The Decision Delay: What Are the Signs, and What Can Coaches Do in Response?
Whenever it happens during the recruiting process, coaches have to control what happens - and when.
Got an email from a coach who asked a question that is becoming fairly common - not just now that some coaching staffs are reaching the end of the recruiting process and hearing decisions made by their prospects, but throughout the process.
The coach sent some text message screen shots as an example of what he’s dealing with. Spoiler alert, they’re probably going to look familiar:
Hey Dan: Hope all is well. So I have had a couple of campus visits which were good but when I follow up these are the responses I am getting. Here are the 3 most recent:
What’s going on inside their head?
Like a rabbit in a sea of carrots, this generation of recruits can get paralyzed by having too many options in front of them (along with those that they haven’t explored yet, but are hoping to). So how does that usually manifest itself in the recruiting process?
First, let’s break down some of the responses from the prospects this coach is following-up with, and doing so very well - lots of good questions to open up prospects and reveal some of what they are really thinking. Their responses are telling:
They were almost all reassuring and kind in their responses to the coach, almost like they don’t want to hurt any feelings. That’s actually dangerous in recruiting, because it most often manifests itself in the form of non-contact: “I don’t want to hurt this coach’s feelings, so I just won’t reply. Maybe the coach will just kind of fade away and I won’t have to risk him getting mad at me.”
From ‘weight all my options’ to ‘seeing what’s best for me’, the kids you’re recruiting are very good at being vague. Vagueness is an enemy of yours in recruiting, Coach. Search it out and eliminate it.
They didn’t respond to this coach until he asked them a fairly direct question about his offer. Once he did, they replied. Remember that communication trait as we move through this article.
There really wasn’t one standard reason for a delay. Rather, their feedback and reasoning ran the spectrum from parents, to school comparison, to scholarship money, and more. Every recruit - when it gets late in the process - has narrowed down what their decision is hinging on.
What can coaches do to effectively move the process forward?
Your job isn’t to change society and teenage communication trends.
Your job as a college recruiter revolves around these key action points:
Set the sidelines for the entire recruiting conversation, from start to finish.
Always be the guide for the discussion. Ask questions, outline the next steps.
As the process goes longer, your job should focus on uncovering objections.
Ask for the commitment, and move on if they aren’t ready.
Set the sidelines.
Why are defined timelines and deadlines for prospect decision making so important? Because without those, you’ll get questions like the ones this coach is getting.
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