Why It's Smart to Tell Them Who You're Not

If you want to brand your program intelligently, you might want to explain this first...

I’m flying back from speaking at the USTFCCCA (track and field coaches) convention yesterday, and something is sticking out to me from my conversations with some coaches after one of the sessions was over.

One of my talks was about five of the top objections we hear consistently from the most recent class of prospects coaches are recruiting. Over the last twenty years of focusing on training coaches and studying recruiting trends, we’ve tracked a lot of different changes in what matters - and what doesn’t - with the last several waves of recruiting classes.

Among the objections that’s been on the radar for the last few years with recruits looking at programs and coaches is the brand of the college and program that’s recruiting them. Makes sense…in a social media, image-based world that many teenagers live in, what ‘brand’ they associate themselves with once they get to college as a student-athlete. 5% of coaches around the country work at a college, or in a program, that has a great brand name in the eyes of prospects. For the other 95%, it’s up to them to define what their brand should be. They have to tell the story as a marketer that justifies interest, and explains the ‘why’ behind why they should be interested in considering that non-big brand location.

Want a great way to begin that brand-building exercise? Here it is:

That’s a slide from one of the presentations I gave, focusing on one of the strategies we’ve seen make a big difference when it comes to defining a previously undefined college or program brand.

So many coaches around the country diligently to inform recruits what they have, awards they’ve won, rankings they or their school has achieved, and on and on and on. And, yes, outlining your positives is certainly something that you have to do in the process. But too many coaches (and colleges in general, for that matter) have fallen into the trap of leaning on listing the ‘stuff’ they have, which is what many other coaches are doing, which is what many others are also doing, and the result?…everyone sounds the same.

And the recruit? They’re right back at square one in trying to figure out who they should take seriously, and how to define them. Because that’s really what they’re searching for, especially at the start of the process.

Enter the strategy: Tell them who you’re not.

• Explain who the wrong type of athlete is for you.

• Define the type of personality that doesn’t usually like the college.

• Ask them what kind of coach they haven’t liked all that much in the past…

Spend time creating what I would describe as a possible barrier between you and