by Dan Christensen, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
If you recently communicated with a new recruit, what is one of the most important things you need to do next?
Connect with the parents!
Communicating with your recruit’s parents is a super important part of the process. It needs to be done early and often in recruiting.
But, what should you be talking to the parents about?
Here are two key questions you should be asking the parents on the first call or two:
1) How do you feel about <insert recruit name> going to school, X hours away?
This question is especially important if your school is far away from where the recruit lives. How the parents answer that question will be really insightful into your chances of bringing that prospect to the other side of the state, across state lines, or maybe across the country! If there is some hesitancy or blatant objection to that possibility, it should be a big red flag for you. Don’t let that response completely eliminate that recruit but it should not be ignored.
On the flip side, if your school is really close to their home, that answer will still be helpful. For many parents, they will be excited about it. But, maybe some are encouraging their son or daughter to go away for school. This means that part of your recruiting message will need to surround why it would be beneficial to stay close to home.
This is a great question to gauge where the parents are at early on in the process about a very important for recruits, distance from home!
2) What kinds of schools have you already crossed off your list or decided not to pursue?
Dad might say that they have already crossed some big schools off the list because their daughter wants to go to a small school. Or mom might be able to tell you that her son has quickly turned down some schools in the city because he really doesn’t like how busy it can be.
Similar to question number one, the answers to these questions shouldn’t be automatic disqualifiers. But, they cannot be ignored.
If your school is similar to the schools they are crossing off, you need to figure out why they might still be interested in you or what you can talk about that will differentiate you from those other schools.
Figure this out sooner rather than later so you are not wasting time on that recruit if mom and dad seem to think the prospect is not going to be a fit at schools like yours. Or figure it out early enough to be able to change the recruit’s and the parent’s minds!
Looking for more answers to your questions about questions? Click here for other articles that are going to be helpful for coaches who want to ask smart, revealing questions – and if you need more personalized help, email Dan at danchristensen@dantudor.com.