Picture this…
You’re on the phone with a prospect and everything’s going well…
But then out of nowhere, she springs the question on you.
“That all sounds good Mandy, but I am also talking to [COMPETITOR]?”
What should you do?
How do you handle it?
Well, for starters, do NOT badmouth them or try to negatively recruit against them.
This kills your frame…
Because now you’re pivoting from trusted advisor to hatchet man or woman.
Your recruits already know you’re biased.
They’re EXPECTING you to “sell” them on why your program is better.
So instead…do the opposite.
Acknowledge what your competitor does well.
Reinforce your position as someone with their best interests in mind…
With a subtle implication that the competition might not be exactly what they’re looking for.
Here’s how I might do it…
–— begin role play —
“Prospect – I totally understand you want to look at program XYZ, and I think that’s a good decision…
In all honesty, I think either program could work for you. But it’s really going to depend on what you’re looking for…
Program XYZ is a good team. The coaching staff has been around longer than us. And have had a little more success then us too which means that it will probably be much tougher as a freshman to come in and play right away.
Us on the other hand… well, we’re a little more on the boutique side…
We’re smaller… hungry… and while we’re not as big or as established, we take as much if not more pride in the quality of experience we provide to our student athletes and here you are going to get to come in an play right away.
That’s part of the reason why our <position> coach works with each and everyone of the athletes we take on one on one and you even get his personal attention…
So it kinda depends on what you want…
If brand name, facilities, and reputation are more important to you, then I would definitely go with them…
On the other hand, if you’re looking for someone to roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches with you…
…then I think a fast growing boutique like program who’s hungry like us and knows you can make an impact right away might be more along the lines of what you’re looking for…
But that’s just my thoughts. What’d you think?”
— end role play —
Here’s why this works so well:
1) You’re being honest
2) You’re educating the prospect, not leaning into your bias
3) You start by setting the frame, but then pass off control to the prospect at the end of the dialogue.
Now, this is a little bit of a generalized example…but I’ve used variations of this to great success with all the clients I work with throughout the year, as well as when I was a coach running my own Division I program.
So, script it out, practice it, then put it to work. And let me know how it goes for you! Email me at mandy@dantudor.com