Our Growth Strategy in These Strange Times
by Matt Farrell
As the landscape of colleges and society as a whole continues to rapidly change, so are fraternities’ approaches to recruitment. Delta Kappa Epsilon is using this time to provide growth technology to all of its chapters.
We talked to Craig Dick ( Director of Chapter Services) and Jack Morton (Chapter Consultant) to learn more about how Delta Kappa Epsilon HQ has gotten more hands-on.
This message is directly aimed at undergraduate members, although any recruiter can benefit!
Why You Should Care About Growth
Craig: Think about why you joined. To know people, to interact with people. Community.
Think about how much you’ve turned to these guys in the last couple weeks to socialize: FaceTime, phone calls, anything. That whole community is because you joined our Fraternity. Think about what these times would be like without it. There’s so many people out there that don’t have what we have.
We need to share that feeling of connection with other people. Don’t even worry about whether they want to join. There are so many people craving the community we have right now. We owe it to ourselves to reach out, to give back.
Jack: There’s a whole bunch of crazy stuff in the world going on. I totally get why growth could be overlooked, but it can and will come back to bite us.
If you get ahead of the game with growth then you’re set up to win in every other area. Technology allows us to do it in ways we couldn’t have in the past.
How is Recruitment Changing?
C: People are going to be more wary of larger scale human interactions. We’re going to have to rely more on small gatherings and strong 1 on 1 meetings to engage people.
The same questions we ask about high school won’t land as well, because of how it ended abruptly for people. They’re either going to talk about it differently or want to not talk about it at all and focus on starting new.
J: We need to gain exposure for ourselves in as many ways as possible. The only way to measure that is names in ChapterBuilder. We won’t be getting as much help on campus which is why the technology is so important. It also allows us to help you grow your list.
C: The easiest way to grow your list is going to be friends of friends. It’s how my brothers and I make friends, it’s how you build your network when you move to a new city. Pick up the phone, ask them to play video games, whatever starts a connection. We can log everything on ChapterBuilder and connect them to other brothers after.
Our Biggest Opportunities Ahead
C: Everyone is already thinking about the overly aggressive post-quarantine hugs, and the excitement coming out of this when it ends. This was already a communal experience and it’s only going to be stronger in the fall. Our future members, current high school seniors, will be starving for that community even more.
J: This is a time where nobody knows what to do. Older people don’t know what to do. Experts don’t know what to do.
So for you to be on the front lines – and put your extra foot out there – we appreciate that so much.
Most leaders don’t know what to say to their employees right now. And you’re gaining firsthand experience of getting your “small business” not only functioning through this, but to emerge from this even better.
That will stay with you. We salute you and praise you for your efforts.
Make sure your chapter is set up on chapterbuilder.com so you can add names through the help of HQ, your brothers, and all other referral sources.