by Dan Christensen, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
What do your recruits want from you?
There are many things recruits look for when making their college decision. They consider the location of the school, what the athletes on the team are like, and whether the school has their major.
But, with so many colleges out there, what are the things that a coach can do to really get that recruit’s attention? What is it that recruits really love to get from coaches? Here are two things they love that many coaches are not giving their prospects:
1) Letters through the mail
With the ease of access of email, texting, and social media, letters have become less and less common in recruiting. Letters take a little more time to get out and have a little extra cost involved. And many coaches feel that because technology is so prevalent, that is all recruits want in communication.
But the research we do at Tudor Collegiate Strategies tells us that recruits love to get letters in the mail. This is not the mass mail graphics that colleges send to prospective students. I am talking about a letter that was addressed by the coach, to the recruit. And on the inside has at least a handwritten signature, if not handwritten content in the message.
These messages can go a long way with a prospect. It is something physical they can hold and keep. They love getting them, but many coaches rarely send them!
2) Consistent contact
This generation of recruit is very conscious of the frequency at which a coach communicates with them. Your outbound recruiting message should be coming out every six to nine days. That is what recruits say is the right frequency of this communication.
Holding to that rate for the duration of the recruiting process is very important. If you start off strong but then slow down communication as the process goes on, that will not go unnoticed.
There are many different things to talk about in your communication but if your story is not told consistently, it will not be effective. Your recruits love to see a coach give a consistent stream of reasons why that prospect should choose their school!