Why I Hate Hate HATE Recruiting Visits During Campus Breaks - and Why You Should, Too
This is a topic that comes up all the time, but there are new readers and subscribers on a weekly basis, so I wanted to make sure I cover this again for everyone who may have missed our advice before.
It was prompted by this email we received from a coach:
The key question this coach is asking: How I give the recruits a memorable visit in this tough situation?”
The answer: You can’t.
It’s nearly impossible. Why? Because of what our research tells us visiting recruits are wanting from a visit to campus:
Over and over again, recruits tell us that they’re looking to assess what the ‘feel’ of the campus is. That ‘feel’ is impossible to assess for your recruit if the energy, personalities and interaction with your team and others on campus. Without college students, a college campus is just a collection of buildings and signage for your visiting prospect. Their visit will be incomplete without peers their age as a part of their visit experience.
Many campuses are already struggling with a look as a thriving, energetic place - even wile your campus is occupied. To take other students out of the picture often confirms what a recruit may have assumed: “This place is dead, there’s nothing to do there.” We don’t want that assumption, Coach,
When we ask recruits and recently committed kids what they most want to do during their visit to your campus, their answer sometimes surprises coaches: They want to spend about 64% of the visit just hanging out with some of the freshmen on your team. Why? Among other things, they want to get a feel for their future teammates, determine if they’re a good fit, and ask them questions in a relaxed atmosphere during a normal college day. None of that can happen during breaks.
A lot of recruits are coming to campus to determine what’s wrong with you and why they should cross you off their list. If they’re coming in with that negative perception, do we really want to confirm their negative suspicions by showcasing an empty campus and not giving them the ‘feel’ of a normal day-in-the-life of your college students?
So, what should this coach be doing to overcome this tough situation?
There are a few key steps that we’ve have tested, and recommended, for years now - and they work well, if executed exactly like I’m outlining here:
Never turn down the visit. That’s right, even with everything I just talked about, you should keep the visit date. It’s a chance for you to meet personally with the recruit and his or her family, and that has value. So, if they can’t come any other time of the year that would fit the model I just described, schedule it for the break.
Talk business. This should be a shorter, more business-like visit. Go over your coaching philosophy, priorities for the freshmen you bring in, explain what you like about them as a recruit, and any other inside-your-program information that you can share. This is your chance to connect with them in a more relaxed setting than they would be experiencing if they were there on a regular day on campus.
Include the parents. It’s important that they be a part of the experience. And in reality, they’ll connect with the business-like aspect of the type of visit you’re conducting.
The key: Explain to them that this is the first of two visits they’ll be taking to your campus. Don’t ask, don’t suggest…state it as a fact. They will be coming back for another visit. And, they’ll be doing it when there are kids on campus, and when they can hang out with their future teammates and experience the student side of the experience. Important: Don’t let them leave campus without at least softly committing to one of two or three dates you run by them for their return visit to meet the team.
Nothing is universal, and certainly this coach’s situation fits into that description. What does he do for multiple days for that out-of-state recruit from Florida? I’ll be following-up with him individually to talk about that.
But overall, this formula works. I recommend it.
I still hate recruiting visits during breaks, but this approach helps me hate it just a little bit less. And, I’ve seen a good degree of success for the coaches who adopt it.
Some other great articles on the topic:
Warning: Beware of Summer Visits