Dan Tudor

So there I was, facing an audience of college students on the campus of one of our clients.  I was part of a panel that had been invited to talk about careers in the sports world, and it was a great opportunity to be reminded about how to talk to this generation of student-athlete.

After the panel gave their individual speeches, we broke-up into different parts of the hall we were gathered in so these college-age kids could come and ask individual questions.

What followed was a lesson in talking to individuals who haven’t grown-up withly some of the same communication skills that you and I did.  And finding that “sweet spot” in connecting with a prospect you’re recruiting could make all the difference in whether or not they serious consider you and your program.

Here are my six observations from my interactions, and lessons for you as a college recruiter needing to “connect” with these kids in order to put together your next great recruiting class:

• They don’t want to start the conversation. Several of the students hovered around me like shy puppy dogs, to the point where I actually had to make eye contact and ask them a question to get the conversation started.  As a recruiter, you should expect to have to do the same thing.
• Ask them about themselves. What I find works the best is when you ask a very specific question about one segment of their lives.  Your initial questions can’t be too broad…they need to be easy enough for them to answer to get them comfortable talking to you.
• Try to make them laugh (or at least smile). If you can use humor to break the ice, great…do it.  But even if you don’t feel like you’re a natural born comedian, at least smile.  Smile big, and right at them.  If you can get them to smile back, you’re on your way to connecting with them.
• Get their opinion about specific issues. In a recruiting situation, if you ask them, “So, what did you think of our campus when you visited?” you’re going to get a wishy-washy, vague answer.  For most kids of this generation, that is too big of a question…one that they may not have had time to form an opinion about.  However, if you ask them, “So, when you were inside the dorm room, did it seem like a place where you could see yourself enjoying?”  That’s a much better question because it gives your prospect a chance to zero in on a specific opinion.  In my conversations with the students I had just talked to, I quickly found that the smaller, more “specific” questions, got the best and most detailed responses.
• Don’t linger when it seem like the conversation should end. There were several times when I had more advice to give them, but could tell from their body language that it was time to end the conversation.  So I did.  For the kids in this generation, when they are done talking they are not shy about wanting to call it quits.  You know how you sometimes drag out a recruiting phone call to half and hour or more, and you are doing all the talking?  My advice is to stop.  You’ve lost your prospect’s interest in that call, and it’s time to stop talking.
• Follow-up quickly. After the event, I went back to my hotel room and emailed those attendees that gave me their email address.  I told them that I enjoyed their conversations, appreciated their interest in what they had to say, and told them to get back to me with any questions they had.  Lo and behold, they found their voices!  I was bombarded with contact from them, which was a good reminder about another aspect of this generation that you should keep in mind: They want to know that you are interested in hearing from them.  The best way to do that is to immediately reach out after you talk to them, and open the door for more communication.

On the surface, these are all pretty simple lessons.  However, what I find is that coaches develop a communication system with their prospects that is far more complicated than it needs to be.  When you reach the point of one-on-one communications, keep these simple rules handy.  They work, and will let you enjoy much more productive conversations with your prospects.

Communicating with this generation of prospects is the theme for this year’s 2010 National Collegiate Recruiting Conference, a one-of-a-kind gathering of coaches and athletic directors with one goal: Make every attendee a DOMINANT recruiter!  Want to be a part of it?  Find out all the details – and inside information on a great early registration discount – by clicking here.

This is a rare week when I get to catch-up on work at the office and conversations with coaches.

Last week, I was spending time at two different colleges teaching their coaches how to recruit more effectively.  When I lead those On-Campus Workshops, they usually revolve around the question of knowing how a prospect actually decides on a college that is recruiting him or her. In other words, if two or three schools are actively pursuing an athlete and each school is vying for his or her commitment, how do you as a coach know how your prospect will arrive at a decision?

Here’s the shocker, Coach: There’s no need to wonder about it. In fact, there’s one simple question that can help erase all the mystery when it comes to the decision making process of a prospect.

Here’s the question:

"How will you make your final decision?"

That’s it?? Yes, that’s it.

Cut to the chase and ask the athlete up-front how they will be making their decision on which college to go to and which offer to accept.

After the athlete answers, here’s another important question to ask:

"And then what?"

And then they’ll tell you more. And then you ask, "And then what?" again.  And they’ll tell you more. And on and on until you finally get to the real source of their decision – a school’s major, the coach, their parents’ input, their coach’s input, or even what kind of uniforms you have compared to the competition. The bottom line is, you’ll know what the decision rests on.

This past week, I put this strategy to the test with a soccer coach at one of those schools I worked with who was still trying to fill one last opening on her roster.  She was recruiting three players actively, each of whom was not giving the coach any indication of where they were leaning in terms of a program, when they would make their final decision, and how they would make their final decision.  This strategy that I just summarized is what we recommended to the coach, along with some other important questions to ask their prospects. 

The result?  The coach got the answer she was looking from two of her prospects within 48 hours (she e-mailed me this weekend).  She made the offer to the better prospect, and they committed to her program a few days ago.  Why?  Because the coach finally understood how her prospect would be making her decision – a decision that included a lot of influence from a step-father whom the coach had never talked to personally.  Once the coach knew that he played a major role in her prospect’s decision making process, she talked with him at length.  After taking about an hour to answer his questions and concerns, he agreed that her program was the best for his step-daughter.

I can’t stress how important this series of questions is. It’s a key question for business professionals to ask when they seek to understand how a sales decision is going to be made, and it’s a great question to ask if you’re a coach who finds yourself walking out of personal visit or long phone call with a prospect wondering what the prospect is thinking or where you rank with other colleges who are pitching their program.

Try it. I think you’ll like the results. And always remember to ask those follow-up questions until you get to the bottom line and you know how they will be making their decision.

So, what are they?

What are those five KILLER questions that you should be asking your prospects when you begin your recruiting relationship with them?

Actually, you are the only one that can answer that question. It’s different for every coach, every school, every program. Those five questions might even vary on the time of year, the area of the country that your prospect is from, or how much money is left in your recruiting budget. The point is, you need to determine what those five KILLER questions are, and ask them every time you talk to a new prospect.

What do I mean by KILLER questions? That means it’s a question that makes your prospect stop in his or her tracks, not say anything, and really think about what the answer is. The response that you should be aiming for: “Wow, nobody has ever asked me that before.”

Do you ever get that type of response from your prospects after you ask them a question? Then your questions probably need to be a little better. A little more thought provoking. A little more off the wall. Maybe even a little more intense.

Here’s the type of questioning that I’m talking about: Instead of asking a prospect “So why are you interested in our program?”, you might ask them “If you had to pay us for the right to play in our stadium, what would be your reason for doing that?”

Or, instead of asking a prospect “Do you need any financial aid?”, perhaps you should ask them “What kind of help could we give you on the financial side of things to get you to become delirious with job and come play for us?”

One more: I’ve heard a lot of coaches ask a prospect they really want, “So when do you think you’ll be making your final decision?” Instead, what if you asked them, “Run me through how you’re going to be making your decision, and who all is involved in helping you decide?” After they tell you the first part of their answer and stop (which they always do), you should ask, “And then what?” They’ll tell you a little more, and you ask “And then what.” And so it goes until you really get down to the nitty gritty details of how the decision is really going to be made, and who’s helping them make that decision.

Here’s the trouble with waiting until the phone call to think of those questions: It’s really hard to do. And sometimes, the questions don’t come out so good. Many times, the type of questions you ask when you first talk to a prospect determines how the recruiting relationship will end up. Questions are important – vitally important – to the whole process.

Let me correct myself…KILLER questions are vitally important to the whole process.

The biggest benefit to asking KILLER questions (other than staying organized, controlling the sales process, and making your calls and conversations more productive and insightful) is that you’ll sound smarter and more interested in your prospect compared to other coaches who ask the same “yes, no” mundane questions that recruits have heard before. That might be the biggest benefit of all.

So, coach, here’s your homework: Come up with the five KILLER questions that you’re going to ask all of your prospects. Make them thought-provoking. Make them original. Get the prospect to think. Get the prospect to open up and verbalize the keys to getting them in love with your program and what you’re offering.

I’ll even help you! E-mail me your five questions (with the subject line “My 5 questions”) to me at dan@sellingforcoaches.com and I’ll provide some feedback and comments back to you. Free help, no strings attached. I think it’s that important…every coach needs to have those questions ingrained in their heads, and know why they’re asking them.

If you do this quick exercise, I promise you won’t be sorry. Good luck, have fun with it, and make it a great recruiting week!