How to Communicate AFTER Your Recruits Commit
Avoiding the one big mistake most college coaches make
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You’re sitting here in the fall, and it’s all working out really well.
You and your staff have maintained a good communication plan, you’re killed it on your recruiting visits, and you’ve asked for a commitment within the timeline that you’ve established.
That’s the way it’s gone so far for one of our clients. Great things happen when you follow a designed strategy of communication, and execute it on a consistent basis. The results? More early commits than you have had in the past.
No comes the hard part: Keeping them committed.
“Hard” in that most college coaches are increasingly struggling with kids who commit, but then don’t end up coming to their campus. They seem to be more and more comfortable with changing their commitment, or just downright lying to coaches without any intention of actually following through on their promise to come compete for them.
Here are two keys to putting the odds of them keeping their commitment more in your favor:
Continue your written and email communication with them. Of all the biggest errors we consistently counsel coaches on, this would be the one. Most coaches assume that once the athlete commits, the communication can stop. The problem is, when you do that, 1) your prospect feels like you have started taking them for granted and aren’t as serious about them as you once were - which is a big problem because 2) your competition doesn’t stop contacting them, which makes your prospect second-guess your decision. The solution? Simple: Continue to keep up the regular contact with them, talking about why they made the smart decision to come to your program. Even after reading this, most coaches will forego the extra work and choose to ignore the advice…and that’s the opening you need, Coach. Jump on it.
Get them to announce their decision to commit to you on social media. It’s the most personal decision they could make, and letting them know that it’s official with you once it’s announced on social media is probably the most effective way to measure their true commitment level. Because if they aren’t willing to do that, are they really committed?…
Those are the two simplest ways we’ve found to cement their commitment to you, Honey Badgers. Trust me on this one.
And, don’t forget the parents in this equation. One of our clients hasn’t, and it just paid off this weekend:
Parents are sometimes the reason for all the second-guessing, so make sure you continue to recruit them - before the commitment, and after.
This whole process isn’t a mystery. As a subscriber to our daily training, we’re laying out all the tools you need to solve the mystery of how this generation of recruits makes a commitment.
The key to make it all work for you? Executing a plan, from start to finish. Most coaches don’t. Make sure you do.