Sadly, the summer is ending. Long days, festivals, trips and adventures are being slowly replaced with thoughts of returning to university. Presumably you are excited to see all your mates again as you re-assemble back in your uni house. Although, SU Cloud knows you are also wondering if you can remember how to write a sentence, let alone an essay.
For most students, the return to university means the chance to spend a stress-free week having fun. That’s right, Fresher’s Week – the annual treat is upon us. For those of you on society and club committees however, fresher’s week is also a huge opportunity to drive recruitment. It can be a make or break week for how successful your club is going to be this year. Are you going to bring in cool people? Are you going to bring in enough people? There can be a lot of reasons to feel optimistic, but also a lot of pitfalls that you should avoid. These six tips are for those of you on committees or those of you attending fresher’s fair on behalf of your club.
Encourage Existing Members to Integrate
No doubt, everyone helping with the Fresher’s week stall is happy to be there. Catching up with friends they may not have seen over the summer can be a distraction. However, it is important to encourage all your existing club members to be sociable and talkative with potential members.
Don’t put potential members off approaching your stall by chatting among yourselves and ignoring potential new recruits. Get your members to walk around the fair and talk to freshers. This can be a thing during the entirety of fresher’s week, as well as during the fair. Of course, you may have some members who are slightly more introverted and less keen to mingle. Get these members to ensure the stall is looking great. Alternatively, pair an introvert up with someone who is more extroverted. You could even tie a fresher to an existing member at your first social!
Clarity is Key
What makes your club or society the best? Is it your impressive socials? Maybe those great trips you have planned? Whatever the reason, make sure all your members know the key selling points of your club. If any potential recruit asks, “Why should I join this club?” you should all know the answer. Think about what your club can do for them, rather than what they can do for your club.
Furthermore, be clear on the joining process and club costs. You do not want to finish the day and discover significantly less people paid the fees than you thought because it turned out to be more expensive than they were led to believe. If they would have to pay insurance or any other additional costs, let them know when you speak to them. That way, you are able to assure them that the benefits outweigh the costs.
Use Great Recruitment Software
Great software for data grabbing and recruiting has always been hard to find. Often, clubs and societies resort to using a pen and paper or an excel spreadsheet. However, since GDPR regulations came in, this is no longer a viable method. When collecting data, you need to give the owner a method of opting out. They also need to be able to request their data is deleted. This isn’t possible with the traditional fresher’s week methods for data gathering.
The SU Cloud recruitment tool is a free to use, golden gift of a tool for those trying to recruit new members during fresher’s week. Capture the relevant data and ensure that your members still have control over how their data is used. You can also use it on your phone, so your users can still sign up new members when chatting to people on nights out. This is essential for ensuring your club does not get into trouble over any breakage of the GDPR rules. Sign up your club to use the SU Cloud Recruitment Tool today.
Wear Your Merchandise
Bring as much colour and as many interesting visual items as possible to be used on your stall. Got cool merchandise for your club or society? Make sure you are either wearing it or putting it on display. No potential member is going to be drawn to a boring stall. Maybe even have your fresher’s week representatives in costumes to entice potential members over. You also need to think about what type of person you are wanting to bring into the society and dress relevantly to that.
Fresher's Week Opportunities Don’t End with Fresher's Week
It is vital you have a good communication tool to follow up on potential memberships. So many people will leave fresher’s fair still unsure on whether to join your club officially and pay the fees. By the time you’ve put every potential new recruits’ email into a spreadsheet, all those freshers may have already spent their joining fee on a night out. SU Cloud communication tools allow you to send out SMS messages and emails to those who gave you their details. This way you can remind them how to pay their fees online and tell them what they can expect from your first session/social. Communication tools that work with your recruitment software are paramount to beating other clubs to securing new members. Think about it, if you had to decide between two clubs, would you be more likely to join the one that messages you straight after fresher’s fair or the one that emails you a fortnight later? SU Cloud even gives you the first 30 SMS’ completely free too!
Make Each Prospective Member Feel Special
Every recruit wants to feel like they will be welcome in your society or club. Make sure you find out about the person who is expressing an interest. Don’t just bombard them with information about the club. Learn about who they are as a person so you can explain why your club is right for them. Think about the quality of the conversations you are having with prospective members, rather than the quantity. This ensures your club gets the most out of fresher’s week.
So there you have it, six tips for your club to get the most out of fresher’s week this year. If you want anymore information on how SU Cloud operates, what we offer or any general information – consult our FAQs. Alternatively, drop us an email at contact@sucloud.io, we would love to hear from you, especially if you have any ideas for more useful fresher’s week tools.
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