How I Get My Recruiting Emails Done

[vc_row][vc_column][trx_quote cite="#" title="Mandy Green"]I wanted to share with you the process I go through in getting my recruiting emails done. I have progressed over the last few years from being reactive to being intentional and strategic with what I do when with recruiting.[/trx_quote][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

How I Get My Recruiting Emails Done

I wanted to share with you the process I go through in getting my recruiting emails done. I have progressed over the last few years from being reactive to being intentional and strategic with what I do when with recruiting.
 
1. I would say that being productive with anything first starts with paying attention to how much sleep I get, what I eat all day, how much water I am drinking, and getting exercise to keep my energy up. I don’t know about you, but I am never as productive as I could be when I am tired and hungry. I go to bed and get up at the same time, I eat a good protein filled breakfast, I drink 2 liters of water before I leave the house, I pack a healthy lunch and snacks so I don’t have to run and pick up something quick, and try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise to rev up my energy for the day.
2. In an effort to be consistent and stay in control of the recruiting process, I have a recruiting plan that is constantly being looked at. Based on the character and athletic traits I know will make my program better, I have a series of questions that I ask. I have themes that I focus on each month, more so it is easier for me to find something consistently to talk with recruits about.
3. I am a paper person so I keep track of who I am talking to and what they are being sent on a tracking log that I created. It is pretty simple and will send it to you if you want to see it. I plan out at the beginning of the week with my staff who I need to contact and what they need to be sent.
4. I try to break down the amount of emails that are going to be sent out daily throughout the course of the week so it is more manageable. I figure out who specifically I am going to contact the night before and what information they need so no time is wasted during the day.
5. When I first check my email in the morning, all recruiting emails from a recruiting service or new write-ins get forwarded to my assistant and to a student assistant. My assistant takes the time to read them, will watch the video, and then at least will send them camp information. If they are somebody we are interested in, he will start the communication process from our end of it. The student assistant that we have is the one who inputs all of the recruit’s information into our database. Database entry is something that needs to be done but takes too long for me or my assistant to do with all of the other things we have to do. It is well worth the money that gets spent to have a student do it.
6. I schedule a set hour or hour and a half almost every day to do nothing but recruiting emails. I shut my door so I don’t get interrupted. I turn off my auto indicator on Outlook so I am not distracted by new emails coming in, I don’t stop to do other tasks that I remember to do (I write them down on my Master to To-Do list so I get it out of my head but don’t forget to do it), and I turn down the volume on my phone so I don’t hear when a new text message or phone call may come in. Recruiting emails, that’s it.
7. I do these emails in the morning during a time when I have found my energy and focus is really good.
8. Before I sit down to write, I get up and move around a little just to get the blood flowing, I go to the bathroom, and I make sure I have water and my hot chocolate/coffee drink.
9. As I am getting started, I turn on some music. I have found that I get more creative and get into an email flow better when I have music playing in the background. I was just using Pandora but lately have started using focus@will.
10. Before I send an email to a recruit, I start out by asking the question “who do I need to reach out to today that will help me progress forward?” For example, what club coach can I reach out to today and develop a better relationship with that could potentially help me with recruiting quality student-athletes to my program? Or, what person on campus could I reach out to today to introduce myself or to thank them for helping me with something? Answering and acting on this one question has single-handedly changed the pace and quality of recruits that we are now able to get to look at and commit to my program.
11. I have all of my recruiting email in one folder so they are easier to find. I first focus on my top recruits when my energy and focus are best. Once all of those emails are sent, my 2nd tier kids and so on. If there are emails that I don’t get to, they get moved over to tomorrow’s email to-do list.
12. We have the first 4-5 emails for when we first identify an athlete already written for the most part. We sent out at least 2 “mass emails” a month that are already written in advance. I have saved written responses to almost every question I have gotten about the school that I am at. It takes a tremendous amount of time to write from scratch every email that goes out. I save a lot of time sending messages by having a lot of pre-written email templates. I can change things here and there and of course try to add a personal 3-4 sentences or more to every email when they respond.
13. We have done a lot of email and subject line testing. The ones that we have gotten a good response rate from keep getting used. The ones that we don’t get a good response rate from, we tweak and keep trying until we find something that works.
14. I also batch together and work on emails at the same time for recruits that I identified at the same tournament or who are on the same time line. I found that the questions and conversation are pretty similar so I can cut and paste and use a lot of the same information. By working on like emails one after the other, I save a lot of time and use a lot less mental energy having to jump from one email conversation to the next.
15. I set time lines for how long I work on emails. When I gave myself all day to finish my recruiting emails, it would take all day. When I give myself an hour, magically it takes an hour. This self-imposed time limit creates urgency, keeps me focused, and helps me from getting distracted.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]