James Whitfield, the head of school, in his corner office. The morning light came through the windows as Marcus spread a one-page overview of their testimonial strategy on the table. I like where this is headed, Dr. Whitfield said after reviewing it, but I want to push on a couple of things. First, getting families to open up like this isn't easy, especially the ones with the most powerful stories. They might not want their child's struggles made public. Marcus nodded. We've thought about that. We want to offer options, full attribution, first name only, or even anonymous if that's what makes them comfortable. The story still works even without a last name, and some families might prefer a written quote over video, which is fine. There's something else, Rachel said, leaning forward. I'll be honest. I'm a little worried about our marketing team's instinct to only show the positive. When I mentioned including testimonials where families talk about challenges they faced, I got some pushback. The concern is that it makes us look like we have problems. Dr. Whitfield was quiet for a moment. I understand that instinct, but I think it's wrong. Let me tell you why. He paused. When I was interviewing for my first headship, I visited a school where everything on the website was perfect, every testimonial was glowing, every photo looked staged, and my first thought was, what are they hiding? The school that hired me had a testimonial from an alumni parent who talked about how her daughter struggled socially for her first semester and almost transferred. Then she described how the advisory program connected her daughter with a mentor who changed everything. That honesty made me believe everything else on the site. That's a really good point, Marcus said. Balanced feedback actually builds credibility. Exactly, Dr. Whitfield continued. Now logistically, how do we manage this? We can't just collect 20 stories and call it done. Rachel jumped in. We need a system. I want to bring in Priya from our tech team to build a database where we can tag testimonials by theme, audience, division, and format. That way, when we need a testimonial for a middle school open house email, we can pull one that speaks directly to middle school parents. And we should refresh them regularly, Marcus added. Stories from five years ago don't carry the same weight. I'd like to do a new collection cycle every fall. Dr. Whitfield smiled. This feels right. It's not just a marketing project. It's about telling the truth of who we are through the people who've lived it. What resources do you need? Budget for a professional videographer for the initial round, Rachel said. And about ten hours of Priya's time to build the database. Done, Dr. Whitfield said. And one more thing, make sure we're intentional about whose stories we tell. I want families from every corner of this community represented, not just the loudest voices. Marcus stood, collecting his papers. We'll have a full timeline by next Friday. Thank you, Dr. Whitfield. Thank me when the first prospective family tells us they applied because of a story they heard from one of our parents, he replied. That's when we'll know this is working.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Now, here are three questions this story should raise for your school. How can we create a culture where families feel safe enough to share not just their successes, but the struggles that preceded them? And what does that vulnerability require from us as an institution? What systems need to be in place to ensure our testimonial collection represents the full diversity of our community rather than defaulting to the families who are most visible or most comfortable in the spotlight? How do we measure whether our testimonials are actually influencing enrollment decisions? And what would it look like to make authentic family storytelling a permanent part of our strategic communications rather than a one time project? Thanks for listening to EM Chronicles. Every school has stories worth telling. We're here to help you find yours. I'm Claude Anderson. See you in the next episode.