The first of our next two coach recruiting conferences is on tap for this coming Sunday in Atlanta.  Want to be there?  Click here (you can also get details on our December conference in California).

Each conference is going to deal with increasing a coach's confidence in recruiting situations through better techniques and strategies.  Why is "confidence" so important when a coach is in a recruiting situation?  Because most coaches don't put recruiting high on their list of things they like to do as a college coach.  Selling isn't something that comes natural for a lot of coaches, and that can contribute to that lack of confidence that I was just talking about.

As legendary author Robert Louis Stevenson said, "I find it useful to remember, everyone lives by selling something."  College coaches are no different.  If you don't sell, you don't get the players you need to build a great program.

So, how do you get past the feeling of not wanting to "sell" your program to recruits and their parents?

The first important thing to realize is that your recruits will commit to your program because its a good fit for them...but not if its billed as a good fit for them. 

Here's what I mean by that.  Think about what therapists do. They charge pretty good money to give people "comforting" advice. Yes, there are some who deliver discomfort, but they don't stay in business very long. People pay money to have their therapists make them feel good. If you've ever been in therapy with a successful therapist, you already know that.

But if therapists said that they were in the business of comforting their clients, no one would take them seriously and no one would pay them good money for their "comforting" advice. Rather than advertise what they are really selling, therapists advertise their methodology (Freudian, Behaviorist, etc.) or the type of "problems" they deal with (addiction, obsessive compulsive disorders, etc.).

Now, lets bring this back to recruiting.  Let's say your prospect's main concern is the getting into the right grad school after his playing days are done and he has his undergraduate degree in hand. What you would do, in this case, is ask him questions about it and find out, in as much detail as possible, what his worries are. Having done this, you are then in a great position to address each one - to explain how your school can give him effective solutions that will ensure he's going to be on the right track after four years of playing for you. By driving home the benefits of your school and your program that the prospect really cares about, you are - in fact - making a very strong sales presentation. You are telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

Remember - your prospect wants to be "sold". So long as you help him understand how your school can help him achieve his desires or solve his problems, he will be prejudiced in your favor. You lose your prospect when you start talking about other things - your interests, your past success, your stadium, your schedule, your conference...information that he doesn't really care about.

So don't sell him, help him. Begin by finding out what he wants and needs in terms of his desires about playing college sports and getting an education. And then (if and only if you and your program can really help him), make the strongest, most specific case you can to convince him that his desires will be achieved and his problems solved through what you are offering.

Once you've figured out how to sell your school, and have moved past your distaste of selling, you'll have that confidence to address any objection and develop great messages out to your prospects.  But you have to do it by addressing their fears, not leading with the features at your school.

Is it "unethical" to focus on addressing their fears as a recruiting approach?  Absolutely not.  All of us want our fears soothed when we look at buying something: Insurance, a safer vehicle, low fat mayonaise...we buy things because we are trying to address our fears. 

Your prospects are no different.  Talk to them in the language that they are searching for, which is the language of having their fears and questions resolved. 

They're looking to you for that comfort, Coach.  Are you speaking their language?

Why should your competition have all the fun of learning cool new recruiting techniques, strategies for overcoming any objection a prospect throws at you, and developing a winning recruiting message?  Click here for all the details about these upcoming events and why YOU need to invest in your career by being there!