Smaller Groups-how can you make PNMs feel chosen?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by adrie435

We're all trained to tell PNM's all about what a wonderful sisterhood we have and all the facts, etc, but I was most impressed with a sorority during recruitment when they answered whatever questions I had concisely and we spent the whole party talking about something completely random. I remember talking about shoes with one active during a recruitment party and that was the day I decided I absolutely loved them!!

It's normal to feel like you have to "sell, sell, sell" when you are the underdog, but if you over-sell yourself girls will actually become less interested in you than they may have started out (if that makes sense).

excellent point.

One of the groups I rushed I really liked...but they were SO "gung ho" they scared me. Nonstop talk about GHI activities, living in the GHI suite, GHI mixers, GHI's motto....it was a relief to go to ASA the next day and converse with normal girls who just happened to be in a sorority and who had lives outside of it, too. I was right about GHI, because one of my dormmates pledged them and they gave her crap about getting an apartment with someone from another sorority and not staying at the mixers long enough.

Honestly, the thing most pnms want is to make a connection, not hear a laundry list of your accomplishments or philanthropy events.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by adrie435

Don't 'over-rush' PNM's... If you sit for 20 minutes and talk all about how much your sorority means to you, and she's sitting there staring at you with a blank expression on her face it means you lost her somewhere. If you go up to her with 15 of your sisters everytime you see her and tell her how much you love her, it'll make you look creepy and desperate.

We're all trained to tell PNM's all about what a wonderful sisterhood we have and all the facts, etc, but I was most impressed with a sorority during recruitment when they answered whatever questions I had concisely and we spent the whole party talking about something completely random. I remember talking about shoes with one active during a recruitment party and that was the day I decided I absolutely loved them!!

It's normal to feel like you have to "sell, sell, sell" when you are the underdog, but if you over-sell yourself girls will actually become less interested in you than they may have started out (if that makes sense).

Originally Posted by 33girl

excellent point.

One of the groups I rushed I really liked...but they were SO "gung ho" they scared me. Nonstop talk about GHI activities, living in the GHI suite, GHI mixers, GHI's motto....it was a relief to go to ASA the next day and converse with normal girls who just happened to be in a sorority and who had lives outside of it, too. I was right about GHI, because one of my dormmates pledged them and they gave her crap about getting an apartment with someone from another sorority and not staying at the mixers long enough.

Honestly, the thing most pnms want is to make a connection, not hear a laundry list of your accomplishments or philanthropy events.

I think it applies even when you aren't the underdog. The less you have to consciously sell your group because instead you make people feel comfortable and at home and feel a connection to you as people the better.

At some point, usually prefs, there has to be something completely specific and wonderful about your GLO, but even then should be the authentic sisterhood which shows rather than a narrative you tell.

ETA: Carnation, what did you tell her? What did your group do for your VIPs?

[carnation]

It would be hard for me to give her advice because I haven't been in her shoes. As a Greek advisor, I've seen the pain of PNMs who had to go to parties where they didn't want to be while their friends had full schedules. I've watched the "less desirable" groups gamely try to carry on their parties with sparsely filled rooms. I've seen the hurt of those groups when they got their very short new member lists and again when half of those girls didn't bother to show up.

I really feel like the best advice will come from people who have personally and successfully dealt with this.

[UGAalum94]

I was afraid that was too narrow and perhaps self-conscious a group to expect hear much from, but I'm certainly interested to hear what the chapters formerly so struggling the PNMs cried but who have turned it all around have to say.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Every year, we had a few women show up to bid day in tears. Generally, it was best to pair them with women who had similar experiences in previous years, and had since come to love the chapter. Also, these are usually the women most concerned with social status and such, so we really spent a lot of time emphasizing our social calendar to them and making sure older girls invited them out a lot.

For the unhappy girls at rush parties, remember that the ones who still have top chapters on their lists are not likely to cry, they will be more bored/annoyed, or, if they are well-mannered, pleasant. The ones who are crying have been cut from all the chapters they wanted, and either have a less-than-full schedule, or a schedule of chapters they think they are too good for. Therefore, they now have to get over themselves and choose the one that is the best fit, or withdraw from recruitment.

33girl gives great advice about just talking to them like you would a friend, not like you are trying to sell your sorority. To add to what she said, pair her with a rusher who has something in common, and say something like "I'm so excited to meet you. Rachel told me that you are just crazy about foreign films and wanted us to talk."

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AlphaGamUGAAlum

I was afraid that was too narrow and perhaps self-conscious a group to expect hear much from, but I'm certainly interested to hear what the chapters formerly so struggling the PNMs cried but who have turned it all around have to say.

I'll bite. My collegiate chapter had a formal recruitment in 2005 that was much like what carnation described. We were also half the size of the other groups on campus.

This is going to sound cliche, but you just have to relax. Really. When our HQ came in to help us after that, they told us that we really just needed to relax and not be so worried about "selling Sigma" to the PNMs from day 1.

As others have said, you can be so wrapped up in pushing your sorority that you creep the girls out. You have to go into recruitment looking to connect with women as friends first for the first 2 rounds. After they've connected with you as people, then you move into selling the sorority experience during 3rd round and Pref. The PNMs can't see you as sisters if they can't see you as friends first.

Also, PNMs can sense when a sorority isn't as confident in themselves as the others. You have to know that you are a great chapter and do everything you can to convey that in your appearance and gestures. You can't think negatively of yourselves and expect PNMs to flock to you.

Recruitment really is an ALL YEAR thing. After that recruitment, we did everything we could during the year to improve. We developed a marketing and image plan for the chapter and implemented it, and started getting our name out more. We participated 100% in every Greek event (even if we didn't always win). We planned socials with a couple of the bigger fraternities (you never know who wants to have a social if you don't ask). We also took time out to get to know each other better outside of the sorority (because it's important to become a more cohesive unit).

Fast forward to Fall 2006 recruitment. We matched quota (with a group of girls that were pretty much all our "rush crushes"). We also did amazing with COB and doubled in size by the end of this last school year. We will most likely be at total after fall 2007 recruitment.

Just goes to show you that it can happen ladies. It just takes work. If you're struggling, you can't expect to do well at recruitment without working hard all year.

[UGAalum94]

That is fantastic! And so fast too! In two years!

Who lead you in developing the marketing plan? Was it just your chapter?

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AlphaGamUGAAlum

Who lead you in developing the marketing plan? Was it just your chapter?

Everyone talks about their HQ's "pressuring" them to "get the numbers" but let me be the first to say that our HQ was fabulous to us and provided us with tons of resources.

We had an LC assigned to our chapter. She suggested implementing a marketing plan on one of her visits. We organized a chapter committee to work on it (which I was on as PR chair). She was available all the time if we had any questions about anything we were putting in it.