Technique | Dan Tudor

New NCAA Rules Mean New Potential Pitfalls for College RecruitersMonday, January 23rd, 2012

The dust has settled, and the new NCAA rules for 2012 are in place.

And with new rules come new opportunities: In Division II, coaches now have more time to contact recruits and a variety of new ways to reach them – text messaging, social networks and even message boards. In Division III, text messaging is now allowed (however, contact via social media websites like Facebook and Twitter is still prohibited).

But with new opportunities come new challenges for savvy recruiters. In reading over the new rules, there are a few pitfalls I can see an unprepared college coach stumbling into as they begin to recruit new prospects using these new rules. (And by the way, even though these new rules mainly affect Division II and Division III college coaches, Division I and NAIA coaches can learn from the potential mistakes we’ve outlined and apply them to their own recruiting strategies):

Division II coaches can now visit a prospect in person on an unlimited basis beginning June 15th prior to the prospect’s Junior year in high school. Here’s the problem: Our research is showing that coaches who stage multiple visits without sharing new information or giving the prospect a sense that the recruiting process is moving forward risk alienating the prospect. Current college athletes we interview as a part of our On-Campus Workshops tell us that they grow impatiently very quickly when coaches contact them, but don’t have anything new to say or don’t outline where the process stands. I see this as a potential risk for coaches who begin regular visits to view a recruit: The recruit sees a coach, talks to a coach, and nothing new is verbalized by the coach. If you plan on increasing the frequency of your visits, make sure you are consistently outlining new information and new steps in the process to your prospect and their parents.

Division II coaches now have more time to personally recruit athletes, beginning June 15th prior to an athlete’s Junior year. The same potential pitfall exists here as it did in the previous item. More face to face time, but not enough new information to keep the prospect engaged and feeling like the process is moving forward. Additionally, if you are starting the recruiting process before your prospect begins their Junior year as the new rules allows, focus your questions on what they want out of the process and what they want to talk about…not what they want in a college or a coach. That’s too big of a concept to grasp for most of them, so don’t introduce a conversation about the topic (yet).

Division II coaches can use text messaging and message boards, as well as private messaging through Facebook. This holds one of the biggest potential pitfalls for coaches. We see college coaches wasting the opportunity to form a deeper relationship with their recruits by simply posting athletic department sports information releases and other bland communication via Facebook. Don’t do that, Coach. Facebook – and text messaging – is an extremely personal way of communicating for today’s teenagers. If you supply them with a steady stream of adult news about your program, don’t be surprised when they tune you out. Keep it real, honest and personal. Use YouTube videos made by your team versus professionally edited videos from your sports information office, and write in a personal blog style instead of using “news reporting” language in your messaging.

Division II and Division III coaches have an expanded use of text messaging. What not to do? Trying to “sell” your school and your program through text messaging. There is no faster way to be rejected by your prospect than sending anything resembling a sales message via text message to a recruit. We know this because of the testing and research we’ve done with our list of college coach clients we help as we formulate their recruiting strategy and actual messaging communication, and I can tell you as bluntly as possible that a coach who uses text messaging to overtly sell their program will ruin their chances of connecting with that athlete in a trusted way as the process moves forward. Save text messaging for discussing the recruiting process, building a friendly relationship, and talking about specific points in the recruiting process as follow-up to other conversations via phone, mail and email. Remember, texting is very personal and very informal. Keep it that way and use it to build a relationship with the athlete…not to sell.

The new rules reflect the way we see communication with recruits heading, and I think they will provide coaches with some important new avenues for making strong connections with recruits. However, there are also some real dangers in not approaching these new liberties correctly. Make sure you’re one of the coaches that uses the new rules correctly right from the beginning.

We strongly recommend you make plans on attending this Summer’s National Collegiate Recruiting Conference. It’s designed specifically for motivated college recruiters who want to be the best that they can be in the battle for their top prospects. Click here for all the information and to reserve your seat at this year’s event!

Share and Enjoy:

The Value of Being First in RecruitingSunday, November 6th, 2011

Will Ferrell’s character Ricky Bobby said it best in the movie “Talladega Nights”:

“If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

O.K., so maybe we won’t go to that ridiculous extreme. However, when it comes to recruiting, we’re finding that being first is a huge advantage for the college coaches who can manage to be the initial contact for a prospective athlete. Especially if you’re a coach who is still at the game as a prospect’s final two or three choices.

Here’s why:

Most of today’s recruits, for some reason, have a strong allegiance to the first program that recruits them. Big or small, winning or losing, close to home or far away from home, it doesn’t matter…recruits have strong feelings for the first coach and program that they have contact with.

We know this because when we conduct research and focus groups on campuses around the country, the vast majority of current college student-athletes talk about making their decision and describe having a strong allegiance to the program that they first heard from, even if it isn’t a program that would be a good choice on paper. In other words, some of the critical filters that a prospect might judge another program through don’t apply to that first program that shows serious interest.

Their comments on why this is true range from the serious to the just plain odd. Here’s a sample from comments we’ve heard in just the past few months:

“I just figured that I the first school that recruited me meant more to me than the others.”
“As I thought about it, I guess I realized that because they saw me first and contacted first, they should be my first choice.”
“My parents said to choose the program that I thought wanted me the most, and so I went with the one who was talking to me the longest and was most persistent.”
“At first it wasn’t really important to me that ____ was the first school that recruited me. But at the end, I came back to them because they were first and I realized that I was comparing everyone else to the them anyway. So I decided it made sense to come here.”
“I was really confused at the end, and started stressing out. So I just figured the coach that talked to me first probably believed in me first, and so I ended up committing to her program. And it’s been great!”

There are a couple of serious points that I’ve settled on over the years when it comes to the whole idea of being a coach who is first to contact an athlete. Here’s why I see this being a strategy that’s worth considering if you’re a coach who wants to put this “tie-breaker” in your favor when it comes to decision time:

Being first is better than being last. This comes from the question I get a lot when we first start working with coaches one-on-one in a client relationship: “Should we jump in early, or wait until later on and hope they don’t like their initial choices?” Easy answer. Be first. By a nearly 4 to 1 margin, we’re finding that athletes trend towards programs who recruit them earlier rather than later.

Consistency matters over the long run. It’s true all of the time with this generation of recruits, but it’s especially important if you want to maintain the advantage of being first. Don’t let-up when it comes to the emails, letters and phone calls. Consistency is something that always wins, and it really underscores the standing you have as the first program to recruit them.

One thing they don’t want early? Pressure. Show excitement early, but avoid talk about a deadline for making a decision or any kind of early pressure to visit campus. Take your time – which you should have the luxury of doing since you are starting early! If you wait until later to recruit a prospect (unavoidable at times, I realize) then you may need to put more pressure on them simply because of deadlines you are facing. But just understand that pressure at the start isn’t a great way to win the majority of recruits.

The other person who really values the first program? Your prospect’s coach. Interesting, but true. We find that coaches have a strong allegiance to the first program to reach out to their athlete, especially if it’s a program that isn’t a traditional power or that hasn’t had a lot of coaches contact their recruits. So, along with your prospect, make sure your recruiting plan has a focus of reaching out and selling your recruit’s coach on your program.

With recruiting calendars continuing to get pushed back earlier and earlier, you have the opportunity to implement this strategy really easily. For some of you that are Division I and II coaches, this is going to become the new standard for successful programs. Make sure you are always on the front end of the recruiting timeline with your prospects.

If you are a Division III coach, I’d encourage you to start actively recruiting Juniors who are on your list at this point. Not enough Division III coaches are recruiting Juniors, so those of you who start now will find yourself having a big advantage while your competition remains stuck in following an older-style recruiting timeline.

And, if you’re a NAIA program, the rules really allow you to contact athletes earlier than anyone else. And, you can use more communication methods to recruit earlier. Are you taking advantage of it?

Whatever your situation, there is a lot of value in being first in recruiting. Make sure you are the one that wins that early battle.

There are outstanding ideas we have for you on video from the 2010 and 2011 National Collegiate Recruiting Conferences! If you want insider secrets on ways to recruit more effectively from fellow coaches and respected national experts, make them part of your coaching library. Click here for all the details.

Share and Enjoy:

Facilities: Just How Important Are They to Your Recruits?Monday, October 17th, 2011

There is an important change that takes place at some point between you recruiting your prospect, and that prospect joining your team family on campus.

And the more you understand it, the more you’ll be successful at clearning some important hurdles in recruiting.

It’s a change that many college coaches aren’t conscious of as they build out their recruiting plans, and it ends up hurting their efforts to attract the best prospects to campus. The change I’m talking about probably does more to impede the success of how a coach goes about recruiting than any other factor I have seen in many years of working with college coaches around the country.

Here’s what you need to know:

Your prospects have a change in their mindset when they come on to campus as a new recruit. They aren’t looking for all of the same things that they were as a prospect that you were recruiting. At the same time, once they officially become a member of your team, there are a totally separate set of things that they are now seeking…and their long-term success as an athlete in your program hinges on how you respond to those needs.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, and why it’s important for success-minded college coaches to pay attention to it…

Our national studies show that a programs facilities – the track, the weight room, stadium, and other areas where they will spend time as an athlete – actually factors very little into their final decision as to whether or not they accept your offer. Yet, facilities and the surroundings are usually one of the things that a coach will primarily focus on in their recruiting; moreover, I’ve seen coaches base their entire recruiting strategy around what they feel those facilities will sell to a potential student-athlete.

However, facilities are important! Especially when that same athlete joins your program and is now a part of the family. When that happen, your facilities take on added importance because the condition of those facilities can directly effect their experience at your school. Once they are on campus as a student-athlete, it matters to them because you they are directly effected by the surroundings that they find themselves in.

The bottom line to the example I’m citing is that there is a change in perspective that is happening in the mind of this athlete. As a prospect, your facilities are not going to be what finally draws them to your program; conversely, all of the facilities might be what makes them stay with your program.

The disconnect I see with coaches is that they are approaching prospects in the same manner that they are seeing their current athletes’ view of their facilities: Some coaches think facilities are what draws the athlete to their program when they are a high school prospect.

For the most part, that’s incorrect.

Now, there might be instances where facilities – or some other aspect of your program – drives them away from seriously considering you. And a new, wonderful facility might be something that they end up listing as a smart reason to have picked your program in the end. But in both instances, facilities are not the overriding reason for choosing a school or a program, according to our research.

There are three other big changes in perspectives that we’ve noticed taking place in the mind of student-athletes once they become athletes at a school versus just being prospects of a school:

The quality of the equipment and uniforms. On their visit while you are recruiting them, this is something that isn’t even on the prospect’s radar of what makes a great program that they would consider. Once they become a part of your team, this one out-ranks facilities as something that will cause dissatisfaction and frustration.
The academic support that they receive during their Freshman and Sophomore years. As a high school recruit, this is something that doesn’t even enter the mind of most prospects. And that’s understandable, since they don’t have any idea of what most college programs do to ensure academic success of their incoming class. Once they are on campus, its something that they cite as one of the most important aspects of their early college athletic experience.
The social integration of the different teams and athletes within the athletic department. Did you know that this is an area that most Athletic Directors and Coaches overlook completely? Afterall, your job is to produce winners not run a cruise ship activities calendar, right? Yes, but I hear over and over again from your athletes that are interviewed when we fly in and do an On-Campus Workshop at schools that they wish there was more of an effort to “connect” all of the athletes within the program and across sports. That’s something that they won’t be looking for as an incoming recruit, but it will be something that they expect once they are a part of your program.

Again, the importance of what I’m telling you exists in the way you approach each set of kids. If you focus too heavily on these issues that I just listed with your prospects, you may not be touching on subject matter that is important to them…yet.

But if you fail to focus on them once they get to campus as one of your athletes, you can expect that you are going to have to deal with frustrated athletes who won’t be afraid to look elsewhere for other opportunities with other programs.

Facilities, uniforms and equipment, team unity and academic support are all things that can make or break the recruiting experience with many of your prospects. The secret to recruiting success is about how a coach balances the two different mindsets between the time that their kids are prospects and when they are part of the team.

This is just one of the topics we’ll be covering at the National Collegiate Recruiting Conference. Click here to get the details and find out why you need to be there with your fellow recruiters!

And, if you want to watch past conferences and take away the material we’ve covered in the past, you can order them here. They come with a complete workbook and a full 3-DVD compilation of everything that was covered. It’s one of the best recruiting learning tools available today! Click here for all the details.

Share and Enjoy:

The Importance of “Passion” vs. “Pressure” in RecruitingMonday, October 10th, 2011

There’s a big, big difference.

And quite honestly, most college coaches get it wrong.

When you’re trying to close a recruit, and get them to commit to your program, one of the worst things to do is to give them the feeling that they are being “pressured”. Pressure might lead to an initial commitment, but in the long run that athlete is going to be a strong candidate for transferring or talking negatively about the way he or she was recruited.

In my opinion, after interviewing hundreds of current college prospects on how they made their decision in committing to a program, pressuring an athlete is bad.

Passion, on the other hand, is good. Very, very good.

If you demonstrate passion to your prospect, it’s very likely you’ll achieve the same effects as you would hope to achieve by pressuring them: Excitement about your program, a strong reason for committing to you and your college, and a faster commitment.

Very few college recruiters, unfortunately, don’t do the passion part very well.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, and to show you what a big difference there is between the two, let me give you a few contrasting examples of “passion” versus “pressure” when recruiting your athlete:

Passion is when you tell your recruit why you like him, and what value you see him having in your program. Pressure is when you matter-of-factly tell your recruit who else you’re recruiting at his position, and what he’s going to lose if he doesn’t make a fast decision.

Passion is when you tell them that you’ve decided you want her to play for you, and they officially ask her if she’s ready to commit because you are really excited about her future in your program. Pressure is when you give her a 48-hour deadline after her campus visit to make her decision, or else you’ll yank the offer and give it to the next girl on your list.

Passion is when you smile and sit forward in your chair when you’re talking to your prospect. Pressure is when you lean back, look at your cell phone every two minutes, and seem like you’re ready to walk your prospect over to admissions so they can start their exciting two hour PowerPoint presentation with the assistant to the assistant Director of Financial Aid so you can get back to work.

Passion is an impromptu visit to the office of a coach of another sport on your campus to introduce you to your recruit on campus so that they see the opportunity is with an athletic department family, and not just their sport. Pressure is sitting with your prospect cooped-up in your office talking only about your sport.

Passion is taking a blank sheet of paper, sitting next to your recruit, and explaining to her what you see as the plan for her after she commits, and what the next twelve months look like for her when she joins your program. Pressure is you talking about how she’ll have to pay her dues and wait her turn if she decides she wants to play for you. (Note: Yes, that might be an honest assessment of their chances in your program. But most recruits want to hear about what they need to do to beat out that Senior returning starter…because most of them think they can, and they’d like to see that you’re on board with that dream, too).

Passion is getting him spend time with the Freshmen and Sophomores on your team and letting them sell him on coming there. Pressure is putting them with a 23-year old redshirt Senior who they have nothing in common with, and sending the two of them off to lunch together for two hours (true story example there…one of the more awkward observation sessions we did for one of our clients when we were on campus).

Passion is involving her parents in all aspects of the recruiting message, which is what most kids want according to our research. Pressure is what she feels back at home when you don’t do that, and she wants to go to your program but doesn’t feel like she can because mom and dad never really got to know you as well as your conference rival that she’s going to settle on.

Passion is consistently keeping in touch with her, showing him that you are in it for the long haul and don’t take them for granted. Pressure is what they feel when they try to figure out why you haven’t talked to them lately (they assume you might not be as interested in them as you once were, and begin to look for coaches who they think will be more interested).

That’s a short list, but an important list.

The big question now is: What are you going to do with this information, and how will it change the way you recruit this current class of prospects?

(No pressure).

There is still time to team up with Tudor Collegiate Strategies and let us map out a successful recruiting message and strategy for this year’s class. We’ll bring a research-based methodology to your program, and help you create the best message possible for your prospects. It’s working wonders for college coaches around the country, and we can do the same for your program. Email Dan Tudor directly at dan@dantudor for a complete overview of what we do, and how we do it.

Share and Enjoy:

The Secret to Finding Out What Their Objections REALLY AreMonday, September 26th, 2011

Overcoming a prospect’s objections is a tough challenge, even if you happen to know what those objections are. Most coaches struggle with identifying the real reasons one of their recruits tells them no…and it’s one of the most frustrating parts of their jobs.

But I got a phone call from a coach who became a client a few weeks ago with a bit of a twist to the traditional objection question:

“What do you do,” he asked, “when you know there’s something a prospect isn’t telling you, but it’s obviously something that’s going to keep him from choosing your school?” Call it a gut feeling, or something else, but sometimes a coach just “knows” when something isn’t right with one of their prospects.

It’s actually a great question…and that’s a tough one to overcome, no doubt. So to provide you with a map to guide you through the complicated maze of figuring out how to address your prospects’ real objections, here are a few proven strategies you might want to try the next time you have a recruit come right out and tell you that they’re “not interested”, or give you that gut feeling that they’re holding something back from you and not telling you about an objection they’re thinking about:

First, ask them what they mean by “not interested”. Does it mean that they aren’t interested in playing college sports? Not interested in the offer you have for them? Not interested in going to college in your part of the country? Asking probing questions is the key to getting to the heart of their lack of interest. You’ve got to get them to be specific, so that you can give them an answer that helps redirect their interest back towards your program.
If you think they might be holding back an objection from you, you’ll need to do even more probing. Try asking your prospect to give you three reasons a prospect would have a problem with you or your program. By taking them out of the equation (you’re asking about another prospect, not them or their views) it might free them up to give you answers that will, in fact, be their feelings toward your program.
Next, try to get them to them to clarify the general answer they gave you. “Do you mean you already know what our offer is going to be?” Or, “Have you already read about our program’s success but have decided that it doesn’t matter to you?” Or maybe, “How did you become familiar with the part of the country that our school is located in?”

The point in asking these types of questions? Get your prospect to clearly clarify what they mean by their objection, and how they came to feel that way.

Next, you’ll want to focus on trying to solve the problem and overcoming that objection. That is the goal of any conversation when an objection arises, and what we spend a lot of time on in our recruiting guides for college coaches. A problem-solving discussion might start something like, “I understand…so, if a full-ride offer was on the table, you’d take a serious look at us?” Or, “I see. So, if I could show you how well you’d fit into our championship caliber program, you would keep an open mind and consider us?” Or, “If we were able to show you how valuable a degree from our school is out there in the real world, would you give us another look?”

Again, my strong recommendation to you is to be a problem solver. Your prospect may not be raising an objection as much as he or she is reaching out to have their problems solved. Most of your competition still tries to hard sell a prospect by throwing out a lot of sales-oriented bullet points and trashing their competition (that would be you, Coach).

Approach things from a different perspective, and stand out from your competition: Deal with objections with the frame of mind that you are a problem solver, and your prospect is someone in need of help solving that problem.

Whether they come right out and state an objection to you, or they hold back and make you dig for it, overcoming objections is THE biggest challenge you face as college recruiter. If you learn how to effectively deal with objections, you’ll build a long, successful career for yourself at the college level.

We’ve written two advanced recruiting workbooks for college recruiters. Have you read them? If they aren’t in your library, they need to be. Click here for all the details.

Share and Enjoy:

The Right Way to Talk About Money with Your Prospects (and Their Parents)Sunday, September 18th, 2011

A couple of years ago, I remember a coach we work with telling me, “I can’t wait until this slow economy rebounds. It’s making recruiting ten times harder than it already is!”

As you probably know, he’s still waiting.

And yes, it does make recruiting a lot harder. The money issue has become more and more commonplace, putting coaches in the uncomfortable position of adding a “financial advisor” label to their already crowded list of duties. Sure, you can ignore this new reality. However, you do so at your own risk; when we do our athlete focus group sessions when we begin work with a client or lead an On-Campus Workshop session, we’re hearing more and more stories of how coaches are failing to talk finances with a family during the recruiting process, and it’s causing recruits to cross those programs off their list.

So, how do you approach your recruits correctly in these challenging economic times? We have some strategies that we’ve seen work over the past few years, and we think you can use them to help overcome the “money” objection as you talk with this next recruiting class.

Ask the parents of your recruit how this crisis is effecting them. That type of question is one of the “15 Great Questions” we usually recommend to college coaches during our On-Campus Workshops. You need to understand how this crisis is effecting them, and what obstacles it creates when it comes to considering your school. This is especially true if you are a non-athletic scholarship institution, or a sport that typically only gives partical scholarships. The important thing here is to engage the family in that conversation. Some coaches would argue that it’s not their job, and that their admissions department and financial aid counselors should be the people to have that conversation. Maybe so, but your recruits are looking to you to be their guide. Do you want to risk not meeting that expectation?
Be prepared to talk about money with your prospects. Get comfortable having that conversation. It’s going to be on the minds of your prospects more and more, especially if you’re not offering them a full scholarship. I would strongly advise you to have that talk with the parents, not the parents and your prospect together. It’s a sensitive topic, and we find that your prospect’s parents will be more open with you if their son or daughter is not there. The coach who is comfortable having this conversation with parents is going to win more prospect in the long run.
Be a guide. Coaches who take the small extra step of being a guide through this increasingly confusing process at your college will win points with the family they are recruiting. Your prospects are looking for help, and we don’t think you should rely on admissions or your financial aid office to be the one-stop spot for answers and super sweet “customer service” – an attitude that shows you take ownership of the idea of helping them through this area of the recruiting process. The bottom line? Your prospect’s family is looking for help. Be the one to guide them to a solution.
The coach who proves they have the best “bang for the buck”, wins. Families are still going to place a college education high on their list of things they are willing to invest in. Unlike a lot of sectors of the market that will go through real struggles over the coming years, college educations – as well as the dream of playing college sports – should remain a high priority in the minds of athletes and parents. The key to success in the coming months will be making sure you demonstrate to your prospects that you and your program offer the most opportunities for success and the best chance to become a great athlete. You are going to see families “shopping” more when it comes to choosing a college, especially if you are asking them to pay for part of it. I hope you are ready to be the master sales professional that I’ve been begging you to become the last few years…you are about to really rely on those communication and persuasion skills we’ve been giving you.
How you communicate what you have to offer counts more now than ever. Especially your letters and emails, Coach. If you have a family who is struggling financially, or worried about their job, your average recruiting letter is going to have an even harder time getting through to them and getting their attention. Communicating clearly, systematically and with some originality is crucial. This all goes towards proving yourself to be a guide and a leader, which is going to be a valued commodity in the eyes of parents.
Get to know your school’s financial aid officers, and their process for determining who gets what. Are you a coach who has kept an arm’s distance relationship with the people from financial aid and the admissions office? You can’t afford to do that anymore. Get to know them, what they look for, and how they make their decisions with regards to your incoming prospects. Coaches who invest the time in these relationships tell me that it has made a tangible difference in the process of getting an athlete they really want. Personal relationships matter: Invest in those relationships that can make your job as a recruiter easier, and more productive.

Of course, there are going to be many instances when all of the best answers won’t be able to overcome the reality that some families just won’t be able to afford anything other than a full-ride scholarship. In those instances, remember: You are responsible only for presenting smart reasons for them to pick your program, and that’s it. In the end, they have to decide what can work for them.

That being said, make it your goal to make as compelling a case as possible when it comes to why you, your program and your college are the best investment for the prospects’ future.

Share and Enjoy:

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:

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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.

Share and Enjoy:

Why “Relaxed” Prospects Are WAY Better Than “Excited” ProspectsMonday, August 22nd, 2011

You know how you want to create an exciting campus recruiting visit, with wall-to-wall fun and non-stop heart-pumping activities for your guest prospect?

Well, what if I told you there was emerging science that showed it’s actually the calm and relaxed recruit that is more likely to buy what you’re selling at your program?

It’s true.

Researchers at Columbia University did extensive marketing studies that found relaxed subjects in their experiments assigned more value (and volunteered to pay much more) for the same products that “excited” subjects were less willing to pay more for. Overall, the relaxed subjects assigned higher monetary values to the items than the control group. The researchers determined that this effect was an inflation of the value by the relaxed subjects rather than a deflation by the less-relaxed subjects.

That’s, for example, why high end car dealerships have big, comfortable leather chairs and soft music playing. And, it’s why those same dealerships get you to focus on the feeling you’ll have driving that new car, instead of closing the sale with gas mileage statistics and other features. They know that a more relaxed customer is going to be more likely to buy than an excited customer.

This matches the overwhelming comments we hear from current college athletes we interview during focus group sessions as a part of our On-Campus Workshops: They much preferred just “hanging out” with members of a prospective team instead of the highly scheduled itineraries that most prospects are subjected to by some college coaches (if that word “subjected” sounded a little too much like a prisoner being forced to do things outlawed by international accords, good…that’s what I was going for).

Not that excitement doesn’t have a place in the recruiting process, of course. Much of the time, you need to get them excited about what you have to offer before you can reassure them in a relaxing manner as they get nervous in the later stages of the recruiting process. However, there’s a time to focus on relaxation and reassurance, and a campus visit - something many of you are going to be hosting in large numbers over the next few months – is the perfect place to give your important recruits that feeling that will compel them to choose you over your competition.

So, what should you be aiming for in a more “relaxed” and calming interaction with your next recruit? Here are some ideas that we’ve seen work in the past:

Make the planning of their visit to campus more collaborative. In other words, rather than dictating their campus visit from start to finish before they get to campus, let them be a part of the planning process. Ask them what they’d like to do, and what they wouldn’t. Let them feel like they’ve helped design the visit, which should result in them feeling a little more relaxed coming to your campus for the first time.
Have one or two of your team write a short, non-sales note to them prior to the visit. I’d recommend an actual hand-written note versus an email or Facebook message. The more personal, the better. Let them know that there are friends waiting for them that are looking forward to the visit. That little gesture can go a long way in relaxing your recruit.
Start the visit slowly, but with something “big” to think about. This is one of the biggest mistakes we see otherwise savvy recruiters make: They don’t paint a big picture for their visiting recruit to consider while they are on campus. An exact offer, what their plan for them is if they come to compete for that program…something “big”. Why is that part of relaxing the prospect? Your prospects, we find, are looking for more detailed specifics of why you want them, and what their role would be, if they do indeed choose your program. Giving that to them right at the start could enable them to take a deep breath, get their big question out of the way, and let them spend the rest of the visit figuring out if you’re the right fit for them or not. And the more relaxed you make it for them, the better that ”right fit” feeling will come across.
Carve out LOTS of casual time with your team. There’s a growing body of research that we’re putting together that demonstrates one of the most powerful weapons you have as a recruiter is one that you actually choose to bypass as a part of a recruit’s visit: Casual, relaxed “hang out” time with your team. Specifically, I’m talking about time that is non-structured, where your recruit and a few of the younger members of your team can just sit and talk. No coaches, no parents, no structure. Trust me, it works.
Set a reasonable deadline for a decision. What, am I crazy??? A deadline as a part of “relaxing” a prospect? Yes. As you are ending that nice, relaxed campus visit, I’d let them know that you’ve loved having them on campus and (if they are someone you’re ready to hear a ”yes” from) ask them if they’d like to commit. Most of the time, they’ll want to delay that decision. Let them know that it’s not a problem, and then give them a general date that they can take to think about your opportunity that you’ve just presented them. Ideally, two to three weeks unless they’ve already outlined future campus visits that would take them past that point (but you can make it longer, if needed). This tactic achieves two important things: One, it reassures them that you want them and that you’re offering them an opening for making that commitment. Secondly, you appear to be reasonable with the amout of time you’re giving them to consider your offer; most of the feedback we get from prospects after the fact is that a timeline like that seems “fair”. What I like about it is that it puts you in control of the process and gives them some reasonable guidelines for making a decision.

Relaxed prospects are in a better position to make a life-changing decision like this more quickly, and with more confidence.

So, as you begin hosting a new group of recruits on campus, ask yourself (and your team) this important question: “How can we re-tool our campus visit and make it a more relaxing, less hectic experience for all of our upcoming recruits?”

We’re working with our growing list of clients to help them create better (more relaxed) campus visits right now. And, we’re identifying and creating more effective recruiting message content that is resulting in more high-level recruits showing interest in their programs.

Want us to help you? Schedule a time to talk one-on-one with Dan Tudor by emailing him at dan@dantudor.com. It’s more affordable than you may think, and the results are turning heads on campuses across the country. See if it’s the right fit for you, Coach!

Share and Enjoy:

A Simple Question That Gets a Better ResponseMonday, August 1st, 2011

Most college recruiters make great efforts to tell their recruits to commit to them.

Today, I’m going to show you that you might be taking the wrong approach with your prospects by doing that.

And there’s science to back-up what I’m about to reveal to you.

It has to do with the very subtle difference between telling your prospect to commit to your program, versus asking them if they will commit to your program. And the research that’s been done on the topic tells us that it’s smarter to ask – and get them to predict or visualize that commitment – if you really want that prospect in your program.

Here’s how it works:

When you get your prospect to make a verbal statement about their intent on a future action – such as whether or not they see themselves living in your dorms, playing on your team, and coming to your college - they are far more inclined to follow through with that commitment. That research is one of the reasons we focus on starting conversations between our clients and their prospects, and focus on having their prospects commit to do things like reply to their email or come and visit their campus.

It’s those small commitments that can signal real interest from a prospect.

So, here’s what I’d recommend you do as you prepare for this next round of messaging to this class of recruits you’re targeting:

When you have decided you want a prospect to start getting serious about you and your program, ask them about their intent to commit to your program. This is an important step: Just asking the question can have a big impact on your prospect. Don’t tell them to commit…ask them if they are probably going to commit.
Try hard – really, really hard - to get some kind of affirmative answer. The science shows that if your prospect gives you a positive statement, more than likely they will evenutally act on that statement.
If you can get them to make that statement in some kind of public way – in front of their parents, or while they are on campus with some of your team – it drastically increases the liklihood that they will commit to you.
If they don’t respond in a positive way on the first try, don’t despair: Asking consistently over time in a professional, collaborative way can build a feeling of trust over time and get them to understand that you’re serious about them and want them in your program.

So, the lesson here is pretty simple: Instead of spending time just telling your prospect how great you are, make sure you ask them if they see themselves as a part of your program. It’s a better way to gain a commitment from this next class of prospects!

Want help in putting together the right message for your prospects, with just the right balance of information and direction in the plan? We can help. We work with coaching staffs all over the country and help them plan their recruiting campaigns, and even help produce text that they use in their letters and emails…text that works better because it’s based on research and proven science (like the principle we just outlined in this recruiting article).

For more information, or to talk with Dan Tudor about becoming a client of Tudor Collegiate Strategies so we can develop a plan for you, email him at dan@dantudor.com.

Share and Enjoy:

Do Parent Emotions Trump Your Prospect’s Emotions?Monday, June 27th, 2011

Ward and June Cleaver never seemed to show much emotion when they were solving 1950′s TV family problems. Today, parents wear their emotions on their sleeves a lot more often.

Most of us, in fact, make emotional buying decisions on a daily basis. The parents of your recruits, included.

A cup of coffee that you absolutely “need” to start your day, for example. Or, name brand jeans. Even the uniforms you choose for your team’s next season. Every day, we choose emotion over logic in order to make a decision.

So how do emotional buying decisions affect your prospects? The results may surprise you, actually.

Here’s why:

As we gather and analyze our data and focus group research from the past year of being on campuses and talking to athletes, we’re surprised to learn that this generation of student-athletes are picking schools based largely on the quality of the relationships they feel they’ve established with the coach and your athletes (see our other research references for more details on the reasoning behind that).

However, we’re seeing an interesting twist when it comes to the ways parents tend to influence their sons and daughters as they come to their final decision: They get emotional about a college, either in a good way or a bad way.

That means a couple of things for you as a recruiter preparing to convince a new class or recruits to get interested in your program and your school:

We’re hearing consistent stories of parents deciding what school is tops on their list very early in the recruiting process, and they’re picking that school based on two main reasons: 1) The prestige and/or financial benefits offered by the college that is recruiting their son or daughter, and 2) which coach or program they decide is treating them with the most respect (which is why if you’re a TRS client of ours, you see that we design a lot of message content centered around engaging mom and dad with you as a coach).
They’ll use logical reasoning to support their emotional decision about their favorite college or program. In other words, we see that parents are settling on their “favorite” very early on, and then using facts that you (or your competition) presents to support that emotional decision. And, they have no problem mentioning their feelings and observations to their son or daughter.

One other thing we’re finding that we see as pretty interesting:

You know those recruiting emails that you send to your prospects? Their parents, the majority of the time, are the ones that are replying to your emails. About 6 out of 10 times, to be exact. Kind of scary, huh? We’ve heard dozens and dozens of accounts from current college athletes who have told us about their parents managing their recruiting conversations and actually communicating back and forth as the recruit. (Another reason to curse those helicopter parents under your breath, right Coach?)

Now, before we give you some advice on how to successfully combat the emotions of your prospect’s parents, a little clarification:

We’re not talking about every parent. Just a lot…a slight majority. And, I’m not suggesting that you should assume a parent is strongly influencing your prospect’s decision in this way. There’s no doubt that we see parents playing a major role in helping their prospect with their final decision, but this is less about that indesputable fact then it is about what drives their motivation to influence their kids.

With that being said, here are four ways to target your strategy if your goal is to sway the parents over to your side:

Prove that you’re a player. One thing I can now tell you about the parents of your recruits is that they want their sons and daughters to compete at a place they can feel good talking to their friends about. So, figure out what you can point to in your program, or on your campus, that is going to give them something that they can feel good about telling other people about.
Start to write your emails with the parent’s eyes in mind. Just keep that statistic we quoted earlier in the back of your mind, Coach. What you’ll want to do is write your email to your prospect with the expectation that the parent is going to read it, respond to it, and then talk to your prospect about what you’ve said them.
Enthusiasm about your prospect counts for a lot! Parents want to see you pay consistent, serious attention to their kids. The more passion you show will – over time - cement the idea that you want their son or daughter more than anyone else, in the mind of the parent. We’ve seen passion cause prospects and their parents to overlook a conference, facilities…even the lack of the prospect’s major at the college!…all because of the passion that a coach showed the prospect.
(See the Tudor Collegiate Strategies fan page for our fourth and final recommendation. You’ll like it!)

I know a lot of college coaches view parents as a necessary evil in the recruiting process. Whether you hold to that belief, or actually enjoy getting to know the parents of your recruit and want to actively make them a part of the whole process, we want you to have a good idea of what drives them.

And, the research doesn’t lie: Parents rely on their emotions to make this big decision, just like most of us.

Want us to be on your campus in the coming months? We’re setting our visit schedule to campuses around the country, and we’d love to come work with you and your athletic department. The research we’ll use to uncover some of the secrets to effective recruiting on your campus will change the way you plan your recruiting campaigns (for the better!) Click here for all the details, or email Dan Tudor directly at dan@dantudor.com to ask him for options and potential workshop dates with your staff.

Share and Enjoy:

Dan Tudor

New NCAA Rules Mean New Potential Pitfalls for College RecruitersMonday, January 23rd, 2012

The Value of Being First in RecruitingSunday, November 6th, 2011

Facilities: Just How Important Are They to Your Recruits?Monday, October 17th, 2011

The Importance of “Passion” vs. “Pressure” in RecruitingMonday, October 10th, 2011

The Secret to Finding Out What Their Objections REALLY AreMonday, September 26th, 2011

The Right Way to Talk About Money with Your Prospects (and Their Parents)Sunday, September 18th, 2011

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

Why “Relaxed” Prospects Are WAY Better Than “Excited” ProspectsMonday, August 22nd, 2011

A Simple Question That Gets a Better ResponseMonday, August 1st, 2011

Do Parent Emotions Trump Your Prospect’s Emotions?Monday, June 27th, 2011

Categories

Archives

Dan Tudor

New NCAA Rules Mean New Potential Pitfalls for College RecruitersMonday, January 23rd, 2012

The Value of Being First in RecruitingSunday, November 6th, 2011

Facilities: Just How Important Are They to Your Recruits?Monday, October 17th, 2011

The Importance of “Passion” vs. “Pressure” in RecruitingMonday, October 10th, 2011

The Secret to Finding Out What Their Objections REALLY AreMonday, September 26th, 2011

The Right Way to Talk About Money with Your Prospects (and Their Parents)Sunday, September 18th, 2011

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

Why “Relaxed” Prospects Are WAY Better Than “Excited” ProspectsMonday, August 22nd, 2011

A Simple Question That Gets a Better ResponseMonday, August 1st, 2011

Do Parent Emotions Trump Your Prospect’s Emotions?Monday, June 27th, 2011

Premium Member Access

Categories

Archives