Setting up Yesoma for a training center, school, or vocational program

If you run a language school, coding bootcamp, beauty academy, vocational program, or any cohort-based education business, Yesoma's training center playbook sets up your workspace with services, policies, reply templates, and enrollment workflows that match how cohort programs actually operate — fixed intake windows, deposit-to-hold seats, waitlists, prerequisites, and certification milestones. This article walks through each piece so you can adapt it to your program.

1. Applying the training center playbook

When you complete onboarding, selecting Training center / vocational school from the industry picker loads the full playbook into your workspace in one step. You get eight pre-built services (from free program inquiry through corporate training), seven policies, eight FAQs, eight reply templates, and a configured follow-up cadence — all tuned for cohort-based programs rather than 1:1 appointment businesses.

After the playbook loads, your first edits should be:

• Swap in your actual program names and cohort start dates. Every template uses [program_name] and [cohort_start] as placeholders. Update these in Settings → Templates (or edit them inline the first time Yesoma suggests a reply).
• Set your deposit amounts. The playbook uses [deposit amount] placeholders throughout. The deposit-to-hold-seat mechanic is central to how cohort enrollment works — fill these in before your first enrollment inquiry arrives.
• Set your payment plan terms. The certification program service and the payment plan policy both have [X]% and date placeholders. Fill them in once and they propagate across templates.
• Review the prerequisites policy. Some programs require a placement assessment; others do not. Adjust the policy content to reflect your actual requirement per program.

Everything in the playbook is editable. The goal is to give you a working, honest starting point — not a finished product that assumes your exact curriculum.

2. The free intro class as your primary activation funnel

The playbook includes a free intro class / open house service priced at $0. This is intentional and the most important activation tool in a cohort business.

Cohort enrollment is a bigger commitment than a single appointment — students are paying weeks or months of tuition, investing real time, and often nervous about whether they will succeed. The free intro class is how you remove that friction. A student who attends one session and meets the instructor is far more likely to enroll than a student who only read a brochure.

How the funnel works in Yesoma:

1. An inquiry arrives. The First reply template fires immediately (day 0 of the follow-up cadence), asking about goals, experience level, timing, and scheduling constraints.
2. Based on the reply, you send the Free intro class invitation template — low-friction, one action, a specific date and time.
3. After the intro class, you send the Post-intro follow-up — cohort recommendation template, which names the specific program and cohort start, shows the deposit amount, and links to payment. This is the conversion moment.

Keep intro class seats genuinely limited. A session capped at a small number of students creates real urgency, gives each attendee a better experience, and makes the "spots remaining" line in the invitation template honest rather than manufactured.

3. Cohort enrollment, deposits, and the waitlist workflow

Cohorts have a fixed number of seats. This creates a dynamic that does not exist in appointment or package-based businesses: a student who is interested but has not paid a deposit is not enrolled. Their seat belongs to the next person on the waitlist.

The playbook handles this with three interlocking pieces:

Deposit-to-hold policy. The enrollment deposit policy (in Settings → Policies) explains that seats are only confirmed upon receipt of a deposit within 48–72 hours of enrollment confirmation, and that unpaid seats are released to the waitlist. Include this in your enrollment confirmation so students understand the deadline is real.

Enrollment confirmation template. The Enrollment confirmation template summarizes the cohort start date, schedule, format, payment received, and balance due date. Send this immediately when a student pays the deposit — it sets expectations clearly and reduces "when does it start?" messages.

Waitlist template. When a cohort fills, use the Waitlist notification template. It tells the student the cohort is full, gives them the next intake date, and offers two paths: stay on the waitlist for the current cohort (in case a seat opens) or enroll in the next cohort right now. This second option is important — waitlisted students from a sold-out cohort are the most pre-qualified leads you have for the next intake. Many will enroll immediately when offered the next date.

The No-availability — next cohort details template handles a slightly different case: when there is no active open cohort at all, not just a full one. It points to the next scheduled start date and offers an earlier alternative program if one exists.

4. Prerequisites and skill assessment

Not every program is right for every student at every moment. The playbook includes a prerequisites and skill assessment policy that explains your process honestly: some programs require a placement assessment, enrollment is not confirmed until the assessment is complete, and you reserve the right to redirect a student to a more appropriate level.

Handling this well in Yesoma:

• Use the required customer info fields on your program services to collect honest self-assessed experience level as part of every inquiry. The first-reply template asks for this explicitly.
• For programs with a formal prerequisite, note it clearly in the FAQ ("Do I need prior experience?") and in the service description. Students who read it and self-select out save you both time.
• For placement assessments, keep the process free and fast. The playbook notes assessments are free and can be completed before the enrollment deadline. If your assessment is a short async task or a 15-minute call, say so — it reduces the friction of completing it.

If you discover mid-enrollment that a student is significantly below the required level, the playbook's refund policy gives you a structured path: offer a full transfer credit to the appropriate beginner cohort rather than a cash refund, which keeps the relationship intact and the student in your pipeline.

5. Attendance, makeup classes, and certification

Two policies in the playbook work together to protect the integrity of your certificate:

Attendance policy. The program requires a minimum 80% attendance to qualify for the certificate. Each student gets a defined number of makeup credits per program — enough to handle a genuine conflict without disrupting their progress. Beyond that, missed sessions are missed content, and the student may need to re-enroll in the next cohort to meet the requirement.

Set the specific makeup credit count (the [X] placeholder in the policy) based on your program length. A common baseline: 2 makeups for a 4-week cohort, 3–4 for a multi-month certification program.

Certification and completion policy. The certificate requires both the attendance threshold and a passing grade on the required project, practical, or final assessment. Students who meet attendance but do not pass the first assessment get one free retake within 30 days. This gives students a fair second chance without indefinitely extending the program lifecycle.

Both policies should be shared with students at enrollment — ideally as part of the welcome packet referenced in the enrollment confirmation template. Students who know the rules upfront miss fewer classes and take the assessment more seriously.

6. Graduation and the review request as a referral engine

Program completion is the highest-satisfaction moment in a cohort business. The student just did a hard thing. They have a certificate, a new skill, and (if the program delivered) real confidence. This is exactly the right moment to ask for a review.

The playbook configures the review request to fire one day after program completion. The Graduation and certificate notification + review request template:

• Congratulates the student genuinely and specifically
• Delivers the certificate (or links to it)
• Asks for a review with the {{review_link}} token — a direct link to your review destination
• Mentions next steps (advanced programs, alumni discounts, corporate training for their team)

The one-day delay is intentional. Asking on graduation day can feel abrupt. Waiting one day lets the moment settle; the student wakes up the next morning still feeling the satisfaction of finishing, sees your message, and is in exactly the right mindset to write something honest and enthusiastic.

Reviews from certificate graduates are particularly valuable. They reference a concrete outcome ("I got certified," "I landed a new job," "I started the business"), which is more persuasive to prospective students than a generic positive impression. The more graduates you ask, the more of these outcome-specific reviews accumulate over time, and the stronger your enrollment conversion becomes.

7. What your reply templates look like in action

Here is a typical enrollment sequence from first contact to enrolled student, showing which template fires at each step:

Day 0 — Inquiry arrives. Yesoma suggests the First reply — training center inquiry template. It asks the five questions: goal, experience level, preferred start timing, scheduling constraints, format preference. You review and send.

Day 0–1 — Student replies with their context. Based on their experience level and timing, you invite them to a free intro class using the Free intro class invitation template. You fill in the specific date, time, and spots remaining before sending.

After the intro class. You send the Post-intro follow-up — cohort recommendation template. This is your conversion message: it names the program, the cohort start date, the price, the deposit amount, the deposit deadline, and includes a payment link. This template is designed to make the next action obvious.

Student pays the deposit. You send the Enrollment confirmation template with their cohort start date, schedule, format, payment summary, and balance due date. They receive the welcome packet reference and pre-work instructions.

Before Week 1. If a balance is outstanding, Yesoma's follow-up cadence (or a manual send) triggers the Payment reminder template, prompting the student to clear the balance before the start date.

Cohort full — new inquiry arrives. Use the Waitlist notification template. Point them to the next intake date and offer immediate enrollment in that cohort.

Program ends. One day after completion, the follow-up cadence triggers the Graduation and certificate notification + review request template. Your graduate gets the certificate, a thank-you, and a clear path to leave a review.

All templates use {{customer_first_name}} for personalization and bracket placeholders ([program_name], [cohort_start], [date], [price], [pay link]) for the details you fill in per student. Edit the placeholders once in the template itself to pre-fill any details that are always the same — like your most common program name or your standard payment link format.