Warning to Coaches: This Happens When You Hold Firm
Warning to Coaches: This Happens When You Hold Firm
Sticking to your timeline has consequences. Good ones.
Got this text message from a Division I client last night:
The backstory:
We’ve been working with this staff to create a timeline for their recruits, establish a fair but firm deadline, and hold to it. (If you’re interested, we outline that whole process in one of our podcast episodes here.)
This coach followed the plan, and it paid off.
In the text, the coach also offers an example of what commonly happens when you, as a coach and recruiter, are tempted to be wishy-washy when it comes to deadlines:
The dad asks for just a little more time.
Seems fair, right? I mean, it’s only a few weeks…it’s a big decision, and you don’t want to be the mean coach who ‘forces’ them to make a decision they’re not ready to make, right?
Wrong.
It’s not fair to you.
It’s not fair for you to have to sacrifice your needs, and your control over the process in putting your team together the way you want to, in exchange for your prospect’s ever-changing timeline.
The questions I want you to think about today: If this coach had given the prospect and her family more time…
what does that decision communicate about you and your program to the prospect?
by changing the timeline for them, does that tell them you are a strong program or a weak program?
do you gain control over the process, or lose control over the process?
do you sleep better at night, or toss and turn a little?
This coach won a big one last night, and is waking-up to a newfound sense of control and purpose. I challenge you to do the same.
Now is the time to dive into Honey Badger Recruiting subscriber family, Coach.
Our upcoming posts are going to lead coaches through the right - and wrong - ways to build out timelines, establish deadlines for their prospects, and ask for commitments. And, how to position your program to do it the right way in comparison to what your prospects are seeing and hearing from competing programs.
Plus, you’ll be able to read some really popular subscriber-only posts we just published:
“Why Your Boring Resume Won’t Impress Your Prospects” - if you think safe and ordinary is the right strategy, we’ve got news for you...
“Trying to Impress Recruits Without Doing This Will Hurt You” - listen to our special 7 minute podcast outlining an important warning for recruiters.
“Is It Just Me, Or Are Teenagers Hard to Impress?” - if you’re wondering what recruits today are looking for, read this…it might surprise you.
It’s an investment in yourself and your coaching career of 95 cents a day, and it’s designed for coaches who want a daily, next-level non-stop stream of recruiting data, strategies, and proven techniques.
You can cancel anytime if you don’t like it. But you won’t, because it’s going to make you a significantly better college coach and recruiter.