Dan Tudor

Here’s my world: I help a small college beat a large college for a prospect, and then I help a large college beat a small one.  Day after day.

Don’t get me wrong, I love doing it, as does my staff here at Selling for Coaches.  But it is a bit odd sometimes, coming up with winning strategies for each type of school.  However, each type of school can make a case as to why they would be the best for a particular prospect.  I was reminded of that recently when I read about the coffee wars "brewing" in Washington (I’ve waited a long time to use that pun).

In this story, Starbucks plays the role of the big college program.  They’re the king of the coffee grinds around the country.  if the coffee world had a BCS champion, Starbucks would be repeat winners, year after year.

And then you have Dunkin Donuts, playing the role of the small college program.  They’re launching an all-out assault on the big boys.  McDonalds is too, because they’ve entered the coffee battles as a small upstart program.  That’s their billboard they put up in Seattle, just down the road from Starbucks’ headquarters, taunting them about the price of their coffee.

This story has two story lines, and two sides.  And, it has a lot of good lessons for both sides in the college recruiting battles.  First, here’s how our big college program (Starbucks) is responding to their smaller competition, courtesy of this article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"We get a lot of questions on the competition and that everyone seems to be picking on Starbucks through their advertising and try to reposition Starbucks as expensive or snobby, and, boy, when is Starbucks going to start advertising and join in that coffee conversation?" Starbucks Chief Marketing Officer Terry Davenport told investors a few weeks ago in New York.

"We’re not going to get into that conversation. We’re not going to get sucked into the, ‘My coffee is better than your coffee,’ price point type of coffee conversation. We’re going to play at a much higher level."

See what they did?  They didn’t even engage in the conversation.  And that’s my advice for a large college program that finds themselves having to battle a smaller college for recruits:

• Remain "above the fray".
• Stress the fact that your size gives prospects a distinct advantage over smaller schools, and back it up with specifics.
• Question whether it would be smart to go with a smaller unknown vs. the proven big program.
• The less you engage in the battle with a smaller competitor, the more you can get them to re-focus your prospect back on your reasons for coming to your school.

So, what if you are the smaller college program going up against that big program?  Don’t worry…the coffee wars in Washington offer some great strategies for you as well:

"We see ourselves as trying to enter a new category and steal as much of the breakfast and coffee share as we can garner," said Kelly Hoyman, Northwest region marketing director for McDonald’s.

The fact that "four bucks" sort of rhymes with "Starbucks" is not on purpose, said John Livengood, executive creative director at DDB Seattle, McDonald’s advertising agency.

"The idea is, in a billboard, you got three or four seconds to capture people’s attention," he said. "You’re trying to be as short and sweet and as pithy as possible."

If you’re a small college program, here are the lessons you can learn from the coffee wars:

• Don’t be afraid to take on the big programs for good prospects.  There are going to be prospects that will respond to your message, and choose you over them (trust me…I’ve seen it happen with our clients.  It CAN be done!)
• Keep your message original and easy to understand.
• Don’t be afraid to poke fun at your larger competitors, and get your prospects to look at the downside of opting for the big program versus your program.
• Highlight the advantages of being small instead of apologizing for it.
• Go for as much of the "market share" (i.e., good prospects) as you can.

Each side has a strategy to win over the recruit.  In the end, it comes down to who has established a more trusted relationship with the prospect.  However, knowing what your strategy is going in – and how to get them to pay more attention to you than the other guys – is essential to laying the foundation for winning the battle for recruits.

And coffee.

Ready for better recruiting success in 2009?  Here are two ideas for coaches who want to get the edge over their competition:  Bring SFC to campus to work one-on-one with you.  Or, let SFC produce and manage your recruiting letters and emails through our Total Recruiting Solution plan.  Each one is proven to increase your odds for signing better recruits than you did last year.   

 Have you been to Office Depot lately?

I had to go last week.  Manilla folders and some new pens beckoned.  I always go to Office Depot for office supplies, and I’ve even bought some desks and chairs from them over the years.

One thing I also do when I’m there is walk past the computers.  I think I’m going to be in the market for a new laptop this coming year, so I’m starting to comparison shop whenever I find the opportunity.

After looking at their computer selection, and purchasing the folders and pens, it hit me as I was walking back to my car: I would probably never purchase a computer from Office Depot.

Why?  The answer I came up with has some important lessons for you as a recruiter, because I believe that the way I look at Office Depot as a computer source might be the same way some of your recruits look at you as a potential college sports program.

First, here’s why I don’t think I’m likely to buy a computer at Office Depot:

• I don’t get the impression that they are computer "specialists".  And, if I’m buying something that’s as expensive as a new computer, I want a specialist to help me with that important decision.
• I don’t get the impression that their staff is all that knowledgeable.  On this particular day, the staff I ran across might not even be qualified to sell me manilla folders or pens, much less a computer.  Most of them looked like they were part-time college age kids who didn’t have much going for them.  That doesn’t fill me with a lot of motivation to let them help me make that kind of purchase.
• I get the impression that Office Depot is in the business of being a little bit of everything to everyone.  Manilla folders, chairs, computers, software, cash registers, cordless phones, toilet paper…you can get it all at Office Depot.
• I get the impression that it would be a hassle to get something corrected or fixed by the staff at Office Depot.  They don’t seem like the trustworthy team of experts that I would want to help me handle a technical issue.  Want to sell me manilla folders?  You’re my store.  Want to sell me a $1500 computer and back it up with your expertise?  Uh, I’m going to think twice about it.

O.K., here’s where we get to your college and your recruiting.  In the same way that I wouldn’t be likely to buy a computer from Office Depot, I think some coaches have recruits that they are going after that aren’t likely to seriously consider their school as a place where they will continue their athletic career.

Here’s why:

• Some coaches haven’t proven that they’re the expert they probably are.  Nearly every coach I meet and work with has a lot to offer a student-athlete.  However, if they don’t effectively demonstrate their expert status to your prospect, prospects may not have the confidence in that coach.  No confidence, not much of a chance to bring in the recruit. 
• How do you demonstrate your coaching expertise to prospects?  I recommend that you make it very clear how you will build their athletic career as their college coach, and show them your plan for making technical improvements in their game or event.  Coaches that take the time to do that will cement their "expert status" in the minds of their recruits, who are looking for someone they trust to make them a great athlete.
• Image matters.  And, in the same way that the seemingly unmotivated teens running my local Office Depot don’t often project the image of technically savvy computer experts, some coaches I meet are surprisingly relaxed about the way their office looks, not worried about wearing their school’s logo on shirts in the office, and not seeing their department and campus from an outsider’s perspective.  As we hear from schools who are wanting us to come to their school to conduct an On-Campus Workshop for their athletic department, the first thing we are telling them is that we want to conduct interviews with their athletes and take the typical campus tour that a visiting athlete would go on.  We do that one day one, and the reason is simple: It’s critical for us to take an outsider’s view of what a normal recruit goes through, and get real-life, honest feedback from current athletes at the school as to what needs to be done better, and what their coaches do well when it comes to recruiting athletes.
• How do you improve the image you project?  Make sure you show pride in yourself and in your surroundings.  Show passion for your school by always wearing team shirts with your logo displayed.  Make sure your office is clean and organized when an athlete and their family come to campus to visit.  And get a good understanding of what the rest of your campus is showing your prospect during their visit.  You’ve heard the term "image is everything" for a reason.  It plays a big role in the way people view you, and determines how seriously they’ll consider you for their college sports career.
• Take time to develop and perfect your program’s story.  You can’t be everything to everyone.  That was a big theme at this past weekend’s "Building a Better Recruiting Message" workshop, and those that attended discovered the value in a coherant, unique message that is told in an interesting way on a consistent basis.  Focus on your school’s unique attributes, and really try to develop a distinct program "personality" that a recruit can connect with.
• How do you develop a great story that connect’s with prospects?  Focus on your list of positives, and also find ways to overcome the typical objections that you hear on a regular basis.  One thing that our staff tries to do when a coach and his or her program uses our Total Recruiting Solution plan is to address the potential negatives of their school head-on…things like location, cost, facilities are all some typical objections that coaches tell us they have problems defending.  We try to encourage our clients to "go on the offensive" and develop reasons that a school’s traditional negatives might actually be selling points if they were presented differently.  A good story is essential in helping your prospects connect with you, your team, and your school.
• Some coaches don’t take the time to be a guide, and project confidence as an authority figure.  Do you want a low cost, easy-to-execute plan for stealing prospects away from your competition?  Offer to be the coach that they can call and talk to with any and all of their recruiting questions.  Offer advice even when it’s not asked.   
• How do you become a guide and get viewed as a trusted authority?  Give them helpful tips about applying, turning in financial aid forms, what to ask coaches when they visit colleges…things that you take for granted but is all new for your prospects and their bewildered parents.  The important thing is to do this without asking for anything in return, or trying to sell your program (unless the advice is tied to some specific conversation you are having about your program).  Provide value and trusted advice to them before you ask them to trust you by committing to compete for you.

One last thing: If you noticed, my earlier observations about Office Depot were very carefully worded as my "impressions".  What I mean is that Office Depot may be ultra-qualified to sell me computers, and may have a staff that has more computer knowledge than any other store in my area. 

But the impression I have is what counts.  They don’t project a feeling of trust and competence in that area, in my mind, and so I have chosen to overlook all of the other logical reasons they may be a great computer store.  In the same way, your prospects may look past your resume and program’s past accomplishments if you aren’t projecting the right image when you are interacting with them during the recruiting process.

Like I said earlier, "image is everything".  How is your program’s, Coach?   

The story and the image you project are critical for your long term recruiting success.  If you want our team of recruiting experts to help craft that message, and give you a step-by-step plan to help you manage and execute it effectively as a part of your recruiting, we recommend you look into SFC’s Total Recruiting Solution plan.  It’s being used by big D1 programs, as well as small D3′s, and we’d love to tell you more about it if you feel your current recruiting message is lacking.  For more information about it, click here.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

-Winston Churchill

by Mandy Brettingen Green, Selling for Coaches

There are a lot of people on your campus who are not coaches or players that have an affect on your program’s recruiting and contribute to your team’s overall experience while competing for your program.

And like Churchill’s quote above demonstrates, that group of people can either have a positive impact on your recruiting efforts, or a negative one.  

Admissions, financial aid, academic departments, trainers, strength coaches, sponsors, alumni, athletic administration…all of them are a part of your recruiting team, whether you like it or not.  And they all have a potential impact with your recruit who visits your campus. 
  
While leading an On-Campus Workshop this past summer, I had a chance to interview some staff in other departments (whenever we go to a campus to work with an athletic department, we do a thorough job of talking to coaches, players and school officials).  It was concerning to me that some of these people didn’t realize how their job was affecting everybody else’s ability to do their job successfully.  They were unaware and surprised to find out that by missing just a few small details they could cause incredible amounts of friction everywhere else on campus.

This point was driven home when I went on an admissions tour at one school but did not let the tour guide know who I was and what I was doing there in my official capacity with Selling for Coaches.  When we got over towards the athletic department, this tour guide did not talk highly of the athletic department.  She talked about how the athletes were "so spoiled", the teams "weren’t any good", and that she was "surprised that any of them even graduate".  You get the picture.  Is this the message you want your recruits to hear when they come to visit?  If your prospect heard this on a campus tour, would it damage your chances of signing that athlete?

Of course it would. 
 
Here’s the thing to remember: These people, whether you like it or not, are members of your recruiting team and are critical elements in the overall success of your recruiting mission. 

Do you know if these people are supporters of your program?  Do they know what the vision for your program is?  Are you both on the same page and acting in a way where you both will benefit?    If you answered no to any or all of the questions above, you may want to schedule a meeting to make sure they understand what you need from them, and for you to understand what you can do for them to make their job easier.
 
If you want to build a successful program and recruit the players that you want, everyone on your campus or anybody else who is involved has to see the bigger picture and how they fit in.   Find the time to meet with each person individually.  Or, even better, get your extended team all in a room at the same time to come up with a master plan that can make everyone successful (email me at mandy@sellingforcoaches.com if you’d like us to help your department come up with that plan).
 
Share the vision that you have for your team and with recruiting to get everyone thinking and working in the same direction.  Identify what you are trying to achieve, establish how you are going to communicate with each other, what has worked well, what can be done better, discuss roles, timelines, what do you need from each other to make each person’s job easier, and how you rely on them to do their jobs.
 
Your goal as a coach should be focused on thing: Empowering those around you, and helping them to see how vital they are in your recruiting efforts and with the overall experience of your team.  If you don’t, you risk having your recruiting plans scuttled by the office down the hall on your own campus.
 
Mandy Brettingen Green is part of the Selling for Coaches team that leads workshops for athletic departments that help them develop dominating recruiting skills and winning team building strategies.  For more information on how we can help your team, visit www.sellingforcoaches.com.

This past week I joined 2.6 million other people by signing up for Twitter.

And it’s only a matter of time before you do the same, Coach.

Like the Internet a decade ago, this is a tool that a lot of you will ignore for a while.  And your competitors are just fine with that.  It’s also bound to get the attention of the NCAA at some point in the future, but as of right now Twitter fits nicely into that warm, comfy "between the lines" area in the NCAA recruiting rule book.

In a nutshell, Twitter is a cross between a text message and a blog.  The purpose of Twitter is to give your friends and family regular updates on what you are doing: Everything from what you’re eating for breakfast, to what you’re watching on T.V., to your thoughts on the BCS bowl games.  Your messages can be up to 140 characters long, similar to a text message.  Other people who are on Twitter can follow your conversation through logging on to Twitter.com, or by receiving messages straight to their cell phone.

How is it beginning to be used by coaches who want to use it to help their recruiting?  They are posting the daily activities of what’s going on with them and their team.  They’re talking about how practice went, what their plans are for the evening, an award one of their athletes won…all of the stuff that makes up your day.

Twitter’s audience is impressive.  Their total audience is now about 2.6 million users, most of them high school or college age.  They’ve added more than a million new users just in the last 90 days, and they are getting more popular by the minute.   

Boring?  Maybe to you.  However, to a teenage recruit who is trying to get a feel for the coach and program that is recruiting them, the information gives them a valuable insight into the "real" person that they are trying to get to know.  As coaches begin to use Twitter, they are reporting that athletes are connecting with them sooner, and more deeply.  The prospects you are recruiting care about what you do during the day, and make judgements about whether you are the right fit or not by seeing who you are as a real, live person (not the guy with the impressive bio in the media guide you sent them).

Now, what about the NCAA rules on this type of communication?  Here is how Twitter apparantly fits into that gray area I mentioned in the NCAA rules, specifically what is outlined in the Division I Manual, section 13.4.1.2:

• You are not sending a message to a specific recruit as is prohibited in the rules.  Instead, you are submitting information into a web-based system that anyone – prospect or not – can decide to follow. 
• Twitter is not text messaging.  Whether or not a prospect, or anyone else for that matter, decides to receive those messages on their phone via text message from the Twitter website is completely up to them, not you.
• Your messages are not unique to one person.  They can be seen by everyone.  Therefore, you really can’t use Twitter to talk to one prospect.  If you did, the entire world would be able to read what you were telling them.
• There are no graphics or images allowed on Twitter messages, and it doesn’t cost anything.  Both of those things are in compliance with NCAA rules as outlined in 13.4.1.2.

Let me review what we’ve told you about Twitter so far, and why it should really excite you as a free, easy-to-use, kind-of-like-text-messaging recruiting tool:

• Short messages that are read by your audience who you can encourage to follow your daily activities.
• Complete free.
• Creates a deep connection between you and the people who are following you.
• Delivered in a medium being used by today’s teens.
• Compliant for all NCAA division level coaches.
• Enables you to communicate with prospects, your team, fans and alumni from your computer or from your phone (yes, you can text in updated Twitter messages to the masses from your phone). 

Twitter is extremely simple to use, and you can get started quickly.  Just go to Twitter.com and sign-up.  After that, you can invite people to follow you directly via email.  It’s not just people on Twitter, either.  Companies are using it to promote new products, media outlets are using it to report from events…even the NCAA uses Twitter (I have signed up to get the latest news from the NCAA News at www.twitter.com/ncaanews and I also get their blog posts updated regularly at www.twitter.com/martancaa.  I would advise you to follow both once you start your own Twitter account…and if you have absolutely nothing better to do, you can also track my Twitter page at www.twitter.com/dantudor.  I’ll be posting some unique content to people who sign-up as followers.)

Is Twitter the "magic potion" that will suddenly enable you to land every one of your top recruits?  Of course not.  However, it is a technology tool like Front Rush and Dartfish and blogging that can give you substanitive advantages over your competition when it comes to "connecting" with your prospects.

We’ll be talking about Twitter at our series of coaching conferences that are held throughout the country.  Want to find out more?  Click here for the details.

Are you a SFC Premium Member?  Look for more of my tips on using Twitter later this week.  There are some other important details that we just didn’t have time to talk about in this article today.

O.K., we’re heading into December.  For a lot of you, it’s "halftime" in your annual battle for recruits.  And, as a college coach, you are reading this knowing that things are going really well or you are struggling when it comes to recruiting.

Assuming you are not one of those lucky few that has had everything go exactly according to plan, you’ll want to continue reading today’s training.  The reasons for a less-than-impressive showing when it comes to recruiting results are many and varied.  But I can tell you from years of working with college coaches on fixing these types of problems, I can usually narrow down these down to 7 common errors that coaches make.

First, some good news: There’s time to fix it.  Whatever the issue or problem is, there should be time to correct the situation and make things right. 

Second, let me offer a warning: If things haven’t gone according to plan, and you are planning on continuing to do the same things as you have done up to this point but expecting different results, then you are a living, breathing example of that time-tested definition of insanity.  Be honest with yourself as a professional, and recognize what needs to change and how you can work towards achieving better recruiting results.

In the spirit of giving you some proven halftime adjustments, I’d like to go over 7 disasterous mistakes I see coaches make during December (and leading up to this important month) that can derail the best laid recruiting plans.  See if you or your staff are making any of these mid-year mistakes:

1. Your recruiting letters have a focus on you, not on the recruit.  This is one of the important basic concepts that I’ll be teaching at the upcoming "Building a Winning Recruiting Message" workshop that I’d love to see you attend in a couple of weeks.  Letters you send that sell your program hard right out of the gate get resistance from your reader.  Build your relationship with them first, sell your program later.  That strategy works, and if you’re a part of our workshop you’ll learn why it works so well.  Check your materials…are you selling your program too much right out of the gate?
2. Your letters don’t look different.  For those of you who have read our national prospect survey, "Inside the Mind of Your College Prospect", refer back to it: Remember how important that first look is?  Remember how much attention they give that first letter they receive from you?  It’s important that your letters look and sound different than everyone else.  If you don’t, you’re making one of those mistakes I classify as "disasterous".
3. Your letters and emails aren’t demanding interaction.  You shouldn’t be rude, but you should give your prospects a compelling reason to interact with you.  Here’s one line that I’m begging you to take out of your letters and emails: "If you would like to contact me, feel free to call or email".  Come on, Coach!  How many teenagers are rushing to the phone when they read that line?  Not many, probably.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your shy prospect is going to suddenly be brave and take you up on your offer to have a chat.  Instead, give them a reason to call you and a specific time to call.  Narrow it down for them.  You’ll get better results.
4. You give up too easily on prospects that don’t reply right away.  Be persistent coach.  Sure, there’s always a time to "cut bait" and move on.  But most coaches give up too easily.  Show some tenacity, and use this strategy to rekindle some relationships that never got off the ground.
5. You don’t plan your work, and work your plan.  Have a plan for your recruiting year?  Week by week, for the entire year?  You should.  For coaches that work with us as a part of our Total Recruiting Solution plan, they know the benefits and better results of having a logical plan of attack laid-out in advance.  Make an Excel sheet with a month by month plan of attack.  Try to develop a week by week schedule of what needs to happen with your recruiting.  If you need some assistance, get in touch with us.  Do you have a plan?  If not, you’re making a big mistake. 
6. You have never practiced your recruiting phone calls and meetings by role-playing.  Look, I know this one is tough.  When I’m leading one of these at a workshop or an On-Campus seminar, getting coaches to practice new techniques on the spot with another coach is excrutiating (for them, that is…it’s fun for me).  But you know what?  They consistently tell me that it was one of the most valuable things they did during our session.  And, the good news is that you don’t need me to do this right away in your athletic department!  All it takes is another willing coach, and a list of new strategies to practice.  The feedback you get from the other coach will be invaluable, and you’ll love how your practice pays off the next time you are faced with communicating with your next prospect!  This is my long-shot tip of the day…I know this mistake is most likely to continue being made.  But I have to put it out there for you to strongly consider.  The payoff to great role-playing practice sessions is huge.
7. You aren’t asking negative questions.  Now, let me clarify: I’m not talking about "negative recruiting."  I’m talking about asking the same questions you’ve always liked to ask, but doing it in a negative way.  For example, instead of asking "What kind of a school do you think you would like to attend?", ask them "Give me one characteristic of a school that you know would turn you off to that college."  Do you see the difference, Coach?  Your prospects sure will!  In our research and experience with today’s athlete, we’ve found that today’s teens have an easier time telling you about the things they don’t want in a program or college compared to telling you about the things that they are looking for in a potential program.  Try converting your questions to "negatives" and see if your results change.

It’s halftime in this year’s battle for recruits, Coach.  Make some assessments and see what needs to change, and then put an action plan together to start making that change happen.

You aren’t too late to find success in the recruiting game.  I’ve seen lots of coaches turn things around even later in the year than this, so I know that it can be done.  The most important thing you can do?  Write down the first thing you want to change, and then do something today to take a big step towards making that positive adjustment to your recruiting approach.

Looking to jump-start your recruiting plan, and what goes into it?  Want to get all of the nitty-gritty details about putting together a great recruiting strategy, from start to finish?  We still have room for our "Building a Winning Recruiting Message" two day workshop in Bakersfield, California.  It’s guaranteed to get results, and it’s cheap to attend!  Click here for all the details.