“If you’re an agent, don’t be friends with other agents.”
It should not come as a surprise that the agent who wrote the statement above is one of only a very few in my industry that I do not get along with. He attempts to steal clients from other companies, talks down on his competition instead of listing his positive qualities to potential clients, and will be dealt with by his players’ association, and hopefully weeded out of the industry. But is he correct in his statement? If you are an agent, should you treat all other agents as your enemies and never speak to them, only about them?
I have taken the exact opposite stance and since founding SportsAgentBlog.com on December 31, 2005, attempted to befriend as many agents as possible. Those agents know that I have my own practice and that they have or will be competing with me over clients, but 9 times out of 10, are happy to network.
I have found many benefits from networking with others in my industry:
1. Advice.
No matter how many years of experience you have in your practice, you have not encountered every possible scenario. It is nice to have a group of connections that you can ask a question to without wondering if they will use it against you. If you think that the players’ associations will answer all of your questions (in a timely fashion), think again.
2. Recommendations.
You might be interested in only representing professional basketball players. If you network with an agent who only represents professional football players and that agent gets a call from a basketball player looking for solid representation, you may get a referral at my favorite price (free).
3. Credibility.
I am only 24-years-old. I still have another 6 months before I become 25. So age is often a concern for players and their families when I approach them about representation. I can show off my body of work and current client base, but it also helps to have others in my own industry with much more experience as friends. I can name drop BJ Armstrong, Matt Sosnick, Glenn Toby, etc, and they would all be more than happy to say something positive about me (at least I hope that is the case!).
4. Additional Connections.
Today’s agent does not only negotiate professional contracts. He helps an athlete with retirement planning, financial planning, setting up charities, finding endorsement opportunities, social media strategy…need I go on? Undoubtedly, you are not an expert in every area mentioned, and you may not be connected to some of the best in those professions. Your agent buddies may be able to help connect you with others, who in turn, will give you a better chance at retaining the clients you fought so hard for in the first place.
Through SportsAgentBlog.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and the Blackberry that never leaves my side, I have created a huge network of agents that I consider friends. I routinely get emails from agents who appreciate my work with the blog and what I have done with Dynasty at such a young age. Should I respond to their emails and calls by telling them to F off? That sounds silly to me. And I actually enjoy being friends with my colleagues (yes, competition can be colleagues).
Agents get a bad enough reputation from the media as is. Overall, sports fans don’t like us (holdouts/high salaries), our wives/girlfriends don’t
like us (always traveling/at the computer/on the phone)…hell, everyone calls us Jerry Maguire, individually. At least we can like each other. We have to deal with each other at recruiting events, annual meetings, and professional games. Let’s at least pretend to get along.
And don’t get mad at me if I write something semi-damaging about you on my blog. I’m just reporting the facts, and the site helps pay the bills.
Photo Credits: Enemies; Jerry Maguire
About Darren Heitner
Darren Heitner is a CEO, sports agent, journalist, entrepreneur, and innovator. Darren created the first sports agent blog on the internet, SportsAgentBlog.com, which receives upwards of 5,000 unique visits per day from sports agents, athletes, media sources, and the general public. In the blog, everything from contract negotiations to endorsement deals are examined, providing the framework for a great deal of information upon which he has been able to depend. In 2009, Darren created EntertainmentAgentBlog.com, which has the same purpose of SAB, but focuses on the entertainment industry. Darren is also the CEO and Founder of Dynasty Athlete Representation, a full service sports and talent agency that handles contract negotiations, marketing endorsements, financial planning, legal services, etc. Darren graduated from the University of Florida in May 2007 with a Political Science Major and was valedictorian of his class. He is a member of many Honors Societies including, Florida Blue Key, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi. He is now in his third and final year at the University of Florida Levin School of Law, where he is serving his second consecutive term as the President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society.
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