Selling For Coaches

Somehow through the athletic department I am signed up for an email newsletter that comes to me every week.  It's called "Selling for Coaches" and it is focussed on "closing the deal" with prospective students you are recruiting to your college.  I find it a little bit embarrassing, although I haven't yet bothered to unsubscribe.  I don't like the model of recruiting as sales.  It's not the model for recruiting sailors anywhere, I don't think, and it's not the model for recruiting scholar-athletes to an elite Division III school, where most of the people who see the school want to come here and most of the people who want to come here can't get in. 

I stay subscribed because it reminds me to think about my own recruiting strategy and methods.  It reminds me to be systematic about tracking responses and inquiries and applications.  But I hate the idea of coaches reading the newsletter the way it seems to be intended (e.g. "use our techniques to overcome objections,") as though this -- a high school student's decision about where to go to college -- is a used car sale.  I know that Division I sports is a whole different deal, and I know it's business and entertainment and there are indeed high stakes for everyone.  But geez.  These are students, picking a college and laying the foundation for their intellectual, social, and athletic development.  We are adults who are supposed to care about their lives.  The idea of using "Fortune 500 sales techniques" to communicate with them disgusts me. 

Comments

[Theo]

Sounds pretty gross--naive, I guess, but I
didnt realize they were THAT blatant about it

[Pat]

Unfortunately, some of the recruiters can stray rather far. Carol Anne can tell the story of a high-school friend of hers (honors student and quarterback) who was recruited by coaches at a large state university. One of the wonderful things they told him was, "Don't worry too much about your classes. If any of those professors give you any trouble, just call us and we'll fix things."

[Dan Tudor]

Hi, Sherry.

Boy, you never know what you'll find when you Google your company's name! :-)

First, thanks for not unsubscribing to the newsletter. I think you made the right call in following your gut on that one.

Second, thanks for posting your thoughts on our training and our organization. You might find it surprising that I actually agree with you on several points:

First, I also don't like the model of recruiting as a sales process. However, it is. So what we do is basically help coaches deal with that reality in the most professional way possible, and in a way that uses proven communication and sales skills to get the athletes they need for their program. Until the NCAA drastically changes the way recruiting is done at most levels, it will remain a sales process.

Secondly, I also agree that you might be less likely to need some of the skills that we teach given the highly unique nature of your sport, as well as the unique qualities and standing of the college that you coach for. You may not need 90% of what we cover (that 10% might be pretty important, though).

You had a phrase in your post which I think hits home the real point of what we do, and why we do it:

"I stay subscribed because it reminds me to think about my own recruiting strategy and methods. It reminds me to be systematic about tracking responses and inquiries and applications."

That's what it's all about. Not all coaches will need or use the specific tips that we recommend, but almost all of them will be challenged to think about what we're saying. It sounds like you get that, which is wonderful.

I will disagree with one statement you made:

"I hate the idea of coaches reading the newsletter the way it seems to be intended (e.g. "use our techniques to overcome objections," as though this -- a high school student's decision about where to go to college -- is a used car sale)."

Ouch! A used car sale? :-)

Here's what we do: There are specific ways to communicate your point to prospects and parents that will make them more likely to more completely understand what it is you want them to know. Many coaches, for example, spend most of their time in recruiting an athlete listing their programs features and benefits to a prospect. But for most student-athletes, they have a lot of trouble connecting those benefit points to themselves so that they see clearly how the positive aspects of a program will impact their life. Used car sales people will stick to listing the benefits and features of the car they're selling. Here at Selling for Coaches, we teach in-depth communication skills and techniques to help a prospect understand why a school may be the perfect fit for them. We consider good sales, recruiting and communication skills to be essential skill-sets for today's college coach (at least those that don't want to lose their jobs because of poor recruiting and poor coaching, and actually end up selling used cars...which was the true story of the person we bought our last car from).

All of the ideals you expressed in your great post about what the real role of a college coach should be are 100% on the mark. However, I can make the case that if a coach does not master skillful communication and interpersonal skills with the athletes they recruit to their programs, that coach will never get the opportunity to make a positive impact in the life of that student-athlete.

Sherry, thanks again for your thoughts. I loved reading them, and hopefully I was able to clarify more of the way we approach working with coaches.

Fellow blogger,

Dan Tudor, Selling for Coaches

P.S. Theo..."gross" and "naive"? Nothing gross or naive at all about helping coaches, and I could give you the numbers of many that would sing our praises for the way that we have assisted them and built up their confidence for communicating with prospects. We have close to 14,000 college coaches who subscribe to the free newsletter, most of whom have been subscribed by their athletic departments.

P.P.S. Pat, those are the types of recruiters we're trying to reform. That practice you described gives college sports and college recruiting a horrible name, as you know. We never teach manipulative or unethical practices.