There is an important change that takes place at some point between you recruiting your prospect, and that prospect joining your team family on campus.

It's a change that many college coaches aren't conscious of, and it ends up hurting their recruiting efforts.  The change I'm talking about probably does more to impede the success of how a coach goes about recruiting than any other factor I have seen in many years of working with college coaches around the country.

Put simply, your prospects have a change in their mindset when they come on to campus as a new signee.  They aren't looking for all of the same things that they were as a prospect that you were recruiting.  At the same time, once they officially become a member of your team, there is a totally separate set of things that they are now seeking...and their long-term success as an athlete in your program hinges on how you respond to those needs.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about, and why it's important for success-minded college coaches to pay attention to it...

Our national studies show that a programs facilities - the weight room, stadium, and other areas where they will spend time as an athlete - actually factors very little into their final decision as to whether or not they accept your offer.  Yet, facilities and the surroundings are usually one of the things that a coach will primarily focus on in their recruiting; moreover, I've seen coaches base their entire recruiting strategy around what they feel those facilities will sell to a potential student-athlete.

However, facilities are important!  Especially when that same athlete joins your program and is now a part of the family.  Now, your facilities take on added importance because the condition of those facilities can directly effect their experience at your school.  Now, it matters to them because you they are directly effected by the surroundings that they find themselves in.

The bottom line to the example I'm citing is that there is a change in perspective that is happening in the mind of this athlete.  As a prospect, all of the facilities are not going to be what finally draws them to your program; conversely, all of the facilities might be what makes them stay with your program.

The disconnect I see with coaches is that they are approaching prospects in the same manner that they are seeing their current athletes' view of their facilities: That the facilities are what is going to draw the athlete to their program.

Now, there might be instances where facilities - or some other aspect of your program - is what drives them away from seriously considering you.  And a new, wonderful facility might be something that they end up listing as a smart reason to have picked your program in the end.  But in both instances, facilities are not the overriding reason for choosing a school or a program.

There are three other big changes in perspectives that we've noticed taking place in the mind of student-athletes once they become athletes at a school versus just being prospects of a school:

• The quality of the equipment and uniforms.  On their visit while you are recruiting them, this is something that isn't even on the prospect's radar of what makes a great program that they would consider.  Once they become a part of your team, this one out-ranks facilities as something that will cause dissatisfaction and frustration. 
• The academic support that they receive during their Freshman and Sophomore years.  As a high school recruit, this is something that doesn't even enter the mind of most prospects.  And that's understandable, since they don't have any idea of what most college programs do to ensure academic success of their incoming class.  Once they are on campus, its something that they cite as one of the most important aspects of their early college athletic experience.
• The social integration of the different teams and athletes within the athletic department.  Did you know that this is an area that most Athletic Directors and Coaches overlook completely?  Afterall, your job is to produce winners not run a cruise ship activities calendar, right?  Yes, but I hear over and over again from your athletes that are interviewed when we fly in and do an On-Campus Workshop at schools that they wish there was more of an effort to "connect" all of the athletes within the program and across sports.  That's something that they won't be looking for as an incoming recruit, but it will be something that they expect once they are a part of your program. 

 Again, the importance of what I'm telling you exists in the way you approach each set of kids.  If you focus too heavily on these issues that I just listed with your prospects, you may not be touching on subject matter that is important to them...yet.

But if you fail to focus on them once they get to campus as one of your athletes, you can expect that you are going to have to deal with frustrated athletes who won't be afraid to look elsewhere for other opportunities with other programs.

Facilities, uniforms and equipment, team unity and academic support are all things that can make or break the recruiting experience with many of your prospects.  The secret to recruiting success is about how a coach balances the two different mindsets between the time that their kids are prospects and when they are part of the team. 

There are several simple-to-use strategies that coaches can use to manage this critical aspect of recruiting, and they are outlined in detail in our two recruiting guides for college recruiters, "Selling for Coaches" and "What They Didn't Teach You About Recruiting".  To develop your plan of attack for your next recruiting campaign, order these two in-depth recruiting guides for coaches.  Click here.