FINDING THE RIGHT REPRESENTATION FOR YOU
By Aaron Swerdlow (Kauffman Sports Management Group)
Finding the Right Representation
Initially, it may appear unusual for college basketball coaches to benefit from representation. It is one thing for a 21-year old college player who has declared his eligibility for the NBA Draft to seek the guidance of an agent, but college coaches are very often older and more mature than an NBA rookie. Yet, in reality, it is becoming increasingly common, and necessary at certain levels, for coaches to seek the guidance, services and expertise provided by professional representation. This makes sense as college coach salaries continue to grow exponentially and assistant coaches increasingly receive multi-year contracts. My firm, Kauffman Sports Management Group, has been active in basketball representation for nearly forty years and now represents some of the most highly respected coaches in college and the NBA. To hopefully help the hard-working coaches advance their careers, I have put together the qualities of a representative that college coaches should look for and guidance on how to determine the right representative for you.
Essential Qualities of a Representative
Most importantly, a representative must be someone whom you trust to put you in the best professional situation given your experience level and qualifications. When first in contact with a potential representative, examine their current client roster and professional background. Make sure they have the capacity to spend the time and resources to advocate on your behalf to decision-makers such as search firms, athletic directors and other influencers without conflicts of interest. Trust can be built over time, but ensure that the representative you select will loyally advocate for you when there is a vacancy and not numerous other coaches concurrently.
Honesty is also very important. In an industry with frequent misinformation, seek a representative who engages in an open, direct dialogue about decisions and actions involving your career. A good way to detect honesty is the responsiveness and reputation of a representative. A good representative won’t become unresponsive without notice or cease to engage with you should you hit a roadblock in your career. Clear communication and accessibility are essential to excellent representation. The representatives’ other clients can reflect positively or negatively on you. Try to align an agency’s reputation and client roster with your personal values and professional goals.
Finally, you should matter to your representative. Larger agencies promote their contacts and influence, while boutique agencies highlight their personal attention and specialization. (The pros and cons of representation with a large agency could be an entire article.) Regardless of the size of an agency, make sure that you are important to your representative. Your success should matter a great deal to your representative, so he or she is continuously working very hard on your behalf. Finally, don’t feel threatened if athletic directors tell you that they won’t deal with representatives. It is only fair for coaches to have knowledgeable and experienced representation, especially as salaries and contract durations continue to increase. As such, it is vital that you trust your representative to speak to athletic directors and other administrators in an appropriate and honest manner.
A Long-Term Relationship
Just as you hope to have a long and successful career, a good representative will view his or her relationship with you as a long-term investment in both of your futures. Consider what it would mean for your career to work with a representative whose clients have stayed with them for their entire coaching career. A good representative will share your passion for basketball and strong work ethic. Additionally, in order to facilitate a long-term relationship with a potential representative, converse with them about personal values, family, professional goals and interests outside of basketball. A genuine, long-lasting relationship between you and your representative must be built on shared personal and professional goals, standards and interests.
Good Questions to Ask
I begin getting to know a potential client through phones calls and in-person meetings. This is a good opportunity for you to ideally establish a good rapport and make sure a potential representative is an expert in the business. He or she should be familiar with the fundamentals of contracts and the current market value of potential clients relative to other coaches at the same level as you.
Once you feel comfortable, ask direct questions about their fee structure and specifics on the services a representative offers their clients. Some representatives provide their clients with tax preparation, estate planning, marketing and speaking opportunities, interview preparation as well as media training. A good representative needs to be able to provide his or her honest opinion, so don’t shy away from asking direct, sometimes challenging, questions. Honesty between you and your representative will foster greater professional and financial success over the course of your career.
Legal and Financial Factors
An often overlooked but important aspect of choosing a representative is the legal and financial nature of the relationship. To ensure you can trust a potential representative, be wary of anyone who is overeager in attempting to have you sign a binding contract or who asks for money upfront. Ethical and honest representatives should explain the nature of the potential financial and legal arrangement and answer any questions you may have. Ideally, your representative will be an attorney or have an attorney on staff who can explain the ins and outs of their representation agreement. Make sure the commission structure is identical or similar to that offered other clients. If you feel it necessary, take the time to have an outside attorney review the representation agreement before signing. A good representative will be patient and communicative about the legal and financial aspects of a potential relationship.
Conclusion
In summation, college basketball coaches increasingly need representatives to assistant in navigating search firms, contract negotiation, relationship building with decision-makers, generating marketing opportunities and help making decisions about career advancement. A coach’s choice in representative should be determined by personal comfort level, reputation and belief that you share similar priorities and values. The demands on coaches are tremendous, but it is important to take the time to interview with more than one agent to ensure that you understand the process and are comfortable making a final decision. Ultimately, the right representative can serve as an invaluable personal and professional resource to help you achieve major career milestones and have a long-lasting and successful career as a college basketball coach.
For additional information about the benefits of representation generally and Kauffman Sports, please visit KauffmanSports.com.
