Why Your Prospect May Not Be That Excited About You at the Start

You're excited about them, so why aren't they as equally excited about the idea of coming to your college and competing for you? Three big reasons, Coach...

One Christmas back in the late 1970’s, my life was centered around the idea of finally getting the hottest toy on the market, Mattel’s Electronic Football.

You really can’t understand how big this thing was, unless you lived it. What you’re looking at in the picture was the apex of technology and advancement, so much so that Mattel kept running out of their supply of game. They’d show up at Sears one morning, and by the afternoon they were gone. People were literally camping out in front of stores waiting in line - my parents weren’t though, and therein lied problem. Apparently, their jobs mattered more than getting their son this toy.

Christmas roles around - finally - and I’m reasoning with myself that ‘of course, my parents finally found the game…they know how much I’ve been anticipating this…they know that my playground cred was hanging in the balance, and that this toy was my ticket into the crowd. Not the cool kid crowd, I’m talking about just the regular crowd who could come to school and talk about how they were playing Electronic Football the night before, to which I hilariously nodded along like I knew all about the magic and wonderment that they were so casually recounting about experiencing. The lie I was living just had to end. God, Santa…anyone, just make it end.

Christmas morning came. And you know how it went if you were a pre-teen boy: You’d scan for packages and do a quick recon assessment of how the morning was going to go. I remember seeing a package that ‘might’ be the game - it was basically the right size, or so I imagined (how would I know how big the box that held this treasure was?). So, that’s the one I started with. It was like the scene out of A Christmas Story.

And there it was.

Except ‘it’ wasn’t the wildly popular Electronic Football from Mattel. It was the rushed-to-market knock-off competitor, Head to Head Football from Coleco.

My parents were so excited they could barely contain themselves.

Me? This was a disaster. This would offer me very little playground cred. In my mind, as I faked the best Christmas morning smile I could, in my mind I was channeling my inner Ralphie. (And I probably did say ‘fudge’…profanity was frowned upon in the Tudor house, probably especially on Christmas morning).

Looking back, technically, Head to Head Football was actually better. Two players could play, you could pass the ball (or should I say, ‘the dot’)…but it wasn’t what I had been picturing.

And this is where you - and many of your prospects you have started contacting in your next recruiting class - come in…

You Aren’t What They Were Expecting

Not all the time, of course, but a lot of the time.

You’re coaching at a college I haven’t heard of before?…or, I’ve heard of you, and what I’ve already defined about you in my mind isn’t what I was picturing as a rising athlete (in other words, Coach, you’re Coleco, and your prospect is a little disappointed at what just got unwrapped).

Even Power 4 coaches deal with this - sure, you’ve got great stuff on your campus, and you’re offering a full scholarship, but the other team down the street has something newer and shinier. You too, coach, are Coleco to some of your recruits.

And this all comes back to expectations.

For many years now, your high school athletes have been told that if they keep committed to their sport / coach / club team / etc., they’ll get a scholarship and pay for college. Parents have heard that message, too, and they’ve excitedly bought into the idea that if I pay for the club team, the trainer, and coaching, and the travel, they’ll get it all back in the form of a college scholarship and/or playing at their dream school (which in many cases, isn’t your school). Or, you’re school is too small. Or, the last time you won a championship was when Danny Tudor unwrapped Head to Head Football. Or, you don’t offer full rides - and mom, dad and the athlete suddenly come to the realization that they will still have to pay something for college.

In short, you aren’t what they’ve been picturing.

That’s what many coaches are in the middle of going through right now: They’re excited about the athletes that are new on their list, but the athlete doesn’t seem to be showing the same excitement. Worse than that, many of those athletes are faking the same smile I faked on Christmas morning in 1978 - and giving you the impression that they’re really excited to hear from you, but deep down, are waiting for the Mattel version to show up.

If that’s you - and to at least some extent, it is - here’s the approach that you should take, based on what we’ve tracked over the years for our clients. And, what we’ve seen work in the strategies we’ve helped implement for coaches and their programs:

1. Be Fine with Not Being Their First Choice at the Start

Too many college coaches want prospects that ‘love’ their school, and ‘want’ to be a part of their program. That’s normal, for sure. And I hope it happens a lot for you, Coach.

What I’ve seen, however, is the opposite: Prospects are cautious, slow to commit to the process, ‘thanks but no thanks’, and confident that eventually, some larger program that has won more championships or will give them more money (probably should have written that in reverse order) will come along and discover them.

Your reaction to their initial level of disinterest should be, '“I totally get that, and I think you can compete at that level, too.” If it’s academically related hesitation, your reaction should be, “I completely understand why you’d want to hold off until you hear from that other school to see if you get positive early decision news.”

But then, continue: “So as you’re waiting for those other coaches/colleges/decisions, I’m still going to be telling you about our program, and our school, because we recruit athletes/students who also get recruited to those other places/levels. But I understand that you’re probably going to be getting a lot of looks from a lot of coaches and colleges who are serious about you.”

The thing is, that doesn’t always happen. In fact, I’d say it mostly doesn’t happen the way they are envisioning it playing out. So, stick with them - in fact, for many coaches, it could be three, four or seven months before you start to get serious traction from athletes you really want. This is a long process - and contrary to popular belief, there are ways to ensure you won’t run out of stuff to talk about over a long period of time. But the first steps are 1) you being o.k. with them not loving your right away, and 2) committing to a long process of telling your story (emotional connection) and proving that you can be just as good, if not better, than their other choices (logical connection).

2. Do the Things That Earn Their Attention

We live in a college sports ecosphere that gets a lot of attention for the money, facilities, and free-agent-opportunities it offers to the student-athletes who compete for our athletic departments. There’s nothing wrong with any or all of those things.

However, along with those rising aspects of the college sports experience comes the view from coaches that these things are what drives recruiting decisions for the best and most talented athletes in sports. And certainly, for a percentage of the athletes, that’s true:

• There are going to be athletes that make their decision based solely on who is going to pay them the most money to compete for their program.

• There are going to be athletes that will look at your facility, weigh it against the others, and use it as the tie-breaker to choose one school over the other.

• There are going to be athletes that will look at how you are using them on your roster 90 days after arriving on campus, and make the internal decision that when it’s time to enter the Transfer Portal, they’ll be entering it.

But the attention we’re giving these athletes, and the decision points they’re using to make their decision, is misdirected. Coaches are starting to think that if their facility isn’t newer than their competitor’s facility, they don’t have a chance at getting great prospects. Or, if another college is able to offer more money - whether that be athletic or academic grants and aid money - then they won’t choose your college.

Wrong.

If I do the things that prove my program is the one that cares the most, has the best plan for their development, can explain exactly what their role will be as they come to campus, and make the case (i.e., “sell”) that my school and my program and my location are going to be the best choice for them, I can counter the surface stuff - money, facilities, the name of my conference, the history of my program - that gets the attention in today’s world, and makes headlines. The research proves it, no matter the sport, the division level, or what your school has to offer compared to another school.

If I don’t give my prospects those things, and they are left in a decision-making vacuum, then I as the prospect will choose between the ‘stuff’ that is offered, because those are the only tools I’ve been given to use to compare and contrast opportunities. So, Coach, it’s your job to give them more to think about and consider…because the truth is, I have never read one of our focus group studies and seen feedback from one single athlete that said, “I hated the location of the school, and didn’t feel connected with the guys on the team, and couldn’t see myself being happy with the coach’s personality and how he ran the team…but wow, the facility and the locker rooms were incredible. So that’s why I picked them.” Nope. That’s not how it happens.

Do the things that earn their attention - and their love - throughout the process:

• Be consistent with your communication, especially written communication in the form of emails and letters. This generation reads all day long. You know those little black rectangles you see them staring at? Yes, they’re watching videos. But they’re also reading and interacting with their friends through words and text. Coach, you need to give them words and text to read - if you don’t, you’re missing the #1 way they take in information and communicate with people.

• As you communicate, make sure you emphasize that you do it differently at your school, and in your program. Whatever those things are, no matter how big or small, brand your school as unique and set apart from most other places. In the way you run practice, in the way your campus arranges internship opportunities, and other aspects that you may focus on during the recruiting process, it’s your job as a recruiter to highlight the “whys” when it comes to the decision to be on your campus versus a competitor’s campus. If you want to build your brand with a recruit, showing them the differences in what you offer is a big way we’ve seen coaches flip the script (note: I actually ended up liking Head to Head Football a little more than Electronic Football…but it took time and experience to switch my allegiances, and it may take time for you to achieve that also).

3. Ask Your Prospect to Commit Sooner, and More Often

When we ask athletes about their recruiting experiences, and what stood out about the way a coach interacted with them, they usually bring up the way that coach either did or didn’t approach the idea of committing to the program with them.

It’s top of mind for them for one simple but important reason: When a coach asks them to commit, it’s easily the #1 sign for a recruit that the coach and program likes them, and wants them. And checking that box was huge for them in their decision making - just like it was for you when you were getting recruited.

If you don’t ask them to commit once you’ve determined you want them - because you don’t want to pressure them, hate the idea of this being a sales and buying decision, or you’re just more introverted than some coaches and feel awkward doing it - their determination as a prospect is that you aren’t sure they’re good enough for you, or you don’t ‘like’ them. Interestingly, according to our research, the majority of prospects are ready with their decision weeks and even months before you get around to asking them. The danger in that is with another program asking before you do, proving in the prospect’s mind that the other program wants them more than you do and likes them more than you do. That’s what non-action communicates much of the time to recruits.

When you feel like a prospect you’re recruiting is good enough for your program, and you would love them to be on your team, ask them. If they say “not yet”, let them know that you’re o.k. with that, but verify that you really want them in your program, and then ask again in a few weeks or a few months. And then ask again. And again. And don’t stop asking until you get a yes or a no. As you’re asking them, and other coaches at their dream school (the one with the better facility, more money, and coming off their second straight conference championship) aren’t asking them with the same consistency and enthusiasm, you’ll likely win that other athlete in the end.

Want to know how to do this vital part of the long term recruiting process the right way? Click and listen to this:

---

---

This is How You Get Them Excited About You at the End

Building up the excitement level of your program for a recruit is way more important to have happening at the end of the process than the beginning. And sure, having them excited at the beginning is great too, when it happens. Of course, the same rules apply for that athlete when it comes to keeping them excited - taking a long term approach, consistently show up with communication that is conversational and actually tells them why you are the better choice, and ends with you asking them to commit (and if they’re excited about you at the start, I could make a strong case that you need to ask them sooner, not later).

This year’s class of recruits is going through an emotional rollercoaster of expectations about what the process is going to look like, and nervous about how it’s going to play out. Much like a 12 year old boy at Christmas. Your job, as a recruiter, is to lead them through the process, guide them past their objections that come up as they wrestle with their decision, and then open the door for them to commit to you.

That’s your job, and the success of your program depends upon it. And it starts with understanding why your new group of prospects may not be excited about you and your program right at the start, and then you defining that starting point and building from there so you get them to be excited about you at the end.