by Dan Christensen, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
When I am meeting with a client or talking with coaches at a recruiting workshop, I often get this question:
“Dan, what is something I can be doing that will stand out and be different from what other coaches are doing?”
Well, Coach, I am going to answer that question for you here with a couple of strategies that based on our research and the conversations I have with coaches every day, are just not being done. But are super effective!
1) Sending your prospect’s parents a letter
If you’ve followed Dan Tudor and the team here at Tudor Collegiate Strategies for any decent amount of time, you know how much we stress the importance of communicating with parents in the recruiting.
You probably also know that we see sending recruits letters as a very effective way of communicating with them.
Well, if you combine the two, the strategy is to send the parents letters.
Why is this effective? Well first is the point I am emphasizing in that your competitors are probably not doing this. And so, if you are, it helps you stand out.
If you are the only coach to send that recruit’s parents a letter, you now become “The Coach That Sends Us Letters” to those parents. Which is better than “The Coach At That School That I Can’t Remember The Name Of Right Now.”
But, a personal letter will be appreciated by mom and dad. It will show them that you really care about their son or daughter.
And maybe your letter clarifies something about the recruiting process for them.
Or because your letter emphasizes why you so badly want their son or daughter on your team, they just feel you want them more than any other coach.
All good things. Try it out this week, Coach!
2) Keeping consistent communication in season
For obvious reasons, communication with recruits tends to take a dip during the season.
You are scouting opponents, running practices, traveling to away games, having player meetings, and for some of you without full time assistants, you’re washing jerseys multiple times a week.
It is a lot. I know.
But since this is going to be the case for not just you but all the other coaches you compete against for recruits, there is a huge opportunity to stand out.
What would happen if you stayed consistent with your communication during the season, or maybe even planned some special messages or extra points of emphasis?
And what would happen if you did this and the four other coaches that are recruiting that athlete, stop or greatly reduce their communication with that athlete?
All of a sudden you become the coach that cares the most. The recruit will question whether or not the other four coaches are still serious about them. They won’t question you though.
Now, I know what you might be thinking. This sounds like a great idea, but how do you make this happen? Because again, in season you are very busy.
Well, it takes planning. Prepare content and conversation ideas to use throughout your season before you get in the thick of it. If you just hope it will happen without a plan, you’ll be disappointed.
Without a plan for consistency, it is really hard to achieve. But, Coach, I promise if you put in the work, this focus on recruiting communication in season will pay off big time.
If you want some more ideas of ways you can stand out from your competitors, you can email Dan Christensen at danchristensen@dantudor.com.