Courtesy NCSA Athletic Recruiting
In part one of this two part series, we talked about two mistakes that the former coaches and college athletes at NCSA Athletic Recruiting end up witnessing year after year:
The mistake of poor time management, and the mistake of leading a prospect to believe that you are really interested in them.
In our experience of communicating and helping coaches for the past two decades, we can tell you that there are two other critical errors that college recruiters make while communicating with their prospects:
- Stopping the recruiting process too early with a prospect, and…
- Failing to recruit a prospect’s family.
Truthfully, both of these could be tied to poor time management, as well as organizational challenges.
Stopping the recruiting process too early. Many college recruiters – even experienced ones – don’t have a long term plan for communication and “selling” their most valued recruits. They’re great during the first part of getting to know an athlete, but their strategic approach begins to crumble as the process moves forward over an extended period of time. The contact remains, of course; you’re anxious to hear if they’re interested in learning more, or want to come to campus for a visit. But have you continued to give them tangible reasons to continue talking to you, and specific selling points for you and your program? Because if you don’t, it’s going to be hard for them to gain the intellectual leverage to move forward in a serious way with you.
Not recruiting the whole family. In addition, that long term recruiting process doesn’t usually encompass a plan to develop a relationship with, and recruit, a prospect’s family. Central to that is connecting with the parents, of course, but that can also extend to siblings and grandparents. Many college coaches fail to establish an understanding of how a recruit will make their decision, and why (and who is going to be influencing them along the way within their family).
Eliminating these four mistakes as you head into the next recruiting cycle is vital. Establishing a plan within your office to get it done is the key to whether or not it will actually come to fruition.
NCSA Athletic Recruiting is a recommended resource for college coaches, and has been a trusted source for verified athlete data for over two decades. Coaches can access their free account here.