A Simple Question That Changed This Coach's Whole Approach

Getting results through better recruiting techniques doesn't take long. This coach just proved that...can you do it, too?

---

That was the wonderful email I got after one of my talks at the recent USTFCCCA track and field coaches convention. The title of my keynote speech was How to Change Your Prospect’s Mind, which is a relatively new topic we’re diving into more at Tudor Collegiate Strategies. Most of our work over the last two decades has revolved around it in one way or the other, but it was great to be able to break down specific steps in the process, and lay out the psychology behind the process of actually changing the opinion of a prospect you really, really want in your program.

(If you want to hear the whole talk, here it is):

(And if you haven’t subscribed to the podcast yet, you should! Once you follow on your favorite platform, you’ll be able to search back through past episodes for topics you might be looking for as you become a better college coach and recruiter).

So, back to the coach’s email:

In the convention speech, one of the keys to changing your prospect’s mind is finding out what they are thinking and how they are seeing things as the process plays out. She followed instructions, asked a simple question, and got an answer from the prospect.

Here’s the screenshot of the text message exchange she had with the recruit:

Wow, really? That simple?

Yes, sometimes it is. And their are lots of reasons why I feel she got that response (more on that next time) but when it comes to understanding your prospect’s timeline, and why it really is the key to understanding where you’re at in the recruiting process (and where you should go next), here are three things you need to understand.

1. They don’t know how to do this

You’re an experienced pro at moving seamlessly through the recruiting process. You’ve done it hundreds of time, and plus you have your own experience in going