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Recruiting Lessons From the Sticky Note on the Hotel BedMonday, May 13th, 2013

Sticky note 1When you’re a tired traveler, and you’re virtually immune to all forms of marketing that a hotel chain can throw out you, their sales message needs to be simple.

It needs to hit you over the head, and get straight to the point if they have any hope of making you remember them from the other two gazillion hotel options we have.

So I’m giving credit to the folks at Hampton Inn for playing by those rules with a simple, inexpensive and direct message when this weary traveler checked into one of their hotels on the East coast not to long ago.

 

Note 2

The yellow sticky note caught my attention right when I walked into the room, mainly because it was out of place.  I’m notgoing to lie, it alarmed me at first.  When you see a sticky note on the headboard of a hotel bed, there’s a flurry of frightening possibilities that rush through your mind as to what is written on the note awaiting you upon your arrival

“Let us know if it still smells like a horse in here.”  Or, “Per the health department inspector, no free breakfast in the morning.”

This one was a little more positive:

“Duvet covers and sheets are clean for your arrival”

My first reaction upon reading it was, “So what?  You want me to get excited about you doing your job?”

But a few weeks later, I’m struck by how that simple message has resonated with me.  Every time I think about reserving a room at a Hampton Inn – a rather mediocre chain in a sea of hotel options, some less expensive and some more expensive – I honestly go back to the idea that I know I’ll get clean, fresh sheets when I stay there.  I don’t remember if they charged me for a bottle of water, or how big their flat screen TV was, but I do remember that they delivered on the fresh sheets promised in the sticky note (believe me, I double checked before I crawled into bed…you make a promise like that, and I’m going to hold you to it!)

And therein lies the valuable lesson for serious college recruiters.

How you communicate your message, and the degree of simplicity in which it is delivered, is key to making sure it sticks with your next class or prospects.  Here are the ideas you should take away from the sticky note on the hotel bed:

Aim for something that looks out of place in your message.  Whether it’s an email, a letter, a social media message, or even a phone call, your first task as a marketer of your program is to get your reader’s attention.  Most coaches do a poor job of that (or end up in the news for taking it to an extreme).  The sticky note worked for Hampton Inn…maybe you could use one in your next letter?  Or what about a big, bold P.S. message in your next email (did you know your prospect will read the P.S. first, and then likely read the rest of the message to find out what you meant in your P.S.?)  Grab your prospect’s attention by using something that seems out of place.

Keep it simple.  There wasn’t a slick, glossy brochure waiting for me with how committed the Hampton Inn staff was at keeping my room clean.  Nope, it was just a simple Post-It note stuck to the headboard.  Simple gets remembered.  Are you getting straight to the point and keeping it simple like all of our research shows you should?

Be direct.  If you want to tell your recruits that your off-season training program sets you apart from everyone else in your conference, tell them.  If you’ve got proof that your college’s degree has made the difference in the lives of the guys of your team, tell that story.  Don’t dance around the main idea you want to get across: Use simple language, and don’t waste time getting to the main point (Tip: Most of the first paragraphs in your letters and emails are pure fluff, and aren’t needed.  Delete it.  Just start with the second paragraph, because I’ll bet that’s where you start getting down to business, right?)

Communicating properly with recruits is something that coaches often over-think, and they miss the mark.  That’s why you might be finding it so hard to get the attention of the recruits you really want (and why our clients have a better reach and connection with their prospects when we put these rules in place in their recruiting system).

Follow these four rules as you write your next recruiting message, and watch what happens.

If you like the advice you’re getting in our newsletter and blog, you’ll love the one-on-one access you have to our staff and the extra training you’ll get as one of our Premium Members.  Click here for all the information!

11 Things You Need to Do Now That the NCAA Has Put Recruiting Reform on HoldSunday, May 5th, 2013

As has happened before, the NCAA has slammed on the breaks and skidded off to the shoulder of the road right before taking the proverbial exit towards recruiting communication reform.

The proposed rules would have allowed a greater variety of contact over longer periods of time, starting sooner.  Some coaches and conferences objected to the new rules, and the NCAA announced that they were going to take a longer look at the impact of the proposed changes.

Of course, many upper division coaching staffs are already recruiting Freshmen and Sophomores and desperately trying to find better ways to communicate with them.  This latest chapter in the ever-increasing trend of early recruiting just means that club and AAU coaches will continue to exert significant influence over the process as they maintain their cherished roles as gatekeepers in your quest to get verbal commitments from top quality pre-driver’s license teenagers before your buddies down the street can get their commitment.

Regardless of your position on whether the reforms were good or bad for college sports, one fact remains: You need to contact young recruits before you can tell your story in a traditional way through phone calls, emails and letters.  With that in mind, here’s a list of what we recommend for coaches who need to continue to recruit prospects using Macgyver-like tricks to lure the right kid to campus:

  • Pretend the new rules are in place.  Try to find creative, legal ways to brand your program early with a focus on prompting communication.  Specifically, the younger prospects reaching out to contact you.
  • Social media is big, but it’s not the secret formula.  It’s a great way to reach out and have simple back-and-forth conversations with a recruit, but it currently has limits on how well it can give them the logical reasons to choose you.  Use it to set-up contact, but continue to find diverse ways to tell your overall story.  Seriously, this is important, Coach.
  • Brand your program to younger prospects through pictures and short, non-sport related video.  Want to know the best use for your Twitter account, Instagram or Facebook fan page?  “Showing” your prospects what life around your program is all about.  Please, in the name of all that is holy, stop posting press releases and stories about the new library renovations.  They want to see where they’re going to eat, the sand volleyball game by the dorms on a Saturday, teammates going shopping at the mall down the street from the college, or a picture of your messy desk.  Anything that humanizes you and your program, and talks about more than the sports side of your life and theirs.  Social media is the ideal venue for that!  (Are your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages reflecting what they want?)
  • Understand what club and high school coaches want: Respect, and to be included in the process as one of your peers.  The biggest thing the proposed rules would have done would be to lesson the impact the role of the current coaches of your recruits in the early recruiting conversation.  But as the saying goes, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”  Make an effort in this next recruiting cycle to communicate with the coaches of your recruits on a consistent, ongoing basis.  And I’m not just talking about asking them to pass along emails or other messages to your prospects (although, yes, you need to continue to do that); I’m talking about “recruiting” them, too.  The research we’ve conducted is clear: Those coaches what to be respected and be included in the process, and the best way we’ve found to do that is to mail, email and talk to them on a regular basis (which results in them being more likely to pass along your messages to their recruits, and…dare we dream?…actually recommend you to them.
  • Spend more time talking to their parents.  The Freshman or Sophomore recruit you really want really wants you to talk to their mom or dad.  Proportionally, you can’t go wrong with an 80/20 plan – eighty percent of phone call time with the parents, twenty percent with the recruit.  This is especially true with younger recruits, who feel inadequately equipped to talk to you, who they view as powerful and intimidating.  Spend time on the phone with the parents finding out what they want out of the process, what they see as a right fit for their son or daughter’s college career, and what they might have available on their calendar for an early unofficial visit to campus.
  • Tell the parents and your recruit about the type of kid that’s not right for you and your program.  The secret here is that you want them to start selling you on why they would be a good fit for your program.  The easiest way to do that is to define who isn’t right for you and what you don’t like in an athlete, and then wait for them to explain why their son or daughter is nothing like that.  This is a great principle to use to shift the focus from you selling yourself to them, to them selling themselves to you.  Try this the next time you have your new recruit or their parents on the phone for the first time and watch how they follow this script that I’ve laid out…you’ll make it part of your regular recruiting strategy.
  • Set up a standing appointment to talk.  For younger recruits, you still can’t initiate regular phone calls until they are entering their Senior year.  Try flipping it around and ask them what they could commit to in terms of placing a regular phone call to you.  Same day of the week, same time.  Have a goal of twice a month, and promise them it will be no more than 7 or 8 minutes long, and that you’ll have two amazingly interesting questions for them each time they talk so they won’t be wasting their time.
  • Develop amazingly interesting questions. (click here if you need a jump-start for ideas)
  • Make sure they’re hearing from the head coach.  One of the things we’ve seen from programs big and small is an artificial hierarchy of coaching contacts reaching out to them.  At the beginning, its an assistant.  Then after a while, they might “earn” the right to hear from someone higher on the coaching depth chart.  And then, only after they grace you with their presence on campus, they are allowed to interact with the head coach.  If you were running a mafia crime family, this is proper protocol.  If you’re a coach who wants to eliminate any questions as to how important they are to your program, and how serious you are about recruiting them, it’s a horribly outdated approach – one that your more savvy competitors are happy to exploit to their benefit.
  • Don’t be in a rush for them to visit campus.  In other words, don’t make that the next thing that should happen after the first phone call or email exchange.  In the workshops we are asked to do on college campuses, I’ll often use the example of moving from casually flirting with a high school sweetheart to immediately jumping to planning on a day to get your marriage license together.  In the teenage brain, that’s the equivalent to asking your recruit to come to campus.  Why?  Because they don’t like you yet, and probably aren’t ready to make that jump to committing to interacting with you in person on your home turf.  Be patient.  In fact, tell them that you are going to be the program that doesn’t force them to rush to campus…that you’re more interested in making sure you get to know each other first, and develop good back-and-forth communication for a few months.
  • Commit to be in the race for the long haul.  If you’re recruiting a prospect beginning in their Freshman or Sophomore year, don’t worry about being first right out of the gate.  You want to win at the end, not the beginning.  Position yourself intelligently and strategically for a long race, and let other coaches get frustrated and miscalculate how to pace themselves correctly.

It’s not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start towards positioning yourself as a coach who is going to find a way to operate intelligently as if the new recruiting allowances are in place.

“Early recruiting” is here to stay.  Be the coach that pulls up a chair and gets comfortable with it.

We’ll be discussing the latest NCAA regulations and how it further affects coaches at the upcoming National Collegiate Recruiting Conference.  There is still time to register if you’re a coach who wants to be proactive, and formulate a smarter plan using high-level information as you aim for the best of the best in this next recruiting class.  It’s an amazingly instructive weekend, Coach!

Building Anticipation Instead of Anxiety When You’re RecruitingMonday, April 1st, 2013

Think about it:

If we can define anxiety as “experiencing failure in advance of it happening”, then the opposite definition must be true also, right?

I’m talking about anticipation.  When you’re anticipating something, it’s usually because you just can’t wait for it to happen.  Buying your first new home, moving in, re-decorating and having your first family gathering there all involves anticipation.  You’re excited about seeing those things come to fruition.

On the other hand, for families that are experiencing financial difficulties and are in risk of losing their home to foreclosure, they are experiencing anxiety. Lots of anxiety.  Why?  Because they are experiencing that failure in advance of it happening.

So, how does this all apply to recruiting?  More than you probably think it does, actually.

When you recruit with anticipation, you will highlight the highs. Chances are, you will automatically focus on the things that will excite your prospects and push you and your staff even harder in your pursuit of that next level recruit.  And, you’ll probably put a lot of time and attention into how you do that.

If you recruit with anxiety, on the other hand, chances are you will hesitate.  You’ll second guess yourself.  You’ll talk yourself out of that recruit that (on paper, anyway) you don’t seem to have a chance at landing.  If things are really desperate, you’ll be insuring yourself and your program against disaster and most of all, building deniability into everything that you’re doing on the recruiting front. When you work under the cloud of anxiety – whether it’s in recruiting or the general operation of your coaching staff – the best strategy is to probably play it safe, because if (when?) it fails, you’ll be blameless (or so you think).

Not only is it more upbeat to work with anticipation, it’s often a more self-fulfilling point of view, too.  Especially when it comes to recruiting, Coach.

And by the way, your prospects notice when you recruit with anticipation compared to recruiting with an attitude of anxiety.  True, sometimes introducing a small amount of anxiety at the right times is a smart strategy during certain stages of the recruiting process, building ongoing positive anticipation in your consistent recruiting message should be a priority for any savvy college recruiter.

Here are three easy concepts I feel you should make sure are a part of your recruiting strategy moving forward:

  1. Look at the tone of your messaging. There are two different tones that we see being used all the time which are not usually effective, according to our research:  First, when you are too “sanitized” in the way you sell your program, you’re going to fall short of building anticipation.  By “sanitized” I mean rattling-off statistics about your college, listing facts about your campus, outlining the recent history of your program…all of that is too detached, and too unemotional to make a connection with most prospects.  Secondly, you don’t want a constant tone of pressure, negativity or anxiety.  You don’t want to present a tone of pressure on an ongoing basis, for all the reasons we’ve just outlined.  So as you review your recruiting materials, define how it builds anticipation (and if it doesn’t, work on changing it).
  2. Ask yourself, “What can I get them to anticipate next?” If you’re a client of ours, you know how important it is to have the flow of the recruiting process move as quickly and as efficiently as possible toward securing a campus visit.  In that scenario, we would want to have the prospect anticipate the campus visit?  If possible, we’d want to focus on selling the idea of meeting the guys on the team…or sitting down face to face with the biology professor if the recruit was a strong pre-med candidate…or the opportunity to hear what kind of scholarship offer you’ll be outlining for she and her parents.  It could be anything that is the logical next step in the process.  The key question is, “what are you getting them to anticipate next?”
  3. Define what they should anticipate. Don’t wait for prospects and their parents to assign value to the next phase in the recruiting process, do it for them.  That’s not manipulative, by the way…it’s intelligent.  You know how important it is to get to campus for that early unofficial visit, but does the athlete?  Do her parents?  Does his coach?  Smart coaches will focus on defining the importance on building anticipation for the next phase of the recruiting cycle.  So, are you defining exactly what your prospect should anticipate next from you?

Setting the tone, outlining the tone, and defining the tone.  Those three aspects of your recruiting message can result in exciting positive changes for your recruiting efforts moving forward!

There’s a live event coming up this Summer that will help you gain cutting edge recruiting skills from a gathering of the best experts, authors, coaches and communication gurus: The National Collegiate Recruiting Conference.  Make sure your staff is represented at this one-of-a-kind event!  CLICK HERE for the details.

 

Getting Recruits to Drink Your Outrageously Expensive Bottled WaterMonday, March 11th, 2013

If you’re  a college recruiter who is regularly trying to overcome the cost of your college with your prospect, I give you the $7.50 bottle of water.

When I checked into my hotel room, there is was…waiting for me (and my wallet).

I am old enough to remember when bottled water was a novelty.  In fact, it was a joke.  ”Yeah right”, I remember thinking back in the olden days, “pay for water I could get for free from the faucet?  Good luck with that scam.”

A few decades later, the joke’s on me.  Bottled water is the norm.  So much so that there were actually a few moments when I considered breaking the seal of the hotel bottled water, and adding the $7.50 onto my room bill.

So, how did I get to this point?  How did I almost drink a $7.50 bottle of water when I once considered it highway robbery?

If you can answer that question, then you’re on your way to figuring out the formula for selling the cost of your program, or not being able to offer a full scholarship, to your recruits.

I can barely figure out my own motives for almost drinking a bottle of water that would equal a few gallons of gas in cost, so I’m not about to suggest that there is a blanket one-size-fits-all strategy or set of answers that will work in every situation.  But I think I do have a good understanding of how our human nature works, and after seeing several hundred recruiting scenarios up-close and personal with the cost of a college at the core of a discussion between coaches and the parents and athlete, I have come up with some solid ideas on why I believe you can win this particular conversation with your recruits.

Or, in other words, how to get your recruits (and their parents) to take a sip of your $7.50 bottle of water:

First, accept the fact that some people aren’t going to drink your $7.50 bottle of water. Either they can’t afford it, or they know they can get it cheaper (or for free) somewhere else.  If you aren’t ready to walk away from a prospect because they just aren’t buying the idea of paying a significant sum for your water, that probably means you aren’t seriously recruiting enough good prospects.  If you had an over-abundance of top tier recruits, you wouldn’t care if they weren’t interested in your expensive water.  If that’s not the case with you, it’s time to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if you’re recruiting enough really good athletes.

You can change the paradigm with repeated exposure. Remember the first time you saw a bottle of water for sale in a hotel room?  You probably rolled your eyes like I did.  Fast forward to today.  Now, when you see a bottle of water in a hotel room, not only is it not an oddity, it’s something you probably treat yourself to during your stay.  What happened?  Repeated exposure.  You’ve come to accept it as “acceptable”.  So, how do you use this principle to improve your recruiting argument?  Repeated exposure.  You need to tell your recruits, through repeated messaging on a consistent basis, why it would be smart to invest in your college and your program.  Not enough coaches do that the right way, and it shows in the number of kids (and parents) that choose “cheaper” over the best choice.

We’ve been told what to think. Bottled water is cleaner, more purified, more convenient and better tasting, right?  Sometimes, yes.  Much of the time, no. But we’ve given up thinking on our own when it comes to bottled water.  Water bottlers have told us that it’s better, and why.  My favorite bottled water is Dasani, which is bottled by CocaCola.  That refreshingly clean looking blue bottle with the little water droplets on the bottle made from formed plastic – as well as that pinch of salt they add for flavoring – make it number one for me.  They have told me how to think about in the way it looks, the way it tastes, and the way it’s presented.  So, Coach…how good of a job are you doing with your recruits in telling them how to think about your bottled water in the way you and your program looks, the way it feels, and the way you present it?  Make sure you have an answer to those three questions, Coach.  And make a point of telling them what to think.

Understand that they might have the money, but just aren’t sure they want to spend it on your water. Did I have $7.50 to spend on water? Sure I did.  I ended up paying $12 for a bowl of oatmeal the next morning at the hotel’s over-priced cafe, so the money wasn’t an issue.  It’s just that I didn’t want to pay the $7.50 for water.  See the distinction?  So when you hear a family talk about not being able to afford your school, or how they just can’t compete for you unless you cover more of their scholarship, understand that they are probably making car payments, house payments, and may even take nice vacations a few times a year.  Furthermore, if that bigger brand school offered a walk-on spot for them at the last minute, chances are they’ll be able to somehow make the sacrifice and pony-up the cash for that college experience.  I’ll say it again: More times than you think your prospect has the money, they just don’t want to spend it on you.  (So, what can you tell them consistently and creatively that get them to cost-justify the expense in their mind?)

There are some big things they DON’T care about when it comes to your bottled water. The vast majority of the time, they don’t care about how many bottles you sold last year, the quality of the facility that it was bottled in, who else is drinking it, or even how convenient it is for them to access the water.  In the same way, most recruits – according to our ongoing research – won’t make their decision based on your facility, your record, who else is on your team, or how big your campus is.  It’s about how you relate to them as their coach and if you are consistent in the way you communicate why they should choose your program over others, and if they feel like they are a fit in your program based on the plan that you outline for them (or that they outline for themselves).  Are you focusing on the stuff that they don’t care about, or those two big ideas that we know matters most to them?  That’s a serious question, Coach.

Like I said, that’s not an exhaustive list.  And I’m not conceding the idea that once in a while, a prospect is going to say your facility just wasn’t as good as the other program recruiting them (they’re more than likely just using it as an excuse to cover-up another real objection, but that’s another topic for another day). However, these core ideas on “why they aren’t drinking your bottled water” are proving to be reliable indicators for us as we work one-on-one with coaching staffs in their recruiting approaches.

So, if it’s working for us, we’re pretty confident that it will work for you, too.  If, that is, you can formulate answers for those questions we know pop into your prospects’ minds as they consider whether or not to drink your very expensive $7.50 bottle of water.

Want personalized help in creating a proven marketing plan to increase the number of recruits who will want to drink your bottled water?  Let us help. CLICK HERE to see us explain the client option that coaches around the country are using for better recruiting results.

7 Critical Things Your Prospect Presentation Absolutely NeedsTuesday, March 5th, 2013

“Presentation” might be the wrong word, actually.

As a college recruiter, you don’t give recruting “presentations” in the same way that a business sales professional might give a sales presentation to a new prospective client.  And if you are doing it that way, prepare to have a long, painful life as a struggling college recruiter.

There are fundamental differences in what you want to do as a college coach trying to connect with a teenage with their prospect, especially when it comes to the reasons they are making their decision on what coach – and what program – is the best fit for them.

But that being said, “presentation” is the best word that I could come up with, because it really wraps in all the elements of the process that you use to recruit a student-athlete.  We’re not just talking about the opportunities you have to go into a prospect’s home and talk to them about competing for you and your program, or hosting them on campus as a part of an unofficial or official visit

“Presentations” can include a lot more:

  • The letters and emails that you write…that’s part of your presentation.
  • The phone calls that you make…that’s part of your presentation.
  • What is said about your school or you online…that’s part of your presentation.
  • When a prospect comes to visit your campus…that’s a part of your presentation.

You can’t overlook one area of your overall presentation and expect success.  Especially when it comes to the top athletes you really, really want for your program.

So in looking at programs we work with, and see what they do right on a consistent basis, here’s my list of the 7 things YOU need in your recruiting presentation if you’re looking for an added degree of success with your next recruiting class:

  1. Develop a belief in your school and your program. It pains me when I hear a coach tell me privately that he or she doesn’t think their school can compete with others in their conference.  What you absolutely need as a part of your overall recruiting presentation is a heart-felt belief that your school, your program – and you as a coach – are the best option for your recruit.  Assume that you are going to sign the athlete when you first start talking to them.  Today’s prospects want to compete for coaches who are confident (not cocky, confident).  If you don’t display passion about you and your program, don’t expect them to be passionate about the idea of coming to compete for you.
  2. Focus on helping them reach their objectives. Not sell your school.  Not brag about your program.  Not show off your new building.  Help connect the dots and show them how you (and your school, and your program, and maybe even the new building) will help them reach their athletic and academic objectives.  An easy way to make sure you’re doing this is by taking a look at each facet of your recruiting process and explain how whatever you do helps your recruit reach their objective.  “But Dan, what if I don’t know what their objective in college is?”  Ask.
  3. Tell them you have some ideas on how to help them. Do you know how original you’d be if you would just come to them with tangible ideas for them instead of bullet-pointed athletic department brochures?  Kids will always stay engaged if you give yourself away and get them to connect with you through ideas about them.  Not you, them.
  4. Try to ask one amazing question at the beginning of each new type of contact.One for your first letter, your first email, your first phone call, and when you first meet.  I’m talking about a question that makes them stop and really think about the answer before they give it to you.  Whenever you ask a question they haven’t been presented with before, that’s a sign of a great presentation.
  5. Don’t “need” the recruit. Prospects and their parents have become increasingly adept at sniffing out desparation, and it’s not something that they view favorably.  If you find yourself “pressing” for prospects – especially at the end of your recruiting cycle – then you need more prospects.  We have a coach we’ve worked with for several years who is heading into these upcoming months with nine prospects that are “A” rated recruits.  They only need to sign two this year.  Two years ago, their list was 1/3 the size it is now.  Do like they did and assess your needs and make adjustments in the numbers so that you aren’t begging at the end.
  6. Ask for the sale. If you’ve taken part in one of our famous On-Campus Workshops at your school, you know this is a familiar mantra we preach to college recruiters.  You’re recruiting them for a reason: You want them to play for you.  So, once you know in your heart that they’d be perfect for you – and you’re ready to hear a “yes” from them and follow-up with all the commitments that come along with possibly hearing that answer – ask them to commit.  Even if they say “no, not yet,” they’ll remember you as a coach that is passionate about them and that wants them for their team.  You might even be surprised when you get that immediate “yes!” from a prospect you really want….if you consistently ask.
  7. Be 100% focused 100% of the time. Are you smiling and confident?  Your prospect is watching. Are you and your staff wearing school polo shirts?  Your prospect is watching. Are you prepared for their visit and engaged with them individually, or are you thinking about what went wrong at practice yesterday?  Your prospect is watching. They are judging you as much as they are judging your school and your program.  Every part of your interaction with them matters, Coach.  Pay attention to the details and stay focused.

Now that you have my list, here’s a quick mental homework assignment I’d love for you to invest the next five minutes in doing: What three or four things can you do right away to improve your overall recruiting presentation?  Write down those changes on a card or piece of paper, and put it up on your wall in your office.  Don’t take it down until you’ve followed your own advice and made those changes to your presentation.

Those seven guiding principles can help you form the basis for a really effective recruiting presentaiton, which will help you make a big impact on this next recruiting class you’re starting to contact.

Do you have questions for Dan?  Email him directly at dan@dantudor.com.

Using Email to Get Your Prospect’s AttentionMonday, January 21st, 2013

Winter is a tough time to recruit:

For most of your prospects, you’re either trying to get a final “yes” from a Junior or Senior, or working to figure-out how to keep the conversation going with a Junior (or Sophomore).

Primarily, most coaches are going to rely upon email to achieve either of those two goals.  And if that’s the case, how well you communicate in your email will largely depend on whether or not it gets opened.

So in a sense, much of the success (or failure) rests on how well you write your email subject line.  Why?  Because according to our research, when they check their email (which is usually only once or twice a week for most prospects) they tend to judge whether or not your message is worth their time by the subject line (the same way we adults do as we’re filtering through our Inbox).

So the question then becomes, “How much thought do you put into the subject lines in your recruiting emails?”  It’s an important question, because the degree of creativity you put into your email subject lines is most likely directly proportional to the number of times your email gets opened by your prospects.

It’s something we factor into messages that we create.  For example, when we produce our Total Recruiting Solution plans for clients around the country, subject lines are something we pay close attention to.  Why?  Because our job is to get more prospect click-throughs for our clients.  And, great subject lines are a big key to that.

So, if you want to take this little aspect of your recruiting a little more seriously in an effort to get more prospects to open more of your emails, here are some ideas that we’ve seen work:

  • Ask a question. Make it short, and create curiosity.  For example, “Is your room at home as nice as our new on-campus suites?”
  • Chop-off half the sentence. It might prompt them to wonder what the other half says!  For example, “My athletic director wanted to know if…”
  • Make it really, really short. Short words or phrases get attention.  In this case, because most subject lines are long and rather mundane, something short and odd looking gets attention.  For example, “You”.  Or, “Deadline”.  Or, “Scholarship”.
  • Don’t make it so formal. If you’re sending out a newsletter, don’t make the subject line “ABC State Baseball Newsletter”.  Borrow some old-time newspaper headline energy and write something like “EXTRA! The Inside Story on That Crazy 5th Inning”.  See the difference?
  • Be different every single time. There are no subject lines so wonderful that they should be used over and over again.  Take a few minutes to be creative.  Don’t be boring.

Oh, and speaking of boring…

Please, do something different with your “out of office” auto-reply emails.  What an opportunity to be creative and show your recruit some of your personality!  Yet most coaches don’t take the time to have some fun with that email that goes out to peers, parents, your team and – most importantly – your prospects.  Take a look at what your message says…and then take two minutes to make it a little more interesting.

Little things?  Absolutely.  But the more I consult with college coaches, and see what makes one program good and another program great, the more I realize that getting the athletes you really want usually comes down to those “little things”.

Writing emails and other recruiting communication is easy if you’ve read our two recruiting workbooks for college coaches.  They’re loaded with insightful tips, new ideas and great techniques for creating better letters and emails.  To get these recruiting guides, click here.

 

“Think Outside The Box” For Recruiting Strategies That Can Make A DifferenceMonday, January 7th, 2013

By Sean Devlin, Front Rush

This week, I digressed from technology…

“Love something besides magic, in the arts.  Get inspired by a particular poet, film-maker, sculptor, composer.  You will never be the first Brian Allen Brushwood of magic if you want to be Penn & Teller.  But if you want to be, say, the Salvador Dali of magic, we’ll THERE’S an opening.”

This excerpt is from an email between celebrity magician Teller (Penn & Teller) and a young up-and-coming magician Brian Bushwood.

I read the above in a blog post and my head exploded with the simplicity and obvious nature of it, yet we all practice this so little. It’s true. Think about how often you look to your peers or predecessors for inspiration but rarely look outside the coaching world. Or think about how often you emulate your competition instead of seeing how others in a different domain dealt with their challenges. We all fall into this trap of tunnel vision so let’s explore the idea of breaking away a bit.

Let’s start with an example that you are already using with this blog/newsletter. You are learning techniques that Dan Tudor has taken from a parallel industry (sales) and applying it to your own (recruiting). It’s a small chasm to cross to make the leap from recruiting to sales yet the lessons and strategy and passage are the same.

So let’s step further outside our comfort zone, and look at magic. Is your presentation style that of David Copperfield: very dramatic, very elegant, very artistic. Or more of a David Blaine: up close and personal, very raw, very simple. Or maybe you are the Chris Angel of the recruiting world? Where else? What about music? Could you learn from the calculation of Mozart or the business of KISS or maybe the intelligence of Tupac? What if you research business leaders? Are there lessons from Rockefeller and his outright declaration of war on his competition or Warren Buffett and his focus on the long term?

In the competitive world of college recruiting where so many coaches and schools are looking to “stand out” or find their niche, one great way to do so is look beyond your initial surroundings. Instead of looking at the person next to you, look to outside worlds…look to presidents and world leaders…look to artists and musicians…look to engineers…look to war heroes…look to ancient cultures. Expand your recruiting and coaching by incorporating ideas found far off of the playing surface.

 

Building Traditions: What Is Your Selling Point?Monday, January 7th, 2013

by Ellen Sawin, NCSA College Relations

College sports are home to some of the nation’s most famous traditions: Wisconsin football fans “Jumping Around” before the 4th quarter, Florida fans “Gator Chomping” at their opponents, the Fighting Irish slapping their “Play Like A Champion” sign as they take to the field, and so on. High school athletes dream of playing for a team with a tradition and fan base like these. But less than 1% will realize that dream. One school is changing that…

Picture this:

A gym packed to capacity with college kids and community members lining the court. Everyone is dressed in eccentric and hilarious outfits.  And the crowd is perfectly still and dead silent. Two teams take to the court and nothing changes. Play begins and the crowd remains silent. Both teams put points on the board, and the crowd doesn’t make a sound. Then, the home team scores their 10th point… and suddenly the gym erupts in absolute madness.

Sounds like a top tier Division I athletic event, but this occurs at Taylor University, a small NAIA school in Upland, Indiana. It’s their annual Silent Night Game (see a video version here). The tradition originated in the early 1990s and goes well beyond silence and then cheering at the 10th point. The entire crowd also comes together throughout the game for other crazy events, including this year’s half-time dance to “Gangnam Style,” where fans danced right onto the court. And the game concludes with the crowd singing the famous Christmas carol, Silent Night.

Even though Taylor University isn’t the nation’s largest or most well-known University, news and video of this event is spreading like wild fire, garnering them national notoriety. They’re changing the stakes in the recruiting game. They’ve proven that a team from any level can make headlines and develop a tradition of value to their university, athletes, fans and community.

Taylor’s tradition gives a handful of the more than 99% of high school athletes who won’t play at the Division I level, the opportunity to realize their dream of playing in front of a sellout, loyal, and involved crowd. This is a valuable selling point when recruiting high school athletes.

 

Get A Great Start To Your Day By Using Your Email EffectivelySunday, December 9th, 2012

By Mandy Green, University of South Dakota

I have been getting a lot of emails lately from coaches who are realizing that they waste a lot of time during the course of their day looking at and responding to emails. They are looking for tips to help them organize their day and get their email under control.

The first step should be to set up an email plan or routine for when they first get into the office. I start with the morning routine because I have found that what you decide to do with your email during the first 30 minutes, can make or break how productive you are throughout the entire day.

A lot of time management gurus will tell you that you should not open your email first thing in the morning.  I understand why they advise against it, but I also understand how much coaches rely on email. It is a vital part of contacting recruits, communicating with their staff and team, making plans for camp, and for other administrative purposes.  I truly believe that as long as you are using your email in a productive way, it can be an effective tool that will help you get a lot of work done.

I have tried A LOT of different ways to get off to a good start.  After a lot of trial and error, this is how I am currently using email during the first 30 minutes of arriving in my office. This is also the framework I am using to help other coaches get a better start to their day as well…

Before I look at my inbox, I send off a quick email reaching out to connect or express my gratitude to at least one person.  It could be a coach, a parent, somebody who works at the school, etc.  It really has been amazing to see how sending out this one quick email has helped with my recruiting or with building relationships with other people on campus.

Second, I send a to-do list email to each of my assistants which I started to prepare the night before.  I find that my staff appreciates me sending out just one email of what I want them to do for the day. I send this email first thing rather than sending multiple emails throughout the day or stopping every time something new comes up.  It requires me to be a lot more organized but it gets them started and they don’t have to waste time reading multiple to-do messages from me. They don’t have to deal with me constantly interrupting them, and I don’t have to deal with them coming in looking for things to do…it saves us all a lot of time.

Third, I actually look at my inbox and do one of these four things with my emails: I will forward it, categorize it, respond to it, or I will delete it.

  1. Forward it – I go through my inbox and forward to my assistants any emails that pertain to their responsibilities.  Once I forward it, I delete it to clear out my inbox.
  2. Categorize it -as you may know by now if you have read any of my articles or my Green Time Management For Coaches Workbook, I am big on time blocking.  I block off 30, 60 or 90 minutes of time during the day where I focus on doing nothing but recruiting, administrative duties, or team tasks.  For each email in my inbox, it gets assigned to a category folder and will get worked on during the block of time that I have assigned for it.  I have found that I save an incredible amount of time doing like tasks together instead of randomly jumping around from one item to the next.
  3. Respond to it – I will respond to email if I can give a quick response in under two minutes or spend the time gathering needed information to complete the task.
  4. Delete it.  Self-explanatory.  It is probably junk and I don’t need to waste time reading it.

This process takes me about 30 minutes.  It is amazing how much I can get off my plate by going through emails this way first thing in the morning.  It is at this point that I shut down my email until I am in my assigned block of time.

I have been setting up my days this way for quite a while now and have really loved the results. I have spent the last four years creating a college coach specific Day Planner and a Time Management Workbook to go with it. If you would like me to help you get the same results or want to look at the Planner and Workbook check out my website at www.mandygreencps.com or email me at mandy@mandygreencps.com .

Mandy Green is a frequent contributor to College Recruiting Weekly, and is a Division I head soccer coach. Coaches around the country know her as a premier expert on organization and coaching, and she is the developer of the Green Time Management System College Coaches.

 

 

Anticipation, Anxiety and Your Recruiting ApproachMonday, December 3rd, 2012

Best selling author and marketing guru Seth Godin makes a great point about the way we approach things in life, and it has a lot of application to the job set before you as a college coach in recruiting this next generation of athlete.

“When you work with anticipation”, says Godin, “you will highlight the highs. You’ll double down on the things that will delight and push yourself even harder to be bold and to create your version of art. If this is going to work, might as well build something that’s going to be truly worth building.

“If you work with anxiety, on the other hand, you’ll be covering the possible lost bets, you’ll be insuring against disaster and most of all, building deniability into everything you do. When you work under the cloud of anxiety, the best strategy is to play it safe, because if (when!) it fails, you’ll be blameless.

Maybe you see where I’m going with this, Coach:

  • Way too many coaches selling themselves – and their program – short.
  • Way too many coaches give up too soon on their “next level” recruits.
  • Way too many coaches worry about recruiting instead of approaching it as an incredibly exciting opportunity.

Working through the filter of anxiety, as a lot of coaches do in our experience, stops you in your tracks as a coach and recruiter.  Coaches who play it safe, don’t take a “heck yeah I can get that recruit!” attitude, and generally don’t aggressively pursue a recruiting plan that aims high never, ever make big changes to their program.  Exactly the opposite happens:  Coaches settle, take on a negative outlook on who they can get and what they can achieve through their recruiting efforts, and experience year after year of frustration when it comes to their results.

Now, look at the other approach:  It’s riskier, in the sense that a coach who takes this approach will fail…and fail often.  There’s risk in that, because a coach who doesn’t take a long term, consistent approach to recruit won’t be able to afford to fail; that coach needs success, and needs it in a hurry.  And so they push, stretch the truth, and pressure recruits.

On the other hand, the coach that takes the “risk” – that is, anticipating and enjoying the recruiting process as a central part of their job as a college coach and recruiter, will build a program that is successful for the long haul.  Risk?  Yes.  But the rewards almost always follow.  Look at any coach you consider successful in your sport, and chances are 1) they are a great recruiter, and 2) didn’t approach recruiting with anxiety and a negative attitude on what they could do in building a program they would be proud of.

Which brings it back to you, Coach:

If you’re someone who might be taking the wrong outlook towards your job as a recruiter, and filling your days with negative thoughts and anxiety about the job in front of you, here are three things I’ve seen successful coaches do to turn around your results when it comes to attracting the right kind of prospect to your program:

  1. Understand that you’re going to lose more than you win. One big mistake I see recruiters make over and over again is assuming they will win more recruits than they lose.  That’s not realistic, unless you’re recruiting athletes who aren’t those game-changers you need.  If you’re getting a lot of no’s, at least you know you’re going after the right recruits.  (Don’t change that approach, by the way.  You can adjust your tactics to get better results, so keep aiming high).  That being said…
  2. Be realistic and have a good foundation to build on. If you use letter grades to rate your prospects, I’m talking about getting a healthy number of B+ and B caliber recruits.  Aiming high for the A+ recruits fits right into that positive “anticipation” approach that turns good programs into great ones. But along the way, don’t sacrifice your foundation…it’s a combination of the right recruits that builds a solid program from top to bottom.  Too many coaches either swing for the fences with every recruit, or simply settle for good (but not great) recruits that result in middle-of-the-pack finishes year after year.
  3. Make sure you’re having fun.  That’s what Godin refers to when he talks about “doubling down on the stuff that delights and pushes you.”  If you aren’t enjoying the recruiting part of your job, then figure out why that’s happening and what you need to change it.  The other trait I’ve seen among the great coaches we get to work with is that they figure out what they’re passionate about, and do it as much as they can.  Recruiting is challenging enough…you need to find ways to enjoy it, or your prospects for a successful, long term college coaching career aren’t going to be bright.

Every coach has to find their own answer when it comes to how to enjoy and anticipate the recruiting side of your life, while also eliminating the anxiety that handcuffs you from making real strides.  As you head into this next recruiting year, make sure you take the time to figure out how to make that happen – for they good of your program and your own coaching career.

Need help with formulating a strategy and putting proven ideas to work for you and your program?  An inexpensive option that hundreds of coaches have found helpful is reading our popular recruiting workbooks.  They’re packed with ideas and new ways of approaching the most important part of your coaching career.  Or, for something more in-depth, consider becoming one of our clients.  We work with you one-on-one to create and execute a recruiting plan that will get results.  Click here for the details.

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