by Megan Cooke Carcagno, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
Picture this…you find a great recruit. You email them & set up a call, take the time to answer their dozens of questions, and then… invite them to campus for a visit. Weeks go by and the anticipated date draws near. Maybe you send a text or two to coordinate logistics or find out about their recent game. Good, right? But, in reality, you’re waiting. You know your campus will blow them away and they might just simply commit on the spot. I mean, it’s worked once or twice before, right?
I see this all too often. We miss the crucial steps in building our relationship and hope that our campus visit becomes the slam dunk we all need while we build our programs. The problem isn’t that your campus visit isn’t great… the problem is we need to do a better job of recruiting before they even step foot on campus.
What does this look like? Think about every interaction as a step on a platform bridge. If any step is missing, it makes it very hard to get across. In fact, it’s simply dangerous and chances are we’re allowing another coach to fill in that emotional gap.
Our recent data shows us that freshmen overwhelmingly picked their schools based off of “feeling wanted.” So what can we do to make sure they feel wanted from start to finish, and before they arrive on campus?
- Regular, consistent communication with the recruit from the get-go
- Connect with and be transparent with the parents (day 1)
- Ask unique questions that really make the conversations sound different
- Demonstrate your value (especially if you know you will cost more)
- Pace your recruiting
- Always direct the next step
- Paint a clear, consistent picture for their experience
- Know what your recruit is (or isn’t) looking for when making a decision
There are so many ways to ensure the campus visit becomes the icing on the cake, not the cake, of the recruiting experience. In fact, coaches should make every effort to not invite a prospect to campus until proper groundwork is laid. Let’s talk about this!
Megan will go over this and discuss these crucial steps together next Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 12:00p EST in her FREE webinar. Register here.