As coaches, you often search for the best stuff to talk about with your prospects.
What’s going right in their lives, what they’re excited about, what they did for fun last weekend.
Generally, coaches search out the line of conversation that will make the prospect smile, laugh and feel comfortable talking. And most of the time, with most your recruits, that’s the right approach.
But there’s another possible conversation that may win their allegiance in a faster, more effective, more meaningful way. And we discovered it by accident! Here’s the story:
In review focus group research we’ve gathered over the past two years working with coaches who have us help them develop their recruiting campaigns and storylines, we noticed something curious that we had previously glazed over. Occasionally, but consistently, prospects would reveal that there was a moment in the recruiting process where the coach that they ended up committing to would stumble upon something the prospect was struggling with – family issues, a tough class at school, a painful relationship break-up – and offer some deep, heartfelt sympathy. In the prospect’s eyes, for both males and females, they achieved a powerful connection with these coaches that “connected” with them and showed them that they cared for them over and above what they could bring to their college sports program.
Three stories stood out as we started uncovering these previously hidden strategic gems, told to you below as direct quotes from the recruits themselves:
- “When Coach ____ called me right after my dad left the house, I really didn’t want to talk to her. Two minutes into the call I was just a wreck and was balling and basically sounding like an idiot. It was really embarassing. But she was so kind, and spent a lot of the call just trying to talk me through it. She didn’t try to sell me on her program, she just was a friend. The next day I knew that was the coach I wanted to spend the next four years playing for.”
- “I struggled with math my Senior year and I was afraid it was going to ruin my chances for earning a football scholarship. I wanted to pick a place where it wasn’t just all about football day in and day out but still play D1, and the way the coach tried to help me feel better about what I was going through with academics in high school really made me feel like he was the guy who was going to watch out for me and make sure I was successful when I played ball in college. The way he handled that told me a lot about who he was as a person which is why I chose to play here.”
- “Most coaches would just email me or call and it was about sports 24/7. I started feeling like I was just a piece of meat almost. I liked the way that Coach _____ made it more that just about the sports side of college. I felt like that’s who I wanted to be around. The way he tried to get to know me and help me through some stuff I was dealing with at home was awesome which is the main reason I came here.”
You see the common thread through those comments, right? The coaches who came alongside the prospects and helped them through a difficult situation, and offered heartfelt encouragement, ended up making an impact and most of the time, earned the commitment of the recruit.
In other words, simply by taking a few minutes to comfort a male or female athlete you are recruiting, you set yourself apart from other coaches.
It works the same outside of sports as well. In the Malcolm Gladwell book “Tipping Point”, it was revealed that doctors who spent an extra three minutes chatting with patients and getting to know them personally had dramatically lower rates of medical malpractice suits filed against them. The reason mirrors the principle I’ve outlined here today: Showing concern and investing even a few minutes of your time with your prospect can help in creating a much deeper, much more meaningful bond with that recruit. Male or female, it works the same.
The most common areas that athletes felt were important were stressful situations with grades, a family crisis, boyfriend or girlfriend problems, or other issues specific to his or her family.
In one respect, it’s a bit odd to be recommending a “strategy” revolving around just being a good person. I’m hoping that any coach would take time to do what we’d all probably agree is “the right thing”. However, analyzing this from a strictly psychological and relationship point of view, cementing your relationship around you offering encouragement to your prospect who is going through a difficult, stressful situation is the smart thing – and the right thing – to do.
As you plan for next season’s recruiting campaign, why not have a team of experts help you behind the scenes? Work with Dan and his team one-on-one and have them put together a strategy and a system that’s proven to get results. You can go to www.dantudor.com for all the details, or email Dan directly with your questions at dan@dantudor.com.
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