Weakness Review: Your Facility
It's one of the easiest objections to overcome in recruiting, IF you communicate correctly to your prospect
Of all the potential weaknesses you’re going to have to address with recruits that we talked about in the previous post, this one is the closest to coaches’ hearts.
It’s your facility, your office, your field, your locker room…and that’s personal to you. I think for a lot of coaches, they make it a barometer of where they’re at in the college coaching career:
Outdated facilities = not as ‘successful’ as I should be as a coach.
Small locker room = the inability to get recruits.
A weight room that needs updating = something you have to hid on recruiting visits.
With that said, and maybe at least some variation of it being true for you as you read it, let me talk straight with you:
Facilities, and whatever your complaint is with what you are working with on your campus, are the easiest objection to overcome in the recruiting process.
There are more things on the big list of what matters to recruits that are ahead of “facilities” than some coaches realize, and those items are the keys to overcoming whatever prospect objections are encountered around the idea of your facility being lesser-than compared to another.
And it’s this fact that you need to remember, Coach: Just because you see your facilities as a hinderance to success doesn’t mean your recruits see it that way. In fact, the vast majority don’t, according to the research that we’ll be sharing - and that’s especially true with the current crisis that recruits are going through. Do some see it as a real objection that they need help getting past? 100%, absolutely. But most coaches who get their new office/field turf/locker room are surprised when recruiting doesn’t significantly bump up as a result.
And why doesn’t it? Because even though you may have neutralized an objection, you still haven’t outlined why they should choose you. There’s always the next objection, and if all you’re doing is fighting in hand-to-hand combat against a never-ending onslaught of objections from prospects, recruiting gets old real fast.
In the upcoming articles, we’re going to focus on this topic and really go in-depth with why it’s happening, and what to do about it:
How are coaches’ attitudes playing a part in making this objection something that can’t be overcome?
What should coaches talk about to re-direct the conversation, and even turn an objection like this into a positive selling point?
Where do athletes rank this issue in importance when it comes to their decision making, and how should coaches redirect their messaging focus to account for it?
Since most of you have something that you feel needs to be improved on your campus in order to be successful recruiters and coaches, the right understanding and approach on this topic is critical. More to come on this, Coach…and, if you have a specific situation or question you want addressed in the coming days as it relates to this important topic, mention it in the comments section below. I read those, and we’ll make sure each one is answered.
Preparing for the Most Challenging Recruiting Year Ever
This Fall, it’s going to be tough, Coach.
Prospect motivations have changed, the COVID-19 crisis has altered priorities and decision making processes, and you’re limited on everything from budgets to campus visits as you try to do this key part of your job: Recruiting.
One of the most economical solutions to help you this year is what we’re publishing here for our clients and Honey Badger Recruiting subscribers, who enjoy a steady stream of ongoing training and the latest research throughout each week. They get the best of the best, all for about 95 cents a day.
Consider trying out our month-to-month subscription, and see if it makes a different in your recruiting results.
One other things: We’ve started a new, free text message recruiting training program. It’s 100% free, happens throughout the week, and all you have to do is opt in (and of course, you can cancel the messages coming in at any time).
Signing-up is simple: Text me at 661-218-2166 and let me know you want to be added to the list, and you’ll join a community of hundreds of coaches getting this free training.
We’re trying our best to help lead you through the most challenging recruiting year in the history of college sports. Don’t go it alone, Coach…put research and a team of experts on your side as you move forward. We’d be honored if you did by trying one, or both, of these options.