by Bryan Mathews, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
Coach – most of the time, if not all of it, you’re recruiting. Some thrive on this, some get worn down – all coaches are different. Coaches can always be doing more with recruiting or always truly be recruiting. This balance is up to your discretion ultimately.
However, what can we be conscious of doing, to always be recruiting, without actually texting, calling, posting, emailing and watching?! Here are a few ideas we’ve seen work:
Speak with Purpose – your voice and its inflection is essential to the message you deliver every time you talk. As a coach, you never know what connection you might be making, so be sure to speak in a manner that shows your true recruiting personality! (this will vary for all… be YOU!)
Listen with Purpose – prospects always remember when they ask a coach a question and the coach responds with an answer that is completely off-base. Most recruits, and some parents, are too polite to ask again. Coach – be sure to execute GREAT listening comprehension! Do you want to present yourself as best as possible? Of course. But this conversation piece has to be a two-way street in order to be effective.
Look the Part – coaches of all sports come in all different shapes and sizes. Remember, that each and every day, you could meet your best commitment face-to-face, one way or another. Whether a shirt and bowtie is your thing or you look like you could still be playing on the team as a student-athlete, a coach has to look their part and present their style in order to make the program attractive to the right prospects.
Rule your Domain – A messy office. A boring locker room. A dirty … anything. Effective recruiters cannot have these things be the first topic of discussion in the car as a prospect and family is leaving campus! Visual memories are HUGE for prospects. If a random five-star recruit walked into your domains today, would they represent your program accurately? Each coach has their own right answer, but a great recruiting coach makes it happen.
There’s a saying about first impressions… well, in recruiting, coaches need to make the most of EVERY impression!