One of the most striking findings in our exclusive survey of top college prospects for 2008 was how much they rely upon their parents to help them make their final college decision.

It surprises a lot of coaches when they read about it in our report.  Parents have always been thought of as a factor in an athlete's final decision.  But finding out just how much of an influence they have was an eye-opener for many coaches.

So, if parents really do play that much of a role in the recruiting decisions that their son or daughter makes, here's the big question for coaches: What can you do to help stack the deck in your favor when it comes to getting the parents on your side?

Simple.  Give them what they want.  Here are seven things that most parents want from the coach that is recruiting their son or daughter:

Parents want straight talk.  Give them an honest assessment of their son or daughter, and what you see for them with your program, and they’ll respect you.  I’ve heard parents talk about coaches who tell them exactly how they view their son or daughter as far as a potential recruit. 

Parents want to be included.  Not enough coaches recruit the parents along with the athlete.  They should, because if you’ve got the parents on your side then you have an advocate of your and your program at the kitchen table.

Parents want a “because”.  As you’ve heard me talk about in our two recruiting guides for college coaches, every recruiting campaign needs a “because”.  Something that an athlete can grab a hold of and believe in about you, your program and your vision of the future.  The same holds true for the parents of your recruit.  They need to understand what makes you worthy of their son or daughter’s talents.  They need something about you and your school to believe in.  They need a “because”.  Are you doing a good job of giving it to them?

Parents want more than they deserve.  Did I just say that???  Yup.  And you know it’s true, Coach.  Every parent wants the VERY best for their son or daughter, and most of the time they go a little beyond what they have the right to expect or what their son or daughter deserves.  You have to find a way to bridge that gap between dreams and reality, and do it in such a way that builds a relationship with them.  Not an easy thing to do, but if you accept the fact that parents have unrealistic expectations of what their child deserves from a college then you are halfway home to addressing it creatively an respectfully.

Parents want the money.  For most, that’s first on their list.  Hey, don’t put all the blame on them.  A steady stream of ESPN and Internet recruiting reports have made a lot of parents expect that every college scholarship means big dollars.  Of course, that’s not always true and sometimes when parents of recruits realize this they sour on you, and the whole recruiting process.  Go in to the recruitment of your athlete understanding this, and be prepared to reason with them and get them to see all of the other benefits that you and your program provide to their son or daughter outside of purely financial gains.

Parents want to feel like you are impressed with them.  Not just the athlete, but them.  Remember, you’re developing a “peer to peer” relationship with parents.  All of them are impressed with the fact that you are a college coach (jealous, too!) and they want you to be impressed with them and what they do.  Spend some time getting to know them, and verbally let them know that you’re impressed with them…their professional career, their family, their house, the way they have raised their children.  Parents want your approval.  Are you giving it to them?

Parents want access to you.  They won’t come out and say it, but they want to know that they can call or e-mail you at any time.  That doesn’t matter if you’re a D1 college football coach, or a D3 cross country coach.  Offer up your direct office line, your cell phone and your e-mail.  Big them to keep in touch with you.  If you don’t hear from them after a week or two, send them an e-mail just to check in with them (hint: send it to their e-mail address at work…give them a chance to brag to their co-workers that they are getting e-mails from a college coach about their son or daughter). 

If you’re a SFC Premium Member, we'll be sending you a list of the best ways to deliver those "wants" from the parents of your prospects.  Watch your Inbox later in the week.

If you ask me, I think any smart coach will spend time recruiting the parents separately from the athlete they are talking to.  Parents need to feel like they matter, and the coach that achieves that will win over the athlete more times than not.

Give the parents of your athletes what they want, and watch them become cheerleaders for you and your program in front of their son or daughter.

Posted by Dan Tudor at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We had a lot of coaches read our downloadable eBook last week.  It's a 26-page report entitled "Inside the Mind of Your College Prospect" and it is a first of it's kind survey of some of the country's top college prospects.  It tells coaches how their prospects make their decisions, and what information they rely upon to do so.

One of the most interesting aspects of the survey was the section when we talked to athletes about what outside factors effect their final decision.  The biggest factors?  Their parents and their coaches.

91.3% of prospects said their parents were a "very important" or "important" factor in their decision making.  That's huge!  Nine out of ten of your prospects rely on mom and dad to help them make a decision about where to play college sports.  My question for you, coach: What kind of efforts are you making to recruit your prospect's parents?  What are you mailing them?  What kinds of phone calls are you placing to parents?  It matters, coach.  Your prospects are using their parents as a resource to make their decision.  Take advantage of that, coach.

In addition, 78.8% of prospects said that they viewed their coach as either a "very important" or "important" outside decision-making factor.  Same question for you that I just asked: What kind of recruiting strategy do you use with your prospect's coach?  Do you realize how much power they have over your prospect, and how they will use that power once their prospect comes to them looking for advice?  Do yourself a favor, coach.  Spend time recruiting your prospect's coach, and make them a big voice in your corner that's pointing your prospect back to you on a daily basis

We recommend that you develop separate recruiting strategies for the parents of your athletes, as well as for your prospect's coaches.  These two outside influencers have tremendous power in the final decision that your prospect makes.

To review the other fascinating findings that our study produced, order our report today.  You'll be able to use the findings to develop a more focused, more successful recruiting campaign and get an inside understanding of the mind of the prospect you're recruiting.

Posted by Dan Tudor at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kevin is the recruiting coordinator at a D1 program in the Southeast, and he's excited about this coming recruiting season.

He's a SFC Premium Member, and he's used us as a resource in helping him develop a real recruiting plan for the 2007-2008 season.  He's focused on getting the right message to the right prospects in the right way.

But wait!  I had to stop Kevin in his tracks late last week on the phone when I realized that he was putting together his plan without any special focus on the parents of his athletes.  Why does he need a special plan for parents?  Glad you asked...

In a soon to be released special report, we surveyed 250 of the top college football prospects in the country for 2007-2008.  We asked them, in detail, about their recruiting experiences: What they like, what they read, and how they decide where to play ball.  It was a fascinating study, with loads of insightful findings for college coaches (SFC Premium Members will get it first at no charge, and it will be available to everyone else in a week or so...are you a Premium Member yet?).

One of the biggest surprises: How much weight football prospects place on the opinion of their parents.  91.3% of the prospects we surveyed said that the opinion of their parent(s) was either a "very important" or "important" outside factor that influenced their decision.  That's 9 out of 10 of your prospects that are looking to their parents to help them make their final decision!

So, my question for you is this, coach: How much emphasis do you put on recruiting your prospect's parents?  According to our findings that we outlined above, its important that you create a separate and distinct plan to recruit the parents of your prospect at the same time you recruit your prospect.

Here are some ways that you can make sure you don't overlook one of the most important people in the recruiting process...the parents of your prospect!

• Create a separate recruiting plan that focuses solely on parents.  If you're a Premium Member, you'll get the framework for a plan for approaching your prospect's parents.  Create separate communication with them, and make it regular.
• Use e-mail to talk regularly with parents.  Studies show that parents now rely on e-mail more than kids.  They check it more frequently, and reply more quickly.  Make it a point to get the e-mail address of your prospect's parents, and communicate regularly with them.
• Put together an informative packet just for parents.  Include some of the things that don't get read right now by your prospects.  Many parents will act as an advocate for you and your program once you show them that their opinion and value in the recruiting process is of the highest importance to you.
• Make at least one phone call to them to make sure they are getting their questions answered.  Take some time to find out what concerns they have, what insights they can give you about their son or daughter, and how you can make the process go as smoothly as possible for them.  This is a huge way to set yourself apart from your competition who is focused completely on the athlete, and is largely ignoring the parents.

Rocket science?  No.  Important?  Absolutely.  But it takes discipline to change how you recruit so that you put a renewed emphasis on getting the parents on your side.

If you take the time to create a trusted relationship with the parents, you'll win the athlete much of the time.  Parents have huge influences over their children (even the rebellious tenage sports-playing ones!) and you need to take advantage of their influence in the recruiting process. 

Posted by Dan Tudor at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)