A student wants to improve a test score and is offered a twelve week course at a price. She has no idea whether twelve weeks is enough, too much, or aimed at the wrong sections.
She does not enrol. A two hour diagnostic would have told her that one section accounted for most of the gap, and she would have booked immediately.
1. Offer the diagnostic before the sales conversation
It is the conversation. A student with a section breakdown in front of her is discussing a plan rather than evaluating a price.
2. Run it under realistic conditions
Timed, complete sections, no interruptions. A relaxed practice attempt produces a flattering score and a plan built on a fiction.
3. Report section by section
The total score is the least useful output. Where the marks were lost is what determines the programme and what convinces the student.
4. Analyse the errors, not just the count
Careless mistakes, timing problems, gaps in knowledge and misread questions need entirely different remedies and look identical in a score.
5. Measure the timing behaviour
How far they got, where they slowed and whether they ran out. For many students the entire problem is pacing rather than knowledge.
6. Set a realistic target with them
Based on the starting point, the time available and how much work they will do. A target agreed together holds better than one asserted.
7. Be honest when the goal is not achievable
A student wanting a large improvement in four weeks needs to hear it. Recommending a later test date is advice, and it produces a client rather than losing one.
8. Recommend a programme from the result
Sections to focus on, hours required and a length. This is the output that converts, and it cannot exist without the diagnostic.
9. Explain how long the result stays valid
A diagnostic from six months ago describes a different student. Saying so prevents building a plan on stale information.
10. Repeat it during the programme
A midpoint diagnostic shows progress, maintains motivation and allows the plan to change. It is also the strongest retention tool available.
11. Manage the anxious student carefully
Some arrive convinced they will do badly, and a diagnostic can confirm that fear unhelpfully. The framing of the result matters enormously.
12. Involve parents appropriately
Where the student is younger, parents need the result explained in terms of a plan rather than a disappointing number.
13. Keep the format recommendation tied to the result
Group, individual or hybrid should follow from the diagnostic, which connects to course format and schedule questions for test prep.
14. Handle the late arrivals differently
A student with three weeks needs triage rather than a full programme, as described in test prep enquiries in the weeks before an exam.
15. Borrow the intake discipline from tuition
The same diagnostic approach is set out in diagnostic assessment questions parents ask first.
16. Take the diagnostic request at the hour of the enquiry
An assistant that explains what the diagnostic involves, what it produces, what it costs and takes a request for one converts an enquiry that would otherwise be comparing prices. Check it works properly first, as described in how to test your chatbot before going live. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under education.