Dentist Visits and Recruitment

by Vince Fabra

I want you to think about the last time you had dentist appointment. Before your visit, you casually performed your dental hygiene rituals. But then once that appointment creeped up on your calendar, you kicked it into high gear. The week before the appointment you were brushing three times a day, flossing after every meal, cutting out the morning coffee and sodas throughout the day… doing whatever you could to make a few last minute improvements.

But alas, you have run out of last minute prep time. Today is the day for you to sit in the chair, lean back and say “AAAAHHHHH”. After some careful inspection, your dentist delivers the news, “You have a cavity.”

This news hits you like a punch in the gut. You’re thinking, “How could I have a cavity?!?! I worked so hard these last five days to prevent this!” All that extra attention during the days leading up to your appointment now seems like a waste. You figure it’s better to just continue with your old habits since there is nothing that you can do to prevent these cavities.

Here’s a thought, give your teeth that attention the other 360 days of the year.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not the poster child of dental health. However, I do recognize that I cannot expect positive results by neglecting an issue 51 weeks out of the year. I realize that if I don’t want cavities, I should brush and floss everyday. If I want to impress the other spring breakers with my “beach bod,” I should hit the gym long before the 2 weeks leading up to spring break. And if I want big results for recruitment, I should be building relationships all year long.

Static Recruitment (the opposite of Dynamic Recruitment) is a system that perpetuates this “dentist” and “spring break” mentality. Just like that week of extra brushing and intense gym work, there is a lot of hard work involved, but it is just too little, too late.

My hope is not for you to read this blog then go brush their teeth/hit the gym/build relationships. My hope is that you will recognize the direct relationship between your patterns of behavior and your results. If your chapter is getting by with the 1 out of 52 week model, imagine the results you could get with a steady effort all year round. You’d be the cavity free, six pack equivalent of recruitment.