Posts Tagged ‘athlete manager’

Servicing Sponsorship is 2-Way

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

1) Athlete manager pitches for sponsorship.

2) Sponsor signs a contract with exclusive benefits and rights.

3) Athlete manager sits back and waits for sponsor to leverage the relationship.

4) Sponsor lacks ideas and becomes frustrated with the availability / restrictions around the sponsorship.

5) The athlete manager continues a re-active communication style with the sponsor. No to this request. Yes to this.

6) The only time the athlete manager initiates contact with the sponsor is when the athlete needs product or a payment is due.

7) Contract expires. Sponsor walks away. Athlete is dumbfounded. “But I did everything they asked of me”?

The problem with the above scenario is the lack of communication between the athlete manager and the sponsor. Or more specifically the lack of initiative by the athlete manager.

Traditionally, it’s not the job of athlete managers to come up with leveraging ideas. But that’s not an excuse to sit on your hands.

Athlete managers should be calling sponsors and giving them updates on the athlete’s diary, availability and event scheduling. They should be telling them about current promotions with other sponsors. They should notify the sponsor of any public appearances or media the athlete is doing etc.

This type of communication engages the sponsor and leaves them no excuse not to activate the sponsorship.

It will also differentiate you from the other athlete managers that sponsor deals with.

You’ve given them plenty of opportunity to find ROI.  And at the end of the contract, the sponsor has little excuse to walk away.

After all, we all know that it’s much cheaper to retain sponsor’s than find new ones.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

Manage But Don’t Forget to Teach

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Some athlete managers do everything for their clients. They pay their bills, they insure their car, they book their holidays, they fill out complex forms, they might even pick up their dry cleaning or run other errands. This type of management style is great except what you’re doing is depriving your client of important life skills.

Yes, athlete managers need to take the reins on different aspects of management but not at the expense of leaving your client without the knowledge or expertise to navigate life by themselves.

It amazes me how many athletes don’t know how to do simple tasks such as booking their own flights online. Everyday jobs are lost on some athletes simply because they have always had someone else do it for them.

You are expected to manage everything that is sponsorship or media driven but often athletes will rely on their managers for totally unrelated personal jobs. And it’s not their fault, it’s just that no one has ever taught them these skills. As a manager, it’s your duty to educate your clients. Athletes really appreciate this, in fact they take ownership and feel empowered to manage themselves better.

Ultimately your job is to build your athlete’s brand and align them with great sponsors, and this will be much easier with a client who is domlife-esticated.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Personal Development, Strategy | No Comments »

What Do Athletes Really Want?

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

In a perfect world for athlete managers, every professional sportsperson would have the hunger and drive to blitz the commercial world just as they have the same hunger and drive to succeed on-field.

But unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world. Not every athlete wants to build their public profile and do the work that is required to earn massive money from endorsements, appearances and media deals.

The main focus of an athlete manager’s job is to make their client money. After all that’s how managers make their money. So when a manager has an athlete that doesn’t have the same commercial drive it can be incredibly frustrating.

Before you sign an athlete it’s important to ask them what they think you’re job is. If they think your job is to earn them as much money as possible and they are willing to work really hard for the endorsement dollars, then great, you are both on the same page. You can confidently chase opportunities knowing your athlete will go to work.

However if they don’t care much for the spotlight, aren’t willing to go over and beyond for sponsors, network themselves, or simply have an attitude of wanting to earn money but don’t really want to put in the work required, then you have a problem.

It’s important to ask an athlete the big questions up front. Know exactly what your role is with every client you represent. You will not only save yourself a lot of time and heartache, but you can really concentrate on rewarding those clients who have the hunger to succeed commercially.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Media, Sponsorship, Strategy | 3 Comments »

Crisis Management

Monday, March 9th, 2009

In light of the latest Rugby League drama surrounding Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough let’s look at crisis management for athlete managers. These are just some of the key points in my experience.

  • Know your strategy. Brainstorm worst case scenarios. Then when the crisis breaks, you immediately know the steps you should be taking. This is about knowing people’s roles in a crisis. Who will be the media spokesperson, who will draft the media release, what are the processes to inform sponsors etc.
  • Inform key stakeholders. When a crisis breaks, consult the athlete’s lawyer (if it’s a legal matter) and then the sporting association or club. Clubs have a duty to know the full details and protect their sponsors and will often take over the management of the crisis – which saves you being the public face of the crisis (never a good look for a sports manager).
  • Be the first to know. Make sure that you are the first person your client contacts after any controversy. Get all the facts on the table. If you are the first to know, then you get a chance to break the news. This is not always possible, but if YOU break the news, then YOU get to control the message, which leads me to…..
  • Don’t ignore the crisis, or sweep it under the carpet. Always assume the crisis is bigger than what it is because in the eyes of the media it often is. The media will always find out eventually and then you’ll have two crises – the actual crisis and the way you’ve handled it.
  • Legal issues are not an excuse to run and hide. You have an obligation to publicly address the issue. It’s only the CONTENT of your public address that needs to be managed carefully. If you’re client is unable to comment due to a legal investigation then say so. Which brings me to…
  • Make sure everyone is briefed. If the media can’t get comment from the source they will go to a family member, former coach, current sponsors etc. So you need to brief all these people that the appointed ‘Spokesperson’ is the contact and any enquiries should be directed to that person.
  • Don’t blame the media for the trouble your client is in. This never achieves anything.
  • Don’t speculate in the media. Stick to the facts if there is an investigation going on. For example, don’t answer questions about possible consequences if your client is found guilty. This only adds more drama to the story.

It will be interesting to watch how the Sea Eagles manage the media as more details come to light over the coming week.

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Posted in Media, Strategy | No Comments »