Competition is intense between programs across ALL levels. Even at elite programs, universities that seem like they would be an easy sell: they’re in heated competitions with 3-5 other elite schools for their top prospects. Believe me, no coach or school has it “easy!” For this reason, you need to find every edge possible to separate yourself!
When building relationships with prospects and their families your first overall goal is to get them to campus. If you can get them to campus, you have a shot! To lure them to campus you need to show them what you have to offer through great pictures and key selling points. Top selling points need to cover academics, player development, path to a championship, playing time, conference affiliation and of course, win percentage and recent championships!
The best recruiting coaches are marketing geniuses. Just as much as they are X’s & O’s masters, they knew exactly what they have to offer and exactly how to pitch it to their different audiences. And they are pitching at all times: graduation speeches, booster club speeches, press conferences, media interviews. Nearly every time great recruiters open their mouths away from the facility, they speak as if they are speaking directly to a huddle full of prospects. You never know who is listening!
Salespeople have their elevator pitch memorized– one sentence detailing why you should choose their product. You definitely need to develop and memorize your elevator pitches as well too! You will need to develop a few different top pitches based on the needs of the different types of prospects that you are recruiting.
Take each key decision factor and find hard analytics, exact numbers to share (as long as these numbers are impressive). Compare your research to other schools or more specifically, compare them to the handful of schools that your top prospects are considering.
There are several ways to “spin” your selling points– nationally, in conference, in-state, among public/private schools. Take a deeper look to see how you can tweak your selling point to make them sound even more impressive!
EXAMPLE:
• We are #2 in the conference in Graduation Rates
• We are #5 in FBS in attendance
• We are #2 in the nation in number of majors offered
• We are #12 among public schools nationally in freshman retention rates
• We are #1 in the state in win % over the last 10 years
• We are #1 among schools you are considering in student to faculty ratio
You need to put together a simple Top 10 list of your best recruiting selling points, for parents and for prospects. Ask your Sports Information Director to help you brainstorm or research stats. Give them some direction as to what areas are important to your recruits.
