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Cementing Your Prospect Relationship Using This Tested TechniqueMonday, May 7th, 2012

There’s a great deal of psychology that the professional business world uses daily in their interactions with their prospects and clients.  As a college sports recruiter, you can (and  should) use the same kind of techniques to solidify your relationship  with your athletic prospects.

One such technique is what I  call the “stay the course” technique.  Here’s a sampling of how it  works, using an actual study that was conducted to back up my ideas to  you today.

When most people (your prospects included, coach)  decide on a course of action, they have a very strong desire to stay  with that course.   Frequently, this desire is so powerful that they  will refuse to alter their chosen path … even when there is  overwhelming evidence that it is unwise.

There are several reasons  for this. For one thing, there’s the simple power of ego. Nobody likes  to feel like they made a bad decision.  Perhaps more important is that  nobody likes a “flip-flopper.”  A classic example from the world of  politics would be a candidate who “flip-flopped” on positions and,  therefore, couldn’t be trusted. There have been numerous instances over  the past decade where the allegation alone were enough to derail the  political aspirations of many politicians.  As a society, we don’t like  people who appear to not keep their commitments.

Once a person chooses a certain position, their desire to be consistent will compel them to behave as promised.

An interesting study illustrated this universal human tendency. A “beachgoer” (an accomplice to the study)  would stroll onto the sand and choose a spot near a target subject. The  “beachgoer” would then spend about five minutes spreading out his  blanket and setting up with suntan lotion and a small portable radio.    Just another person enjoying a day at the beach. He would then stand up  and walk away, without saying anything to the target.

Shortly  after the “beachgoer” left, a second accomplice would approach the  unguarded blanket and make a move to steal the radio. Only five percent  of the time would the target make any effort to confront the “thief” or  do anything to try and prevent what appeared to be a crime.

Now  … here’s the interesting part of the study: With a second group of  targets, instead of simply walking away from his blanket, the  “beachgoer” asked them to keep an eye on his things. And the results  were drastically different. Ninety-five percent of the time, these  targets aggressively attempted to prevent the “thief” from stealing the  “beachgoer’s” radio.

What made the difference?

Like  the first group, this second group of targets didn’t know the  “beachgoer.” The only communication they had with him was that single  verbal exchange when he asked them to watch his things.

But because these subjects had agreed to do something, they aggressively stayed the course … despite the  fact that it was not in their best interests.   In fact, it put them in  the potentially dangerous position of confronting a brazen thief in  order to protect the low-value property of a stranger they’d only spoken  with for one moment.

Understanding this tendency of people to  follow a consistent course of action can help you persuade them to act  in a way you want them to act – whether you want to get your boss to  assign you to a particular project or get your child to do better in  school.  Or, get your recruit to commit to your program.

One of the things that we constantly hear from college coaches who read our two foundational recruiting guides is that they now understand how their prospects feel makes them most  likely to commit to a particular program or a coach.  How they feel  about the coach, how they feel about the players on the team, and how  they feel about the thought of playing for you as a coach.

There are three steps to making this technique work, Coach:

1. Make a statement of fact that your prospect can agree with. (“Playing for us here really improves your odds of being able to start as a freshman.”)

2. Link a conclusion to this statement of fact. (“In order to make sure that happens, we need to make sure you’re one  of our early commitment prospects so that we can stop recruiting other  athletes that play your position.”)

3. Obtain a commitment from your prospect based on that conclusion. (“So, you’ll get that application paperwork I sent you  last week turned-in early and start planning your college career here  at our university right away?”)

It’s easy, it works, and it begins to get your prospect thinking about a permanent athlete-coach relationship with you and your program.

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5 Ways to Make Your Recruiting Surplus ScarceMonday, April 16th, 2012

Sounds contradictory, right?

How do you have a “scarce” surplus?

Marketing guru and best selling author Seth Godin outlines a great example that many of us who are old enough to remember rotary dial telephones and having to get up to turn the knob on the television when we wanted to change the channel:

When I was a kid at summer camp, a letter was as precious as gold (or perhaps candy). If you got five letters in a week, you were rich. Most of the time, we stood by the mailroom, plaintively waiting to see if there was some sort of message from the outside world–only to walk away disappointed.

Back home, missing a TV show was out of the question. If you didn’t see this episode of Mannix or Batman, it was likely you’d never get a chance, ever again.

Information, entertainment and communication was scarce way back when I was a kid walking in the snow uphill both ways to school everyday.  It was scarce.  And, therefore, quite valuable.

Today, scarcity has been replaced by surplus.  Godin observes:

A new generation, one that grew up with a data surplus, is coming along. To this generation, it’s no big deal to miss a tweet or ten, to delete a blog from your reader or to not return a text or even a voice mail. The new standard for a vacation email is, “When I get back, I’m going to delete all the email in my box, so if it’s important, please re-send it next week.”

This is what always happens when something goes from scarce to surplus. First we bathe in it, then we waste it.

So the trick, then, is to turn the tables on this generation.  Most coaches who skip past this article, or who are convinced that just overwhelming a recruit with “more” is the key to earning the relationship, are going to add to the surplus of information that a recruit is subjected to…information that routinely sounds the same as the other coaches’ communication, with the same sales message that this generation has long since learned to ignore.

“Surplus”, by the way, doesn’t necessarily refer to the number of emails or letters that you send.  True, you can go overboard and completely bury a prospect in so much messaging that he or she will simply choose to ignore it.  But I am also speaking of the type of messaging that is in surplus today…long, information-heavy letters and emails that jumps too quickly to selling a program instead of building a relationship.  That’s the kind of surplus no coach should aim to accumulate.

What is scarce in the world of recruiting messaging?  Here are five of the ten most common opportunity areas, in no particular order of importance, that we’ve identified for our clients heading into this next recruiting cycle:

  1. It’s rare to find a coach who makes a claim about their program, and then backs it up with facts. Most coaches have the “facts” part down cold, without a doubt.  What we find missing is coaches that will make a bold claim, and then back up that headline with interesting facts that they can personalize to the recruit.
  2. It’s rare to find a coach that will connect the dots in a line of reasoning and give their prospects an answer to their primary question, “What’s In It for Me?” For some of you who have had us walk you through this aspect of your recruit’s needs during the recruiting process, you know that this question should be front and center in your mind as you communicate with your prospect.  As you plan your recruiting strategy for the class that you are currently messaging, here’s the big question: Do you clearly tell them what’s in it for them personally at your school if they choose to compete for you?  If the answer is anything but a resounding “yes!” then go back and re-work the wording in your recruiting letters and emails.
  3. It’s rare to find a coach who uses Facebook and Twitter for anything more than just another place to post results and news releases. The greatest revolution in communication – social media websites – have been turned into another avenue to post statistics and news.  And, your recruits don’t like it.  Most of us use social media to interact and deepen relationships with those that are close to us, so are you surprised when you don’t get a lot of traction on your team’s Facebook site from the prospects you’re wanting to engage?  You shouldn’t be.  They aren’t there to read results, they are there to interact with you and get a behind the scenes look at what your program is really like.  Instead of posting your next set of results, hand a Flip cam to some of your team and tell them to do a two food review of the fast food place you’re eating at on the road after the game.  I promise you’ll get more interaction from that sloppy, unedited video of your recruit’s future teammates than you will be telling them which of your graduating Seniors just made second team all-conference.
  4. It’s rare for a coach to explain why a prospect should pay their own way and come for an unofficial visit to campus. Our research is showing that most prospects will make an investment in time and money to a campus that isn’t their dream school only if there is a clear and personalized reason that they should do it.  Start off your invitation with the words, “I really want you to come here on an unofficial visit because I want to…” and then tell them what you have in store for them: Meet the team to figure out if you like them, let you talk to your business school Dean one-on-one, or sit down face to face with the recruit and their parents to walk them through the offer you want to make them.  They need a reason to come, Coach.  Gone are the days (for the most part) when families awash in disposable cash from their third home equity line of credit would jet across the country to see if a particular campus was to their liking; today, you need to give them a tangible reason with a pretty solid potential pay-off.  That’s very, very rare these days.
  5. Ask for the sale. (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?)  More and more coaches are amazed at how this simple idea gets results, but the vast majority still balk at the idea of making a strong plea like this earlier than they are used to doing.  Here’s a compromise: Ask for a “soft commitment” from your prospect that will tell you whether or not the time might be right to ask them to come play for you.  Click here for an outline of the idea.

I firmly believe that we are entering an age when recruiting messaging will be harder and harder to break through all of the noise that bombards today’s teenage athlete, both from other coaches as well as mass media advertising.  If you are a coach who is settling for being a part of the surplus, your challenges will continue to grow as the years go by.

The alternative?  Become a program who’s message is impossible to ignore.  To achieve that means taking some risks, sitting down and mapping-out a better plan, and quite possibly taking your letters and emails currently being used and starting completely over.

It’s more work, but being “scarce” will have it’s rewards.  Trust me.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a magical place that crammed all of the very best recruiting ideas into your head in one fast-paced weekend?  A place where you got to listen to other coaches, athletic directors, marketing experts, organizational pros and Dan?  That recruiting nirvana exists: The National Collegiate Recruiting Conference!  It’s coming up soon and you can find out more – and register to reserve your seat – by clicking here.  Don’t miss it!

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The Importance of Selling Your Vision to Your RecruitsMonday, March 12th, 2012

by Mandy Green, University of South Dakota

Coaching your team and developing leadership starts with having a vision statement, then developing a plan to achieve it.  That’s the starting point for every business that wants to be successful, and it’s a must for college coaches who want to build a successful program.

A vision statement answers the questions “What will our program look like 5 to 10 years from now?”

A vision is more than a destination.  It is an inspiration, a motivator, and a rallying point for a team.  Results matter, but they are often the by-products of an effectively created and communicated vision.

Dan Tudor, the founder of Tudor Collegiate Strategies, talks a lot about how recruits don’t care about your past or your present, they only care about how they fit into your future.

Coaches who consistently sign the recruits they want have mastered really good communication and a great selling message on how the program’s future expectations, goals, and aspirations will meet the recruit’s needs and help him or her achieve their goals.

Communication of a vision is the difficult process of inspiring your recruits to see the future reality which you see, and are committed to make happen for them. Communicating your vision will help recruits focus their energies to see that their real needs might best be met through your program.

So, how do you do it?  Communicating your vision is talking about the future, evoking images and responses in the mind about what it is going to be like for them over the next 4 years while at your college.  Communicate your vision so people can feel it, see it, and feel it.

When communicating and selling your vision to recruits remember the following:

1. Clearly articulate the vision of your organization.
2. Be enthusiastic toward your vision, and let others see your passion for that vision.
3. Repeatedly share the vision in various ways.

Concentrate on the “what’s-in-it-for-them” and the what’s-in-it-for-you will usually take care of itself.

Mandy Green is the head women’s soccer coach at the University of South Dakota, and a leading organizational expert in the world of college athletics.  Coach Green will be speaking at the upcoming National Collegiate Recruiting Conference on the topics of how to organize your recruiting and coaching life.  Click here to get information on attending this one-of-a-kind event for college coaches!

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How Facebook’s Timeline Can Impact YOUR RecruitingMonday, January 30th, 2012

by Sean Devlin, Front Rush

Recently, Facebook went live with their new Facebook Timeline.

This is a total redesign of your own personal page (the page that people see when they click your name). Timeline essentially gives you more control over what people see, and how they see it.

We want to go into a bit of detail so that you are aware of what your recruits will see, especially because Timeline has gone from an opt-in to a complete roll-out, which means it affects all users.

From a distance, Timeline is just a running history of your photos, posts, events, apps, songs, and anything else typically associated with Facebook. However, due to its granularity, the first thing you should do is go through and remove anything and everything that does not put you and your program in a good light. This is a common sense best practice but because Timeline goes back to the beginning of your Facebook existence, its worth making sure nothing exists that would make your face red.

Secondly, you should go through and highlight anything that does make you look good and makes your Timeline more compelling. For example, a great photo of the University or team is worth “starring” which will make it appear widescreen and larger. People love photos and starring good ones will enhance your Timeline visually and make it more engaging.

Another item you may want to star would be great events in your history. Teams hang banners when championships are won so use this opportunity to make your own “banners” standout while people scroll through your page. One other thing to take note is that Timeline is going to group things together. An example would be if you have “liked” a lot of things in a particular time frame…Facebook will keep those items in a close proximity.

Now that you have most of the content set-up, the next thing to do is choose a Timeline picture. To clarify, you have your profile pic, but Timeline starts off with a “header” picture that you can choose as well. This choice is really important because its the first thing a visitor sees when they come to your page. Its a good idea to play around with different images and test through your friends to see which one they like most. This image is a good opportunity to show off your personality or the character of your University or team.

Lastly, go through your Timeline from start to finish and get into the habit of checking it with some consistency. Remember, more third party apps will have access to it so you should just always be aware of whats being posted on your site.

Timeline is an opportunity for you to showcase your website to an entirely new audience, Coach.  Take advantage of it!

Sean Devlin is the technical brains behind the best selling web management tool for college coaches, and a trusted advisor for recruiters looking to use technology to become more effective recruiters.  We highly recommend Front Rush for any coaching staff who is looking for an organizational web tool to track their prospects and creatively brand their programs.

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Top 5 Things To Do Now That It’s 2012Monday, January 2nd, 2012

by Sean Devlin, Front Rush

Looking for a technology wish list for the new year?

In case you are, we’ve put together a list of things to do (budget permitting of course) that we recommend now that is 2012.

Dump Internet Explorer
Its time to get rid of the blue ‘e’ that you click when you access the internet. This ‘e’ is Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s browser and we recommend that you move on to a more formidable, speedier way of browsing the web. IE has dramatically fallen behind its competition and its only still used because it is the default browser on most computers as well as the incumbent from years past. Instead, the alternatives are Google Chrome (http://google.com/chrome) and firefox (http://firefox.com)

Trade in your Blackberry for an iPhone or Android
This past year was a bad year for the Blackberry devices. RIM (the company itself) has laid of thousands of people, its market share has taken a huge hit, its revenue and profit are struggling, its tablet was a bust and they are delaying the release of their next generation devices until the end of 2012. There are rumors circulating that they will be bought out and overall the shareholders are really unhappy. This trend is going to continue deep into 2012 and devices like the iPhone and Android (and even the Windows Phones) are going to widen the gap. Blackberry had its time but now it is a casualty of innovation and developers are not interested in building apps for it as its users are leaving them in large numbers for its iPhone and Android counterparts.

Buy a Tablet
Tablets were enormous in 2011, and they will continue to be so in 2012. The ability to have access to your data directly on the field/court and not have to lug your laptop around with you is a big development for you as a coach. Applications/Recruiting Apps are going to improve and more will be built in the next twelve months. There will be a focus on these devices from all developers. Right now, we recommend getting an iPad however the Kindle Fire is selling like Crazy and 2012 hopefully will be the year that a few solid Android tables are built. Regardless, a new version of the iPad is expected and that alone will stir things up. Tablet usage is definitely going north, and you need to keep up with this growing trend.

Join Facebook
Most coaches (and most people in this world) are on Facebook but because of NCAA rules in Div III, some are coaches hesitant. Its very possible that the rules toward social networks are going to change this year and even if for some wild reason they don’t, its important to be a part of Facebook even if you can’t use it to communicate with recruits. Why? Well recruits are there now, and they are going to be there for awhile and to understand their conversation, you need to be in the mix. So even if rules don’t permit you to contact recruits via Facebook, then create an account and just bop around. Understanding the language of Facebook is a stepping stone toward understanding the language or your ideal recruiting demographic.

Get a Second Monitor
Are you using a laptop at the office? Then buy a second monitor. You can get one for around a 100 bucks and attach it to your laptop in under 30 seconds. Having 2 screens is technologically life changing. Whenever we add a second monitor for a new employee here, they are overwhelmed with the productivity increases simply because of more screen real estate. Its a cheap investment for a huge performance upside.

Front Rush are the people that thousands of coaches look to for cutting-edge recruiting contact management.  Have questions about what they can do for you?  Or, do you have a technology related question you want to ask?  Email Sean Devlin at sdevlin@frontrush.com anytime…they’re here to help!

 

 

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Why We All Pay Attention to Oregon’s Cool, New Football HelmetsMonday, January 2nd, 2012

“Dang, this is really their face mask?” said an admiring Wisconsin center Peter Konz this past weekend, as his team was preparing to face the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl played yesterday.

“I’m going to have like metallic stains on my jersey. Wow. That’s pretty cool, though.”

Yes, the Oregon Ducks have broken new ground with their metallic, reflective football helmets.  And as you can see, even their opponents were awed by the next evolution in equipment creativity, courtesy of the Ducks.

But it’s not just their opponents.  It’s virtually everyone.  I follow lots of college coaches on Twitter, and it seems everyone was talking about the Oregon helmets.  Coaches, fans, recruits, the media…everyone.

Which would seem to make the case for a coach who contends that “the stuff” – facilities, uniforms, locker rooms, strength and conditioning centers - is what a recruit bases their school choice decision upon, right?

Wrong.

This is where I find most coaches failing to connect the dots.  Many programs in many different sports at the college level introduce new logos, new uniforms and new facilities every year.  Few get the kind of press that Oregon’s seemingly bi-monthly football uniform adaptations get.

Why is that?

In my opinion, and based on our ongoing research with recruits and how they make their final decisions, it’s more about the fact that the constant uniform evolution at Oregon has become the main story, making the individual styles almost secondary.  A mirror-like, reflective metallic helmet?  “That’s Oregon”, said one Wisconsin player this week.  The fact that Oregon does it with regularity?  That’s the main story here.

Here are a few thing all this means for you, no matter what sport or division level you coach:

  1. The story matters. And as Oregon football has proven over the past few years, telling it with regularity pays big dividends.  As you start the new year, what is the big story you’re telling your recruits?
  2. Telling it regularly is important. Oregon has taken uniform changes to a new level with the frequency of their new combinations.  Think about it…the frequency is what makes it unusual and unique.  The fact that football players at Oregon get to expect a new uniform combination on a week by week basis is the story.  As you start the new year, how can you take something good and make it great by talking about it more?
  3. Embrace who you are.  Don’t “invent” your story. Wisconsin changed their uniforms for the game, too.  Compared to what Oregon did, it didn’t make as much news.  But they branched out by working with Adidas on its Rose Bowl uniform, which incorporates figures of the rose petal into its red numbers and lettering.  “Subtle, but classic to what Wisconsin is,” said the uniform designer.  “We’re not as wild as Oregon, but it’s different. It’s nice.”  The Badger players are proud to wear traditional uniforms and helmets.  “These uniforms have been worn for many years by many great players,” he says. “We try to embrace what we have here. Not many other schools can stick to what they’re doing. That’s what makes us: We stick to what we’re doing.”  As you start your new year, what can you do emphasize your traditions and your history…and the fact that you aren’t changing anytime soon?
  4. Be on the edge. Reflective helmets?  That’s edgy.  But then again, that’s Oregon.  The Wisconsin football team did it their own way, emphasizing stability and their long tradition.  Whatever route you choose, go all the way.  Be extraordinary.  That’s another thing that gets a lot of attention for the Ducks: They raise the bar for being creative and breaking new ground.  As you start your new year, make a promise to yourself that you’ll do everything at 100% when it comes to telling your story to your recruits, your team and your fans.
  5. Always look for new ways to tell your story. Make this the year you not only use social media to tell your story, but really understand what your athletes want as you communicate with them.  Letters and emails?  Look for new ways to tell your story and build your foundation with your recruits.

Yes, the helmets were cool.  But the story about the helmets is what we’ve all bought.  We expect it now from Oregon.  That’s the story that they’ve created, and most of us listen to it.

And that’s why we all pay attention to Oregon’s new helmets.

The premier recruiting conference in the country will give you and your staff new, creative ideas on how to tell your recruiting story more effectively.  Clients attend for free, but the conference is open to any college coach or athletic director.  For all the information on attending the National Collegiate Recruiting Conference, click here!

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Your Recruiting Strategy: Horse Race or Beauty Pageant?Monday, December 12th, 2011

One of our clients called a couple of weeks ago, and she was worried.

A couple of her new recruits hadn’t responded to her first two emails and was wondering if we needed to highlight more of the things her Division I college had to offer their students and athletes.

“I’m worried if we don’t out-shine a couple of our other competitors soon, we won’t be able to get her on campus this Spring”, said the coach.

What I told her is what I want to tell you:

Recruiting isn’t a beauty pageant, it’s a horse race.

Here’s what I mean:

A beauty pageant is all about picking who looks the best, and who presents themselves the most convincingly to the judges.  Now I’ll admit, there are some recruits who fall into this category…they’ll pick a program using the most basic criteria:  How new your facility is, how big of a conference you play in, or strictly based upon something that they want for themselves.

The beauty pageant prospect is the toughest to land because they are making choices based on assumptions and stories that they’ve already defined for themselves:  The decision that they “deserve” to play in the best facility…what your conference will say to their friends and teammates back home…or some other off-the-wall criteria that they usually don’t reveal until they’ve already made their decision.

In short, if you’re recruiting a prospect like you’re judging a beauty pageant – which many coaches choose to do – then you’ll going to experience a tough road when it comes to recruiting great athletes for your program:  Your results will be random, and while you will experience some incredible highs when your prospect decides your program is the most “beautiful” in their eyes, there will also be far more soul-crushing defeats when they decide they don’t like the way you look.

If you’re interested in another way to approach recruiting, you should think about recruiting as a horse race.

Why a “horse race”?  Because the more I observe recruiting at different levels, the coaches that take a horse racing approach usually have more consistent, more reliable results.

Here’s why successful recruiting resembles a horse race:

  • Everyone starts evenly right out of the gate.
  • There are always two or three horses that jump out into the lead right away, and take a position along the rail.  If you’re one of those top three, great.  If you aren’t, don’t panic.  Find your spot and settle in for the race (remember, it just started a few seconds ago!)
  • This is where things get interesting: Before they field makes the first turn, horses start dropping out.  Usually that’s because those “horses” don’t hear back from their recruits right away.  They haven’t filled-out their questionaire, or returned the first email.  Due to that lack of interest, they drop out of the race for that prospect.  My recommendation to you is to not be one of those drop-outs!
  • The longer you stay up with the leaders, the more you’ll be viewed as a serious consideration by your recruit.  As you enter the halfway point in your recruiting efforts, stay consistent and understand that there’s still a long way to go in the mind of your recruit.
  • What gets it done “down the stretch”?   Outlining the differences between your program and the others still in the race.  The more radical and unique the differences, the better your chances of jumping out into the lead.
  • Want to make sure you win at the finish line?  Stay connected and talk with your prospect regularly.  It is extremely important, Coach.  The worst thing we see a coach do is step back and leave the prospect alone to make their final decision.  Guide them down the stretch…that’s what they want.

Beauty pageants are random, and produce subjective results that rarely make anyone but the winner happy.

Horse races are about preparation, strategy and strength down the stretch.

My main point: You can choose the strategy that fits you best, but what I see working most consistently with programs around the country is a strategy based on a long term approach that doesn’t necessitate immediate interest from high profile prospects, but instead relies upon a consistent, compelling and creative message that forces them to take serious look at you and your program.

Looking for an in-depth discussion on recruiting strategy and techniques with fellow coaches and nationally recognized recruiting experts?  Join us at the upcoming National Collegiate Recruiting Conference.  It’s an amazing three day retreat that earns raves reviews from coaches around the country.  Join us!  Click here for all the details!

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What You Need for Successful Home Recruiting VisitsMonday, October 3rd, 2011

That hint of Fall in the air means it’s getting close to the season that is becoming somewhat of a lost art in the world of college recruiting.

Of course, I’m talking about “home visit season”.

Since there are coaches just like you all over the country that are making plans to visit the homes of prospects they’ve been recruiting, I wanted to share some of the things that I discussed with coaches this past year, both on the phone and in person during our On-Campus Workshops.  If you’re wanting to refine your approach to personal visits, think about using these tips as a way to boost your performance in front of your top prospects when they are playing on their “home field”.

Focus on relaxing before your meeting. Sounds so simple, yet most coaches don’t take a few minutes to do it.  In the same way that your athletes might spend an hour before their athletic contest listening to music to pump them up, visualizing them making a big play, or just being quiet so that they can get ready to compete to the best of their abilities, you need to get in the zone when it comes to getting ready to recruit.  But instead of getting pumped up, you need to calm down: Listen to your favorite music on your way to the appointment.  Think positive thoughts.  Visualize a great evening of talking.  The ultimate goal is to go in relaxed, in high spirits, and with an attitude of a winner that shines through to your prospect.  Great sales professionals in the business world do this before any important sales call.  You should also!

Believe your program is the best. Along with relaxing before you go into an important meeting with a prospect, you need to develop a mindset that your program, your staff and your college is the best.  Period.  You’ve got to believe it, and believe it whole-heartedly.  If you don’t, it will show.  Your passion for what you’re selling to your prospect will be weak, and that will rub off on your prospect.  Coaches who are passionate sell more effectively, and are able to get their prospects excited about their vision for their program better than a coach who is just going through the motions.  Do you believe – really believe – that what you’re offering is the best in the world?  If the answer is no, you need to get yourself to that point.  Fast.

Come in to your meeting with big ideas. At least two.  What I mean here is that you need to be the one to lay out ideas that can help the athlete (or even his or her parents) reach their goals.  Tell them that you’ve been thinking about them, and you’ve come up with a few ideas as to how to best take advantage of what your program or college offers as it specifically relates to that individual athlete.  What are those ideas?  I can’t answer that for you.  Just focus on things that get your prospect from where they are now to where you know they want to be athletically or academically.

Ask one amazing question at the start of your meeting. Make it a killer question.  One that stops everyone in their tracks and will get them to think.  Make it a question you know your competition isn’t asking them.  Be original.  Anytime you can come up with a question that stops your prospect in his or her tracks and gets them to think, you’ve got their attention.  And, you’ve got their respect.

Don’t “need” the prospect. Don’t go in with the attitude that this athlete is a make-or-break signing.  Truthfully, there’s no such thing.  Don’t try too hard.  Don’t pressure too much.  Don’t beg, plead or press too much.  That kind of thing shows through, and its not good.  You’ll be telegraphing that desperation in your face, and it won’t play well with your prospect.  Note the difference between “desperation” and “enthusiasm”.  You can let your prospect know that you are excited about having them there, and let them know how you envision them making a big impact in your program.  But don’t let that cross over to “needing” the prospect.  Once you do, you lose the power that you hold and now the athlete controls you.

Don’t be afraid to ask for their commitment. That’s why you’re there, right?  You won’t turn them off my asking them to give you a verbal commitment.  In fact, many athletes are waiting for that question.  But too many coaches leave a meeting by telling their prospect that they hope they hear back from them, or hope that their at the top of their list, blah blah blah.  Don’t be a wimp.  ASK FOR THEIR COMMITMENT.  If they’re not ready, they’ll tell you.  If they are ready, you just got the win.  And all it took was asking the question that’s on everyone’s mind.

Because of budget and recruiting restrictions, the home visit is becoming more and more rare.  However, if you’re going to commit to making a visit at a prospect’s home, make it count.

Looking for more insider strategies to maximize your recruiting efforts this year?  Become a client of Tudor Collegiate Strategies and let us work one-on-one with you and your coaching staff to help you develop a cohesive, winning recruiting plan from start to finish.  Want more information?  Click here for an overview, or just email Dan Tudor directly at dan@dantudor.com.

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7 Ways to Restructure Your Game Recap MessagesMonday, September 5th, 2011

You are probably sending your recruits some information about you and your program that you are really proud of.

And you’re missing a golden opportunity.

Why?

Because they aren’t reading the way you’re hoping (or assuming) they are reading it.

I’m talking about your game and season updates that you send your prospects:  You win a big game, and out goes the email with the game summary and recap written by your sports information director, linked to your college website.  Your star Senior wins Player of the Week honors, and you link to the story on Facebook.  Local T.V. has highlights of your team’s winning play, and you send out the video to your entire prospect list.

And on the other end, your prospects rarely read it.  And if they do, they are probably more than a little bored by them.

Here’s why:

According to the feedback and research we’ve done over the years, one of the biggest non-factors in the decision making process for your typical recruit is the regular season update email updates that you send them, primarily because most teenagers aren’t avid readers of news.  Especially when it’s written.  Studies show that teenagers don’t typically read newspapers, or even any long text articles online. 

The bottom line – as sad as it is for me to say as the only person on my block who still stumbles out in his robe every morning to pick-up the morning newspaper – is that today’s generation just doesn’t care that much about your game results, and they certainly don’t want to read articles about something they don’t care that much about.

Which brings us back to those updates that you send your recruits:  Are there ways to actually get them engaged with those updates, and get them to care about how your season is going?

We think so.  Here are seven ways that we’ve seen coaches improve the way they update their prospects on a regular basis:

  1. Always…ALWAYS…give your summary ahead of the actual article.  If you’re going to forward your prospect an article about your team, make sure you give them your take on the outcome before the actual article.  One big reason why: First, it’s unlikely they’ll read the actual article.  They’ll just rely on your summary, and see the link to the article as proof that you’re view is accurate. 
  2. Instead of the article, send a video.   After the win (or even a loss) send them a short video from either yourself or a couple of players on your team.  Your prospect cares much more about hearing directly from you or their future teammates for a few seconds instead of an article that was in the newspaper.
  3. Print it out and mail it.   Would you believe that most prospects read printed articles you send them instead of a link that you send them?  It’s true.   By the way, when you send them that article, I’d recommend that you highlight a key paragraph that you’d want them to focus on, and add a quick personal note to it. 
  4. Limit it to once every two weeks (at the most).  The one sure way to wear-out your prospect is to send them your game and season updates every week.  Don’t subject them to that.  Try to limit updates (even the improved versions we’re suggesting here) to once every two weeks, at the most.  It might seem like you’ll be missing a lot, but not to worry…they don’t care that much about your day-to-day operation all that much yet, and they certainly don’t want to have to try to keep up with you on a weekly basis.
  5. Ask a question.  In every communication plan we create for our clients, we work hard to make sure that regular communication creates a reaction from the prospect receiving those messages.  The same should hold true for your season updates.  Try to work in questions with your game updates.  Seriously, coach…how cool would it be to get actual reaction from your prospects after they read your updates?  (Trust us, it’s a good feeling).
  6. Make your updates shorter rather than longer.  If you don’t want to make any of these more in-depth changes, try to drastically shorten the game updates you send your prospects.  No more than three paragraphs.  Please.  And, one of those paragraphs should be a quote from you or one of your players about the game.
  7. Give them a preview of what’s coming next.  I’m not talking about your next game.  I’m talking about what they need to look for in their mailbox or Inbox from you in the coming days.  The worst thing a coach can do is to send out a game update as a stand-alone message.  Try to tie it in to your upcoming messages, which is hopefully a part of a complete compelling story that you’re telling them.

There is a better way to send out your game updates, Coach.  In fact, you can turn your run-of-the-mill game updates into lead-generating messages that can get your prospects more focused on what you have to offer them.

Need more tools to help you design a more on-target recruiting strategy?  There are lots of great resources that college coaches have relied upon for years, and you can get access to them, too.  Just click here to take a look at our best selling training DVDs, recruiting guides for coaches, and in-depth research studies.

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3 Serious Recruiting Lessons Learned in a Pie Eating ContestMonday, July 11th, 2011

Ever been in a pie eating contest?

Neither had I.

But one day, while minding my business on a family trip to the beautiful central coast of California, I got roped into entering the annual 4th of July pie eating contest in Cambria, California.

I won’t get into too many of the messy details.  The pictures tell most of the story.

But in the midst of cramming pie down my pie hole, three very clear – and very important – recruiting lessons for college coaches.  And since my previous “lessons from Disneyland” article is now one of the all-time most read on the website, I thought it would be good to write a follow-up article that another real life lesson can teach you about effective recruiting:

Don’t Listen to the Trash-Talkin’ Competition.  In my quick introduction to pie-eating contest etiquette, I realized that the mind games started early.  Last year’s winner introduced himself to me and immediately proclaimed that he was going to win again.  Judging by his size, I wasn’t going to disagree with him.  But I didn’t like the trash talking (he made sure all the contestants knew who he was and what he and his appetite was going to do to the rest of us).  Even the TV coverage of the event focused on him (he’s the guy jumping up and down without his shirt on).  But in the end, he didn’t even come close. 

The point I want to make?  As you start this new year of recruiting, don’t listen to the voices that say you can’t get a top recruit.  Don’t listen to your own negativity that tells you prospects would never consider a visit to your campus.  Trash talking doesn’t deserve your attention this year.  Ignore it, and just get busy recruiting the athletes you really, really want.

Recruiting is all about consistency (so is competitive pie eating, by the way).  As I was formulating my strategy on the fly, I figured out that slow and steady would win the race (and would probably prevent me from throwing up midway through).  And sure enough, that was the way to go.  Even one of the judges complimented my deliberate, but consistent pie-eating style.  Consistency kept me in the race with guys who had much larger bellies, guys who were much younger and had much faster metabolisms, and the guys who jumped out to early leads by gorging themselves right away and getting sick in the process. 

Consistency is so important when it comes to effective recruiting.  Make a plan that involves consistent weekly content that is interesting, focused on your prospect, and demands interaction.  Those three aspects to an effective recruiting plan have changed hundreds of programs over the past several years.  Add your program to the list…by being consistent.

Be o.k. with losing more than you win.  Unless I’m paired against a classroom of 5th graders, I doubt I’ll ever win a pie eating contest.  But I can tell you this: Following my own advice, I doubt I’ll ever lose one, either. 

I realize that bigger, badder pie eaters will beat me most of the time.  But I’ll be o.k. with that.  Just like most college coaches should be o.k. with losing most of the prospects they recruit.  It’s a fact of recruiting life:  Most recruits will choose someone else.  Don’t let it discourage you.  Recruit hard, and get the 1 out of 40 that say “you bet!” to your offer.  Need more good recruits to start with?  I highly recommend these guys.  They’re changing the game when it comes to recruiting on a national scale.

You don’t need to eat three pounds of apple-ollaliberry pie to learn the lessons I did.  Just follow these three rules that I’ve laid out as you develop your new recruiting plan for this next class of prospects.  It’s proven methodology, and you won’t have to pick pie out of your nostrils afterwards.

Another great tip for developing your strategy for the upcoming year?  A little bit of Summer reading:  Order “Selling for Coaches” and “What They Didn’t Teach You About Recruiting”, our two popular workbooks that have been updated and expanded for coaches who want to really change the way they recruit this generation of athletes.  Click here for more information.

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