The Importance of Having a Sports Agent
As an athlete, you have a lot of things to worry about, your profession is your life and you are preoccupied with trainings, and mentally preparing for upcoming matches. It is inevitable that one day, if you are planning on being famous on a global scale, you are going to need a sports agent. His primary job is to help you get the best contracts and boost your professional career. Basically, a good sports agent will secure that you get your own brand, and will manage the marketing of that brand. It is a colossal amount of work, which also requires for the sports agent to be available to his clients nonstop. It is of major importance that you find an agent that is one hundred percent reliable, and not to be manipulated by someone who can only ruin your prospects.
What traits should your sports agent posses
Think about what would be the best way to assess if a sports agent who wants to hire you is a reliable choice. If agents possesses a refined persuasion skill to recruit clients and have already recruited people who are now seen on sports commercials, he or she is without a doubt a good sports agent. However, the ability to recruit is directly linked to the ability to negotiate and offer a compelling contract. Do not go for someone who has clients but is only able to be their agent because his contracts do not allow them to walk away. The contract needs to be mutually beneficial, not just a piece of paper that gives your agent a great degree of leverage over you. Lastly, an agent is obliged to understand your needs as an athlete, someone who can step in for you if something unexpected occurs, like injury for example. He or she needs to be someone who can take responsibility. You are a well endowed sportsman, and if he or she is to understand your needs, he or she needs to have at least some sort of a certificate that verifies an insight into psychology. Once you manage to find an agent with this kind of qualification, you can say with certainty that your career is secured, as long as you remain a diligent athlete.
Your role as a client
Regardless of how good a sports agent is, an agent can’t make you into a skilled athlete. You must constantly train and stay in shape, he or she is there to help you with your publicity. You need to make sure that you do not overstep your boundaries and to avoid bad publicity. An agent works overtime to ensure the world that you are a good and hardworking athlete, but it is up to you to live up to that image. If you are too reckless, and behave like a maniac, you cannot expect from an agent to get you a contract for a commercial. Since he or she is supposed to make you into a role model, you need to act like one.
Finding someone reliable
The best way of finding a good sports agent is to do a research of their previous works and activities. For example, a man in charge of a Sports Agency called David Sugarman, who used to be Vice President at the Wall Street investments, can provide you with terrific sports agent services. During his time at Wall Street, he handled a lot of portfolios, which belonged to professional athletes who were not fortunate enough to get good deals. This is what inspired David to start his own Sport Agency, and help young athletes with good potential. Another demonstration of David’s generosity is that he readily offered a helping hand to the family of Kenneth Bae, who is currently held in a North Korean prison and is a citizen of the U.S. In other words, he does not hesitate to take action and do what’s right, he posses enough social skill for quality communication and is able to provide you with everything you need. He has proven that he cares for someone he doesn’t even know, and even for athletes who were rejected by other agents.
No one was able to make it on their own without anyone to rely on, and without giving something in return.
