If you've seen the movie "Jerry McGuire," you'll remember this scene.

Jerry, a pro sports agent played by Tom Cruise, is at a crucial point in his "recruitment" of the star #1 draft pick that is being courted by a rival agency that fired Jerry earlier in the movie. Jerry is the hotel room of the star and his father. Jerry, through a phone call from the rival, finds out that his million-dollar superstar made a commitment with his rival even after the father promises Jerry that they'll sign with him earlier in the story.

If you've seen the movie, do you remember the pain on Jerry's face as he realizes that he's just been undercut by his rival and lied to by his would-be client? That was the only time in cinematic history that I've seen an actor smiling from ear-to-ear to keep a straight face, while the blood vessels in his forehead were bulging out under beads of sweat. It was a classic scene.

If you've been recruiting at the college level for a while, you've probably experienced a similarly frustrating incident: You've been working your rear end off trying to get a commitment from a prospect. Phone calls. E-mails. Maybe even a personal visit. In your heart, you think you've got the prospect. The prospect may have even told you that they were going to commit to your school. "It's a done deal" you think. And then it happens. You find out that your prospect that you've worked so hard for just committed to another school. 

You probably looked a lot like Jerry McGuire when that happened.

How do you prevent something like that from happening again? I mean, we're getting very close to commitment dates for a lot of sports...you, as a coach, have put a lot of work into your recruiting class. Months of hard work, perhaps. Is there anything that you can do that will guarantee that your prospect won't turn his or her back on you and sign on with your rival?

Well, nothing is "guaranteed." But there is a type of question that you can ask that will really cement a prospect's commitment with you and get you inside their head during this crucial time.

It's what I call a "super-qualifying question." It goes a little deeper than the basic "qualifying questions" that we've talked about in our book for recruiters, "Selling for Coaches". It basically is a question that assumes commitment, and then takes it a step further by asking the prospect to tell you how they're going to handle other schools that are recruiting them.

Here are some quick examples:

"How do you think the other coach will counter when they find out you have committed to us?"

"What will you do if the other programs try to counter with {fill-in-the-blank-offer}?"

"What will your parents do when the other program counters with {fill-in-the-blank-offer}?"

"Do you believe that the agreement you have with us is the best agreement that you can make for yourself and your college education / playing career?"

Powerful. Simple. Very, very effective.

Will it "guarantee" a commitment from your prospect? No. Nothing can do that short of a signed letter of intent. But these questions will force your prospect to do one of two things: Lie to your face (difficult to do in this instance, don't you think?), or be very honest with you.

Try it the next time you're feeling like you're in a "Jerry McGuire moment" with one of your prospects.