The Power of Positive Relationships in Recruitment

By Matthew H. Mattson and Joshua A. Orendi
From Good Guys: The Eight Steps to Limitless Possibility for Fraternity Recruitment

“The Eight Steps to Limitless Possibility” profess the power of personal relationships and suggest a shift away from depending on things like posters, chalking campus, rush T-shirts, mailings, events and etc. These can be very valuable in developing the image of the organization, but should not be relied upon for growing and developing the membership.

You can't imagine Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches in football history, recruiting members for his championship teams by putting up posters and having the guys wear T-shirts that say "Join the Packers – We get chicks!" You can't imagine the CEO of a Fortune 500 company recruiting a top VP with chalk on the sidewalks of business schools or by holding a pig roast in the quad. So, if you want to have a top level organization, do what top level organizations do – build personal relationships.

Some PR Questions to Consider

• If you were to create a t-shirt that expressed everything that you stand for, what would it say on it?


• How many members in your chapter right now joined because of printed material that they saw? Is that why you joined?


• What do the events that you hold to attract new members say about you? What do they say about your organization? What do they say about your brothers across the country?


• What three words best represent everything that your organization stands for? How could you use those on your promotional materials?

Do it...

Experience the limitless possibilities that await your chapter right away by applying the ideas provided here:

• Practice your skills at a social function. Again, the same skills you need to recruit a new brother are the skills you need to get a date this weekend. Go to a social function, a public area, or an event, and practice the skills taught in [this chapter].


• Incorporate Step 6 interpersonal skills training into your membership education program. What more valuable skills could you teach your brothers than how to build positive relationships?


• Ask one of your alumni brothers who has a successful career in sales to come back to the chapter to provide an evening of sales skills training. You’ll find out that [interpersonal skills] apply beyond your collegiate years.


• Identify a couple of small activities that your members enjoy doing together. Do them on the same nights every week. Use these activities as opportunities to introduce prospects to your friends and build strong relationships.

For books on this topic in our bookstore, click the link(s) below:

Recruitment
All-Volunteer Group Leadership

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Permission is granted for organizations to download and reprint this article. Reprints must provide full acknowledgment of source, as provided:

Excerpted from Good Guys: The Eight Steps to Limitless Possibility for Fraternity Recruitment, by Matthew G. Mattson and Joshua A. Orendi, Phired Up Productions, copyright 2006.

Found in the Energize website library at: http://www.energizeinc.com/art.html