Yesterday was a headache and as I figured what today would be, it was yet another headache. A lot of people were not ready for this telephone prospecting practical excercise. The first guy went up there and was considered to be a No Go. This is fine. This is just a practical excercise and it will not hurt you to get a No Go. Don’t get me wrong. You want to get a Go. This will make you feel better about the whole thing.
I was actually a No Go simply because I did not tell the potential recruit my army story and I did not solve the issue at hand. This person did not want to join the Army and stressed that a couple of times. I did not execute the problem solving steps and therefor, I was basically unable to encourage the potential recruit to come talk to me about their future.
Now, I remind you, recruiting is not the same as it was a few years ago. We no longer just recruit an individual into the Army. We are now basically little college career counselors that are paid by the Army. If a potential recruit says that he/she is not interested in joining the Army, I have to encourage that person to go to college. I also have to encourage that person into committing to a “visit” with me, the recruiter, to talk to them about their path to the college years. In doing this, the Recruiting Command says that this will increase my chances on getting more referrals. If I helped them get into college then I can help them with the education/career decisions.
I understand what they mean by this, but, personally, it seems a bit much. If somebody tells me that they are not interested in enlisting into the Army, then why would I push for them to join. It is like pushing a religion on somebody that does not want it. What am I going to do, send them to a local chapel and say pray about it. I’m not sure I could do this. Well, tomorrow we should be going over the Army Interview Process. This is another thing I am not sure how it will turn out. Anyways, this is Casey Roberts reporting.
