Dan Tudor

Phone calls to recruits don’t rank very high on most coaches’ list of things to do.

So, what about follow-up phone calls?  Even harder, for most recruiters.  It’s a challenge to work through the first phone call effectively, but what in the world do you talk about on phone call number two, three or ten???  It’s not an easy subject to tackle.

So, what’s a perplexed coach to do?  I know what you want to do.  You want to pick up the phone and make another follow-up call to that prospect who’s taking just a little too long to call you back with their decision, or the prospect that is slow in even showing interest in your program.

So, since many of you are facing the challenge of making effective follow-up phone calls on a fairly regular basis, I wanted to give you six tips for making great follow-up calls to your recruits.

Get a Commitment for the Follow-up
Perhaps the single biggest mistake coaches make is not establishing a specific date and time for the follow-up call at the end of their previous visit. Vague commitments from prospects (“call me next week”) or recruiters (“I’ll send the paperwork you need and follow-up in a couple of days”) result in missed calls, voice mail messages and ultimately a longer recruiting cycle. All you need to do is ask for a follow-up date and time. Try something like this, Coach:

“I’ll be glad to that information about our business program pulled together so I can mail it to you. And what I love to suggest is that we set up Tuesday, the 19th, maybe around 8:45 to review it in detail and determine the next steps if any. How does that sound?”

If you’ve had us on campus to work with your athletic department, you have learned all about why asking how something “sounds” is vital to moving the process forward.  For right now, just trust me…ask “how does that sound?” instead of something like “what do you think?”

Back to your call…if this is not a good time, recommend another time. If that doesn’t work, get them to establish a time and date. Creating a deadline is a simple but extremely powerful tactic. Use it.

Build “Call Equity” and Be Remembered
After every first call to a prospect, send a thank-you card. Handwrite a message that simply says, “John, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I look forward to catching-up with you further on the 16th! Keep up the good work.” No more, no less.

In today’s fast paced world, a handwritten card tells your prospect that you took the time and the effort to do something a little different. This registers in your recruit’s mind and creates a degree of “equity” in you. It differentiates you and is remembered. And, it gives your teenage prospect a reason to be there when you make your follow-up call.  If you want the details behind this line of thinking, you should read our special report that goes inside the mind of your college prospect…it’s fascinating, and will tell you all about what your prospects think about handwritten notes and letters.

If you don’t think a card will get there in time, send an email with the same note. Just be aware that an email does not have nearly the same impact as a handwritten note.

Email a Reminder and an Agenda

The day before your follow-up call, email your prospect to remind him or her of your appointment. In the subject line, enter the words: “Telephone appointment for March 19th and article that I wanted to send you.” Note that the subject line acts as a reminder but it is vague enough that the prospect will probably open it. There is a hint that maybe the date and time has changed.

Your email should confirm the date and time of the appointment and then briefly list your agenda:

“John, the call should only take about 10 or 15 minutes. We’ll review what we talked about last time and I’ll answer any questions. And then we’ll determine what you see as the next step, if any.”

Notice how the words echo those used when the follow-up was initially set. In particular, notice the trigger phrase “. . .what you see as the next step.” The “if any” helps reduce some of the stress or concern your prospects or their parents might have. Often they skip the follow-up call because they are worried that they’ll be pressured to make a commitment. This is natural. If prospects sense an easy, informal, “no pressure” type of phone call, they are more likely to show up and be on time for that call.

Add Value in a P.S.
Notice the reference to an article in your email’s subject line. At the end of your email, add a P.S. that says, “John, in the meantime, here’s an article I thought you might enjoy regarding. . .”

The article may be about your your team, a big win, an interesting story about a recruiting issue of interest, or something completely non-sports related that might show a little bit of your fun side. This creates tremendous value even if your recruit does not open it. Why? Because you took the time to do something extra. This helps you be remembered and gives the prospect yet another reason to take your follow-up call.

Of course, this means you have to do some homework. Keep an eye out on the web for articles of interest and value relative to your sport or the topic of recruiting. You might even keep a file of these articles because they can be used over and over again with future recruits.

Call On Time
Don’t start your relationship on the wrong foot. Call on time. Never, ever be late with your follow-up call. Not even by a minute. The promptness and respect you show on a follow-up call reflects on you, your program and your college.

By the way, you know who notices late calls the most?  The parents.  And you don’t want to get your relationship with them off on the wrong foot, do you?

Avoid Opening Statement Blunders
So many coaches stumble and fall by using these routine follow-up opening statements:

“I was calling to follow-up on the paperwork…”
“I am just calling to see if you had any questions…”
“I just wanted to make sure you got my email…”
“The reason for my follow-up was to see if you had come to decision…”

These opening statements are not only poor; they are commonplace and do nothing to differentiate you. You are perceived as yet another run of the mill coach looking for a “sale”. You need a little more pizzazz, don’t you think?  Think of ways to differentiate yourself and give your prospect a real reason to sit up and pay attention to your follow-up call.

Here’s the key to follow-up calls: Have something original to say, and know when to say it.  It’s a bit of an art form, to be honest, and the best way to become an expert at it is to practice, practice, practice.

Got prospects to follow-up with?  Try some of these proven principles and use some of these tips to get a better response.

Many of you will have some pretty big phone calls to make later this week.

The first phone calls to a new class or recruits.  And if you don’t in July, you will shortly after that, depending upon your sport.

Today’s edition is not going to focus on the how-to “nuts and bolts” of making successful phone calls.  We’ve done that in the past…here, here and a great one from last week here.

What I want to focus on today is a bigger picture aspect of your recruiting message that applies to your phone calls, as well as your emails, letters, campus visits…everything about the overall impression you give your prospect as you communicate with them.

It’s the importance of a consistent message.  One that makes sense.  And, I’ve got a pretty interesting study to back up my assertions…

The study was done by psychologist Geoffrey Miller, who studied how we as individuals communicate our individual purchases to others, and why.

For example, as the study showed, younger males will often display aggressive behavior to young females in order to establish social dominance in the initial stages of a relationship.  Later, however, those same males need to move from being aggressive to being agreeable in order to show that they have “staying power”…that they will be a good long-term mate.

So if the study is true – as I think it is – products that appeal to a younger males aggressive side are going to do great.  For example, if I was manufacturing a body spray for guys and named it “Sweet”, it probably wouldn’t sell.  That doesn’t match their natural personalities.  However, the people who manufacture “Axe” nailed it.  They’ve got a runaway best seller because they’ve marketed it well to the audience they want as consumers.

An example of a wrongly aimed message?  The 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid SUV.  It was marketed with a strong message of environmental sensitivity and high fuel savings.  For the people who wanted to buy a massive SUV, this message didn’t make sense: If I want to drive an SUV, would the extra 4 miles per gallon really matter to me?  Probably not.  Sales never took off, and most experts point to muddled advertising as the big reason why.

Here’s my point as it relates to the phone calls you are about to make, as well as the message that you design for your program this coming year:

Make sure you and your program develops a message that very clearly matches your actual environment on campus that are true selling points to your intended prospects.

• Figure out who your audience is, and communicate clearly and directly to them.
• Don’t try to be something that you aren’t.
• Find two or three big things that define you and your program.
• Determine the best language for you to use with your audience (your prospects) based on those big things that you find as positives about your program.
• Don’t blur your central messages with things that your competitors offer in an attempt to be “just like them”.  Be O.K. with being unique and different from your competition.

Your phone calls that many of you will be making soon are your first opportunity to define yourself to new prospects who are waiting to be told your story.  Make that story you tell simple and effective as you start telling it to them over the phone.

Big ideas and advanced recruiting concepts are what we’ll be talking about at next month’s National Collegiate Recruiting Conference.  Only a few days are left to register, or if you can’t make it then you can get the whole thing on DVD.

Want even more advanced one-on-one help?  Become a client of Tudor Collegiate Strategies.  For more information on what we do to help coaches, and why it’s effective, click here.

Check your watch, Coach.  Especially when you make your next recruiting call.

Once you hit the 10-minute mark when you’re talking to a prospect, you’ve crossed a line that’s pretty dangerous in terms of the effectiveness of connecting with your prospect.  The source for our information comes from interviewing several hundred college student-athletes at college campuses around the nation.  And their answers to our questions can give coaches some big ideas on keeping their recruiting phone calls short and sweet.

The basic rule I’m recommending that you follow is simple:

Keep your recruiting phone calls to ten minutes or less.

What we found from conducting our surveys on campus was that most prospects get bored with recruiting calls that go past that mark.  Many mentioned that they will put their phones on speaker so that they can do other things while you are talking.  Or, they’ll just be polite and engage you in a polite conversation until it comes to an end.

Their biggest complaints centered around long recruiting calls taking them away from studying, delaying them in texting friends, and being too "sales" focused…coaches that were more interested in selling their schools early on than getting to know the prospect and asking interesting questions.

So what should you do in the ten minutes that they’re giving you?  Here are some ideas:

• Don’t talk about your school unless they ask you about it.  For coaches and programs who are our Total Recruiting Solution clients, we recommend that they don’t try to "sell" their recruits on anything about their school for at least the first 30 days of recruiting them.
• Make the phone call about them, not about you (or your school, your program, or you).  Come up with a list of great questions that are original and all about them.  Focus on establishing the relationship with your recruit instead of on selling them right on your program right away.
• Only talk about you, your school and your program IF…they ask you about it.  If your prospect is curious enough to ask you about you or your program, then you can talk about it and "sell" all you want.  According to our surveys, the time limit goes out the window and you can take all the time you want so long as they are the ones driving the conversation.

Observing the ten minute rule can completely change the way your recruits view you.  Oh, and if you are reading this and worrying that the length of the phone call is going to hurt your chances of signing the recruit, fear not: About nine out of ten prospects confided in us that the length of the phone call made no difference in their overall interest in the school.  However, they did rate regular frequency in phone calls as a sign that a program was serious about them.

Confusing?  Sure, a little.  But the thing I want you to understand is that there is a definite right way and wrong way to execute successful recruiting phone calls with this generation of recruits.

Try following these simple but proven rules the next time you pick up the phone to talk to your prospect.