I’m the most logical guy I know.
Seriously, I seldom make a mistake. I’m always pretty rational, and fairly grounded in reality. Just ask me, and I’ll tell you: I make pretty good decisions, and do it the right way.
Except when it comes to my justification for what shoes to keep wearing. And, it takes me a while to adapt to new technology once in a while, even though I know the reasons behind why I should make the switch.
And then there’s my inexplicable love of Starbucks iced tea. It’s my drink of choice when I’m on the road working with clients, leading a recruiting workshop, or even when I’m back at the office on a normal day. It makes no logical sense for a rational, grounded-in-reality guy like me, to pay $3.85 for a large iced tea. It’s tea (wholesale cost…what, like $0.01 per serving?) and water. Add the cost of the cup (an added $0.02 per serving) and I walk into Starbucks, stand in line, and plop down my $3.85 every time, knowing that I just made a completely illogical, irrational, totally emotional buying decision.
And so do you.
And so do your recruits.
My point is this: Whatever your recruiting message is, if it’s focused solely on the logical argument that your school and your program are the best choice right out of the gate, you may be making a huge mistake. Not because your prospect doesn’t need that. They do. It’s just that it may not be the right time as you start the recruiting process.
Why? Because like all of us, they are focused on the illogical. I guess what I’m saying is that before deciding that you’re going to lay out a logical course of action for your recruit, you might want to thoughtfully consider whether a logical argument is what is needed.
- We find that a lot of recruits have an irrational love of the status quo: They don’t want change, they don’t want to leave home, and they don’t want to be faced with making a lot of changes – despite what you can offer them.
- Many times, your prospect are emotionally connected to the symbol of a particular college name, or a conference, or a division level. It happens a lot. A LOT. And we find that prospects don’t talk about it with you because they know it’s illogical, but it’s hard to break away from those feelings. Really hard. (Hard for mom and dad, too).
- Along with that comes a kind of community affiliation. The idea that they can be a part of a tribe they’ve always dreamt about is a tough thing to give up. Even if there’s little chance it will happen, or even if it does, it won’t be a situation that benefits the athlete. You’re probably thinking of a past prospect who fit that description right now, aren’t you, Coach? Their decision made no sense.
- We have discovered through our ongoing research that today’s prospects are driven by fear. How is your recruiting message helping to alleviate that fear?
- Some prospects’ parents are jealous of the other family’s son or daughter that they played high school or club ball with…the one who got the early D1 verbal offer. And now you want them to take something less than what their friends received? What, you don’t think that they deserve the same thing? (You get the picture).
- And, the truth is, even though they’re being nice to you, they may not care about you very much. Yet.
So, do you see what I’m talking about when I suggest that your logical approach may not be what is appropriate right away?
Yet, time after time, we see logical adults who are logical coaches approach a very logical process in very logical ways.
And that’s not very logical.
Can I suggest to you that you might need to make a completely illogical argument as to why that recruit belongs at your school playing for you? Breaking out of the status quo is hard, and they’re scared of leaving home. Well, have you ever made a passionate, mostly emotional case as to why going away to school is not only the smart thing to do, but the choice that is going to make them feel good about themselves in the long run? I think you should.
Take any argument you find yourself hearing from a recruit as to why you probably aren’t the right choice, and use that as the basis for making an emotionally charged, obviously passionate case for why they need to look at your program.
If not you, who? If not at the start, when?
When you bought your last car, did you study the facts and statistics first? Or did you picture yourself in the drivers seat, and think about how it was going to feel when your friends we’re impressed with your new ride? Yeah, I thought so.
Don’t feel dumb, that’s how we make buying decision. Have you watched car commercials? Have you ever seen them make a logical case with a lot of text on the screen? No. They’re full of beautiful people, with big smiles, with upbeat music, and fast edits.
It’s an appeal to our emotions. Once you get into the car dealership, and they turn up the heat, it’s all about the payments and interest rate. It’s all about the logic, at that point (but that point is at the end of the process, not the start).
My advice: Find ways, right away, to feed their emotions and make a personal connection rather than a logical case. What you’ll find is that in doing that, you set yourself up for having them listen to your logical case much more intently once you have that illogical, emotional connection.