You have to keep yourself upbeat, inspired, and filled with enthusiasm in your role as a college scout. This is critical.
You’re going to be met with various challenges, run into obstacles, and be hit by one brick wall after another.
Rejection can be crushing at times, pushing you to the limits of quitting.
You’re doing your best trying to get your message across to the parents of student-athletes, but no one is listening because they’re preoccupied with their own agenda.
I have been there personally and on the edge of giving up.
I know exactly how it feels to struggle in this business when you’re running out of motivation.
This can be a challenging business from top to bottom. Oh, I truly get it! I really do.
Through the jungle of confusion, I found ways to motivate myself to keep going, to not give up, and to get better every single day.
Set short-term goals.
Talk to three new parents daily.
Sign up five new student-athletes monthly.
Write four blog posts a month.
Attend one high school game per week.
Read motivational and inspiring books daily.
These are clearly goals, but there’s something that can keep you motivated and keep you inspired through the rough and the tough times that, no doubt, are coming your way.
Achieving short-term goals was a huge boost to my self-esteem and my confidence.
The biggest motivational boost was getting that payment from a parent. Receiving a payment was a victory and I wanted to win every single day.
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You’re irrelevant from their viewpoint and insignificant.
They ignore your conversation on social media with nothing more than a casual glance.
No acknowledgement or recognition of your existence.
This is how parents feel about your recruiting service and that’s just the way it is.
When you meet in public at a game, exposure event, camp, tournament or whatever it may be, the parents are cautious because they understand you’re there for their money.
They put up their guard of protection and their defense mechanism automatically to tune you out because they know what you’re after.
Reluctant parents have heard all the stories about recruiting services.
They’ve heard how bad they are and how they only want money to provide little or next to nothing in return.
The negativity on social media about recruiting services is an avalanche of hate that cannot be stopped.
Here’s the thing: Parents will listen, to a certain degree, but you really don’t have much time to get your point across.
From the onset parents will probably not tell you “no” or become quickly disinterested in your recruiting service.
They want to examine every possible recruiting option, they don’t want to kill it for their sons and daughters.
They will leave no stone unturned because of the delicate nature of recruiting and how time-sensitive it truly is.
The solution.
Stop talking so much about your recruiting service and start asking questions that gets directly to the point because the clock is ticking and time is running out.
Your first, second, or maybe third question to the parents has to get them motivated to talk to.
You must create engagement and excitement.
Fill it with enthusiasm in the response to your questions or you’re going to lose.
The parents will tune you out or become disinterested, hoping you will disappear.
You’re leading the parents down a path littered with gold towards an unbelievable surprise at the end.
The best way to do this is to ask powerful questions. If the parents do not believe you care they’re not going to care about you.
Ask 15 to 20 questions.
Have follow-up questions.
Be enthusiastic.
Motivate them to buy.
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I’m not interested. No thank you. No, Leave us alone. Don’t call us we’ll call you.
You’re going to be hit with so much rejection words you’ll begin to think it’s your first name.
Rejection hurts. It will literally feel like you’re being trampled over by a stampede of wild horses, crushing you into the ground.
You have the enthusiasm, optimism, and eagerness at the possibilities of helping student-athletes in recruiting. All of that goodwill is burned up by rejection from parents.
Remember, rejection is not personal. It’s just a form of expression from parents who don’t understand what the hell you’re talking about.
Parent: We’re not interested.
Scout: What exactly is it that you’re not interested in?
Parent: We’re simply just not interested at this time.
Scout: What exactly is it that you’re not interested in.
Is it the athletic profile?
Is it the college list?
Is it our audit?
Is it my experience?
Is it our website?
Is there something I forgot to cover?
Conclusion:
If the parent won’t tell you exactly why they’re not interested you must present them with a list of all the possible reasons why.
Continue to run down the list of possibilities until you find the objection the parent feels so strongly about.
Once you hit on the reason why they don’t want to move forward with you, answer the objection with a solution.
Deal with the problem and once a conclusion is reached, come in with a strong closing question.
Here’s an example:
Parent: It’s the list of college programs. We’re not sure who gets to put this together. Do you guys have all the input and we have no say in this?
Scout: Absolutely not. We can work on the college list together. We can come up with a strong list of college programs that I think will fit your son’s needs.
Parent: So basically you’re telling me we can work on this list of college programs together.
Scout: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Together we can come up with a strong list of college programs to target.
Parent: Everything sounds great. This is something we really need.
Scout: Outstanding! What can we do to get this process moving forward today?
Parent: We’re ready to move forward now. We can make a payment this week.
Conclusion #2:
The parents want to do business with you. They need you, they really do, trust me.
Why so many objections? Because you haven’t given them enough reasons to sign up with you.
Your job is to uncover the hidden objections and find out the reason why.
Almost every parent will have some kind of an objection or reason why they don’t want to sign up with you or move forward with you.
You cannot accept any objection from a parent without first uncovering the reasons why.
If you are weak, insecure, lacking in confidence, or self-esteem you will struggle in this business guaranteed.
You must meet these objections head on without hesitation. This is how you will succeed. This is how you will win.
Rejection to the objection
I’m not interested.
No.
No thank you.
We can’t afford it.
We’re going to pass at this time.
We’ll call you back when we’re ready.
He’s only a junior.
Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
This is not the right time.
His coach is helping him.
This is just a small example of what you have to deal with.
Whatever the objection just use the same rebuttals. You don’t need to come up with 10 different rebuttals for every rejection.
For Example: “His coach is helping him.”
Scout: I understand that and that’s great, but let me ask you this; who’s recruiting him right now?
Have you been to any camps or tournaments?
What’s his GPA?
At what level of college can he play?
Conclusion # 3
Whenever confronted with an objection, acknowledge it and then begin to start asking questions one after another after another.
Keep the conversation flowing. Slow the process down by continuing to ask questions.
It will keep parents off guard and out of focus on peppering you with one dumb rejection after another.
The parents will begin to open up to you realizing they need your help and their objection was basically worthless and a waste of time.
Quoting Allen Iverson. “Practice, we’re talking about practice.”
You should practice.
You should never go into any presentation with parents without serious roleplay.
Practice first. Whether with a spouse, significant other or whoever. Roleplay out the entire scenario from beginning to end.
Practice, practice, practice! Commit everything to memory until you are confident enough to deal directly one-on-one with parents.
Like professional athletes who practice daily to perfection, you need to do the same as well.
This I know. It’s very true that parents want your help and they need your help.
If you position yourself correctly the parents are probably the ones who reach out to you first.
Maybe they came as a referral, maybe you met them at a high school game, club event, tournament, or a camp.
Parents of student-athletes know how extremely serious the delicate nature of recruiting is.
We all understand how time-sensitive the process is. A day lost in recruiting is a day wasted that can never be made of.
It is your job, your duty, and your responsibility to sign up parents. Get it done!
I’d like to know what you think of this topic. Please leave me a comment in the comment section below. Your comments are the oxygen we need to grow!
The parents know absolutely nothing about the recruiting process.
What very little they do know they got it from another parent who also knows nothing about it.
Confusion is running rampant with the back and forth conversations with parents and college scouts.
The execution of the recruiting process is in jeopardy.
The parents absolutely do not have a clue on how to start the process, how the process should proceed or what the end results should be.
Part of the role of the college scout is to have critical conversations about recruiting.
Educate parents about the process by not over complicating it with too many facts and figures.
You don’t want parents to be confused or get frustrated because they don’t understand what the hell you’re talking about.
They will feel like you are trying to ‘get over’ on them.
The busy nature in the lives of parents is met with constant stress, anxiety, and confusion all mixed in with anxieties and doubts about the recruiting process.
Most parents would rather not have that conversation about recruiting, instead they would rather put their heads in the sand leaving all responsibilities up to the high school coach.
This scenario is reckless because many high school coaches are also clueless about the recruiting process.
Most coaches would rather not be actively involved because they would put their coaching jobs in jeopardy.
Have you ever tried to put together a 10-speed bicycle?
You take all the parts and the pieces out of the box, laying it on the garage floor and then out pops the instructions.
You look at the instructions and they are confusing.
Do you say the hell with it and try to put the bike together the best way you can using common sense? While, along the way, you’re screwing it up and wasting valuable time.
Eventually, you become frustrated to the point of giving up and leaving all the pieces there and just walk away.
From their points of view, this is how the recruiting process looks parents of student-athletes.
The parent realizes this is a 10-speed bicycle.
It has so many parts, screws and tools that their eyes glaze over in confusion, anger is mounting, and giving up is a strong option.
At some point they may call on a family member or neighbor who has knowledge on putting together the bike.
The parent has now shifted the responsibility on the family member or neighbor who has a better understanding on how to put the bike together.
From their sarcastic point of view, this is how recruiting looks to parents.
Their conversation is cloudy and muddled with confusion.
It can be an uphill battle at times, trying to eliminate the stress and anxiety by not complicating the recruiting language and making it easier for them to understand it quickly in its simplest form.
If you cannot do that you will lose them.
I’d like to know what you think of this topic. Please leave me a comment in the comment section below. Your comments are the oxygen we need to grow!
I like winning. There’s nothing more satisfying than victory.
However, there’s a lot of negativity in the world.
Negativity attacks college scouts and recruiting services on a consistent basis, but victory kills negativity.
There’s a lot of positive things that are going to take place in your role as a college scout.
One of the most important positive aspects of being a college scout is signing student-athletes and getting their parents to pay your fee.
This is a major victory and, if you don’t know by now, I like to win!
The payment is not enough; now it’s about getting the student-athletes exposure to college programs. That’s also a victory.
The ultimate goal is getting that student-athlete placed in college which is a major victory and you’re on a winning streak!
I like to win!
The mere fact that you are a recruiting service will automatically put you in a negative category in the eyes of the public.
You cannot ignore these knuckleheads so, you have to prove them wrong. Ignoring them would be like ignoring the elephant in your bedroom.
Social media will be your best friend.
Continue to show the viewing public your success, your accomplishments, your triumphs, and all of your victories.
Your recruiting service should be transparent like an open book.
It still may not be enough to satisfy the haters, but I guarantee you there will be parents who are window shopping and who will reach out to you when they need you.
This business is a contact sport. The more people you contact, the better you will do. I think I heard one line in the movie somewhere, but it applies still to this day.
Winning is getting the payment from a parent.
Winning is getting student-athletes exposure to college programs.
The ultimate victory is college placement.
Let me remind you for the final time: I like to win!
I’d like to know what you think of this topic. Please leave me a comment in the comment section below. Your comments are the oxygen we need to grow!
