How is a PrepLounge coach's recommendation rate computed?

Question

Three points I'd like to understand:

Do the meetings data capture the # of coaching sessions?
If so, is the recommendation rate then: # of people who gave feedback/ # of meeting?
How do we know that anonymous reviewers are legit and not just some fake persona? (I compared the writing style of the comments and the "my approach" writing of one coach and it looks very similar; I don't know if it's a coincidence.)

I hope I did not offend anyone - I'm actually consideing hiring a coach but value for money relative to what I'll actually learn from a coach and track record legitimacy are extremely important for me, as I am pretty broke :D

Answer 1

Hi there,

You have not offended anyone at all! I think it's super important to ask these "hard" questions if spending time + money on something.

Please also ask these hard questions when seeing if a job/role are right for you :)

Also, these are great, well-organized questions!

Q: Do the meetings data capture the # of coaching sessions?

A: Yes - any session the coach has conducted on preplounge is captured. Now, if they coach through referrals, schools, other coaching websites, this of course is not captured here.

Q: If so, is the recommendation rate then: # of people who gave feedback/ # of meeting?

It is actually the rating from the subset of those who provided reviews. So, if a coach has coached 100 people, and 50 provide reviews, it's based on their reviews. If 49 gave 5 stars, and 1 gave 4 stars, the coach would obviously have a very high rate!

Two caveats:

Generally, candidates don't provide reviews unless they're a positive experience. We have a bit of an Amazon effect here
More reviews for a coach doesn't necessarilly mean they're better - some explicitly ask/urge their candidates to give reviews while others don't)

Q: How do we know that anonymous reviewers are legit and not just some fake persona? (I compared the writing style of the comments and the "my approach" writing of one coach and it looks very similar; I don't know if it's a coincidence.)

A: They are definitely not fake! While I mentioned the Amazon effect, there is absolutely no way to purchase reviews here. They are all 100% genuine!

Free Q&A: How do I pick the right coach?

A: Ask them for a call :) Message a few that look promising, and ask them these same pointed questions you've asked here! (e.g. what is your coaching style, what resources do you have, what's your success rate, what's your plan for ME).

Good luck in your search!

Answer 2

Hi there,

Yes, the number of meetings is equivalent to the number of coaching sessions done by a coach
The recommendation rate is based on the average review score for all the meetings where a score has been provided
You need to have done a coaching session with a coach to leave a review. In theory, it could still be possible to leave fake reviews, but not at scale or without leaving any hint. I believe you should be able to identify a pattern between the writing style and reviews as you mentioned which should lead to spot the fake ones. If you are in doubt, just take a larger sample / consider only the reviews that are not anonymous

Best,

Francesco

Answer 3

Hi there!

Your questions definitely have the right to exist.

Preplounge counts all the sessions conducted on the basis of it. Successful sessions lead to positive feedback from clients but not necessarily, because some clients just don’t have a habit to share opinions etc.

Between sessions’ quantity and feedback quality, I’d definitely stick to the second point because not all the coaches are available for frequent sessions and some may result in less quantity than others.

It’s necessary to contact a coach to understand his approach and if you can apply to him with your issue. Usually, you can find a lot of help here depending on what stage of preparation you are currently on.

Wish you good luck!

GB

Answer 4

Hello!

No offense taken! I would also do a strict due diligence, so totally get you ;)

To your points:

Yes, indeed
It´s the feedback given by those who chose to give feedback. For example, a coach could have done 100 sessions, and 20 of those coachees left a review. Those are the ones you can see. You can see for yourself also which coaches have more reviews (good reviews) as a % of total sessions made, which is another metric that I would consider, since it shows how "happy" people were to comment
You can only write a review if you have had a session, and all the sessions need to be paid

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara