The Choir Director Corner Podcast
The Choir Director Corner Podcast
101. Five Reasons Why Your Choir Recruiting Isn't Working
Maybe you got your class registrations for next year and thought, "Maybe I should do some recruiting!" But all of your time and energy didn't produce the results you wanted, resulting only in stress and frustration.
In Episode 101 of the podcast, I'm sharing the audio from my recent video over on YouTube (Yes, I have a YouTube channel!) where I discuss five of the common reasons why your recruiting efforts aren't working as well as you'd like. At the end of the video, I also share a resource where I share five of my favorite recruiting strategies--cause they work, and because they are a lot of fun!
Need some specific choir recruiting strategies? I got you--head on over to:
choirdirectorcorner.com/recruitingstrategies
Need help to make your end-of-the-year recruiting push? Check out my online workshop:
choirdirectorcorner.com/boostyourchoirnumbers
Need more recruiting strategies and resources? You can find more inside of the Choir Director Corner Community Membership:
choirdirectorcorner.com/membership
Hello, my friends, and welcome to episode 101, five reasons why your choir recruiting isn't working. So in today's episode, I'm going to be sharing with you audio from a YouTube video that I did this past week and, yes, I do have a YouTube channel. If you didn't know that now you do Go over to YouTube and do a search for Choir Director Corner and there I am. I'm going to have more that audio here on the podcast as well for those of you that prefer the audio format. So choir recruiting always a hot topic this time of year. Maybe you've already gotten your class registration for next year and you looked at it and you thought, hmm, I really need to do some recruiting, and you've tried a number of things and nothing seems to be working out very well. Well, in this episode of the podcast, I'm discussing five reasons why your choir recruiting might not be working and what you can do about them, and also, at the end of the video, I also share a resource where you can get some of my favorite recruiting strategies and also, inside of our Choir Director Corner community membership, there are a number of resources related to choir recruiting that I think you will find helpful. So let's dive into today's topic five reasons why your choir recruiting isn't working. Here we go as choir directors. We might be doing all the things when it comes to recruiting strategies and trying to bring more singers into our choir program, but as I talk to choir directors about the recruiting strategies that they're using, I often find that there's a disconnect between the strategies being used and exactly how we are connecting with these potential singers. So in today's video, we're going to discuss five reasons why your choir recruiting strategies might not be working and might not be getting you the results that you think you should be getting. Reason number one you haven't reached everyone involved in the class scheduling process, and what I mean by this. For instance, I teach high school and so I'm recruiting singers at the middle school level, so with my recruiting strategies, I want to make sure that they are tailored to try to connect with those middle school singers. However, there are other people involved in the class scheduling process who I refer to as the decision makers. In this example, it's also the parents that are involved in that class scheduling process and I will say, oftentimes the parents are the ones that are driving the bus as far as the class scheduling process. So what happens. If your recruiting strategies are only appealing to the potential singer and you're not really reaching out to the other decision makers in this process, you're not going to be able to have the results that you think you should be getting. Right, we need to make sure that we are speaking to those potential singers but the other decision makers in that process, which most of the time it's the parents. So, looking at our recruiting strategies and saying, what am I doing that's going to appeal to the parents as well as the potential singers? So that's reason number one.
Speaker 1:Reason number two you haven't reached your potential singers and or your decision makers where they are at Now. What I mean by this is you might be doing a strategy where you're sending them a letter through snail mail, right? Well, what happens is they don't really pay attention to the mail every single day, right, you may not be connecting with as many people as you think you are. What if you are sending them an email, right? Well, based on my experience high school students, middle school students they don't check their email all that often. So if you send it to them, chances are they're not getting it. Did you send it to parents as well? Well, sometimes they will see that Sometimes they won't, right? Maybe they're in a job where they are just swamped with email every single day. They might not have seen it. Maybe they are using an email system that sent your message to spam so they never see it, right? So if you're only doing sort of one platform or one format with your recruiting strategies, you might not be reaching them where they are at.
Speaker 1:Some people are very active in social media. Some are not. Some really rely on their email, Some don't. Some would really appreciate having something come to them in the mail. Some people pay very little attention to it, right? So you've got different avenues that you can use, and I think it's really important that you try to utilize all of those avenues so that you are making sure that you are reaching as many people as possible, right, because some people may not use a certain social media platform, but they really use email, and some people maybe they're swamped with email, but they would really like something in the mail. So that's reason number two we need to make sure that we are reaching our potential singers and their helpful decision makers where they're at.
Speaker 1:Reason number three you haven't uncovered potential obstacles that are preventing singers from joining your program. So your recruiting strategies may be heavily based on scheduling issues. Let's take that, for example. Right, and so maybe you're trying to combat the idea that scheduling choir is a real problem, sort of in their four-year plan, right. What happens if scheduling isn't really the big issue? Right, but your recruiting strategies are focused on that, so there's a real disconnect. There are focused on that, so there's a real disconnect there.
Speaker 1:When it comes to obstacles, there might be obstacles in the mind of the potential singer. There might be different obstacles in the mind of some of those decision makers as well, but if your recruiting strategies aren't addressing those specific obstacles, the information that you're sending out really isn't going to hit home and it's really not going to convince them to join your program. Right, and make that investment. By joining your program, they're really making an investment, which also means they're not able to invest in something else. So this is a big deal, right, this is a big decision. There's lots of moving parts with this, and if you're not really connecting with them and addressing the obstacles that they see in their mind, it's going to be a really hard job to get them to make that investment in your choir program. So how do you address this? You need to get out and you need to talk with those potential singers about the obstacles that they see. You need to find a way to communicate with those decision makers and see what obstacles do they see.
Speaker 1:This is also another instance where your current singers can also be a big help. Ask them, for instance, minor high school. So I say to them go back to your eighth grade self. What were some of the obstacles that you potentially saw in joining our high school program and why did you decide to join? And were those obstacles truly obstacles, or were those just things that were sort of made up, or it was misinformation? Or didn't it turn out to be as big of a deal as maybe you were led to believe?
Speaker 1:Right, your current singers can really shed some light on this, in particular, if you have students that maybe you know. For instance, in high school they didn't join choir in ninth grade or 10th grade, but then suddenly in 11th grade, they appear in your choir program and they join for their 11th grade and 12th grade year. Talking with those students and say, hey, why didn't you join earlier? What were the things that prevented you from joining? Now, looking back at it, were those really obstacles? Or again, were those things that maybe didn't turn out to be as big of a deal as you thought they were going to be?
Speaker 1:And also, it's talking to those singers and saying, no, what is your experience been? What will your advice be to potential singers that are thinking about joining your program? And I've had 11th graders and 12th graders, you know, I've asked them that question and to a T, they say I wish I would have joined choir sooner. Right, and these are the singers that you need to get in front of your potential singers some way somehow, whether it's in person, whether it's by video, however you do it. Yeah, they need to be able to share that perspective. Sharing the perspective of those students really adds a little bit of FOMO to your potential singers, that fear of missing out, and they can share. I missed out because I didn't join in my ninth grade year or, if you're middle school, my sixth grade year. I really wish I would have done that, because I really enjoyed my experience and I really missed out for no good reason. Right, having them share that experience is gold when it comes to recruiting some of those potential singers.
Speaker 1:So that's number three. You need to make sure that you uncover the obstacles that your potential singers and their decision makers see in their minds to joining your program. Reason number four you haven't hit on the most essential motivation points with those potential singers and the decision makers. So, again, this is a great opportunity to go back to your current students and say, okay, go back to your eighth grade self. Why did you decide to join choir in your ninth grade year? Right, when you came to high school, why did you just decide to join the choir program? You had lots of different options. It's already a little bit of a scheduling challenge, but obviously something swayed you. As far as no. This is important. I need to make this investment and ask them what those reasons were. Right and now? These are the things that you can take and focus on when you're getting to communicate with these potential singers and the decision makers. If you don't get those perspectives, you could even go so far as to ask some of the you know again eighth graders that are already signed up hey, why did you decide to join? Ask them why they decided to register for your choir program. And you need to use these things. If you're not getting these student perspectives, you're just guessing right, you might guess oh, I'm guessing that they are going to want to join my choir program because they really like the show choir program and they want to be a part of that. Right, and it actually could be. Oh no, there's a choir department trip that's taken every two years and they really want to travel. They've heard great things about the trips and they want to be a part of it, and that's the deciding factor, right? You've got to get these student perspectives to see what is the deciding factor, or factors right in this decision. What's the most essential motivation point for these potential singers and their decision makers? And that is what you need to focus on and hammer it home in these recruiting strategies that you are using. So that's number four. Reason number five you haven't utilized your most influential recruiters, and by your most influential recruiters, I am talking about your current singers. If you are a choir director that you're trying to do all the recruiting things yourself, here's a couple of problems with that. Number one you're going to burn yourself out, right? Number two there's no way that you could possibly do everything yourself, and so chances are you're not getting to all of the things that you could potentially get to just because you're only one person, but number three, using your singers that you currently have right to be your most influential recruiters.
Speaker 1:Here is how I think about it. If I'm a potential singer, if I'm an eighth grade student, I expect a music director, I expect the football coach, I expect the baseball coach to come and talk to me about joining their program. Right, they're in charge of the program. I would expect them to come and sort of sell me on joining their program. Right, that's part of their job. But if I have students that are part of those teams, a part of those programs, and they are coming to me of their own time right, they're taking their own time, they're spending their own energy and they are coming and talking to me about how wonderful this program or this team is and all the reasons why I should join them and all the reasons why I should join them. I'm going to listen a lot more intently to that.
Speaker 1:Right, because they don't have to do that. Those students don't have to do that. Right, they're not responsible for that. That is not part of their job. They are doing it because they are so invested in that program, in that team. They are so invested in that program, in that team. They have pride in everything that that program, that team, is doing and has accomplished and they want it to continue to be strong, moving forward. That's real leadership. That's students that want to leave a legacy right and students that do that it's because they really care about what they're doing. They see how that team, how that program, has affected them. They've seen all the things that that has given to them and they want other students to share that experience. So a director can go and say all of these great things but really they kind of expect that To have students that are currently in their program come and say all of these things and invite them to be a part of it, that says a whole different thing.
Speaker 1:That's much more in my eyes and students that I've talked to about this idea. That's much more impactful on their decision-making process as far as whether they're joining your program or not Now, along with your current students and also alumni. How can you pool those resources to reach out to whether it's those potential singers, whether it's to those parents? Right, you've got parents of alumni. Those would be great parents to talk to parents of potential singers and say parents to talk to parents of potential singers and say these are the things that we saw in our student over their four years in this program. These are the things that they gained, these are the ways that they grew as a musician and a person, and we think that your students would have the same experience. That says a lot. Again, those parents are gonna expect you to try and sell them, but if they have students coming and talking to them, if they have alumni, if they have parents of current students and alumni coming and sharing their experiences, to me, that says so much more. So, reason number five you need to make sure you're not trying to do it all on your own and that you are using the greatest resource that you have, the most influential resource that you have, and that is your current singers as well as parents, as well as parents as well as alumni of your program, and let them help you continue to build your program and continue to build that legacy.
Speaker 1:Well, if you've enjoyed this video and you're looking for some specific strategies that you can use to recruit more singers to your program, I have a video and PDF that is right up your alley. This video is all about my five top recruiting strategies. These are strategies that I have used over my 17 years of teaching, and I think these are strategies that number one can have a real impact on your program, but they're also strategies that can be sustainable from year to year as well. And the best thing is, I also have a template for a recruiting resource that you can use that I really think you're going to love. So to get access to this video and PDF, head over to choirdirectorcornercom.
Speaker 1:Forward slash recruiting strategies. All one word choir director cornercom. Forward slash recruiting strategies. Well, my friends, thanks so much for hanging out with me today. I hope this video has given you some ideas as far as how you can tailor your recruiting strategies to really connect not only with those potential singers but also to the other decision makers in that class scheduling process. Till next time, keep being awesome. Are you looking for resources that will save you time and frustration? Want to dive deeper into topics related to your teaching? Then check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership over at choirdirectorcornercom. Forward slash membership. Hey.