You wonder what to do to win new students, you keep improving the website, take care of the first contact with customers in the joint journey. And have you thought about those who already are your customers? Learn how to build a community loyal to your brand.
Why is it worthwhile to invest in building strong relations?
Lasting value – teaching is a long-term process so a student is likely to stay in your school for another term / business course / colloquies. This translates into lower costs of sales, and of customer acquisition for you.
References – a satisfied customer will be more willing to express opinions about your school than a random respondent. They will more willingly recommend your language course to friends and will speak more positively about you in social media.
Resale potential – a loyal customer will not even think about continuing learning in your rivals’ schools, they will eagerly buy more lessons, particularly if you offer to them staying in the same group or before classes you can treat them to your branded cookies.
Effective ways to bring customers closer to you
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Hand-write a letter to them |
When was it the last time you received a hand-written letter/card? Today this is something exceptional so please your customers and surprise them with a hand-written thank-you note for learning in your school. By the way, if you have many students, you don’t need to write 1000 letters – it suffices to scan the letter and sign all copies by hand.
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Teach something new |
Think what value added you can offer to your students? The more benefits they will feel, the more they will become attached to your school. Meetings with foreign visitors, thematic events, colloquies accompanied by coffee and cookies or additional educational materials at the school’s blog are elements building a lasting bond.
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Make their story stand out |
Every student starts learning from a certain level so if they manage to achieve the best results, improve their language command level, or even believe in themselves, make this public. Describe the customers’ learning history, let them know you are proud of them.
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Take time to talk to them |
Talk to your customer about what they like or dislike in your language school. Perhaps they want to change the teacher or focus more on colloquies? Individualised approach to students builds strong relations and proves you value their trust.
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Launch a loyalty programme |
The best-known form is comprised by collection of points or offering discounts – for recommendation, for continuation of a course, discounts on second language course. You can also give to students the customer cards or offer in-kind rewards. Think of whether you should go one step further and take advantage of external attractions, e.g. a lunch in a nearby restaurant, a concert, or cinema tickets.
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Reward them in social media |
It is a good idea to create a special space for your students, where they can share experiences. They will feel a bond not only with the language school, but will also become part of a friendly community. Create a Facebook group and make interesting materials they have not received during classes available to them. You can also reward activities of customers at school profiles and in other social media.
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Organise an interesting event |
This does not have to be a club outing, but rather an interesting meeting in the language school. Invite all students or divide them into age groups. Take care of proper atmosphere and refreshments, prepare competitions and games. For adult students it is a good idea to organise networking, i.e. exchange of contacts, of course in English.
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Remember about wishes |
Nothing makes us happier than wishes on the occasion of birthday, promotion or wedding. If you have access to birthday date of given student, send them birthday wishes (LangLion Platform displays a box with birthdays from which you can send wishes directly). If you have your customers at LinkedIn or Facebook or know about some important event (a new job, school graduation ceremony, child’s birth), do not hesitate to congratulate them.
As you can see, building customer loyalty is not limited to sending smaller of bigger gifts or offering free cookies and coffee in school’s premises (which is cool by the way!). You can use other methods to thank customers for the time spent together. This time is your money – think about it and act.
Do you use any our proposals in your school? Let us know in the comments.