I have always maintained that there are many similarities between executive recruiters and sports agents -- and between successful executives and pro athletes. Indeed, one of my more popular posts this year featured a link to a CFO magazine story about about big league sports contract negotiations. (See Getting Paid What You're Worth.)
According to two-time pro baseball MVP, Dale Murphy, if you were a real professional athlete and I were a real sports agent, here are the top 10 questions you'd want to ask me before signing my representation deal ...
- Briefly describe the services that you offer to your clients (playing contract negotiations, legal assistance, financial planning, insurance, endorsement contract negotiations, tax consulting, money management estate planning, etc.)
- How are you compensated for each service that you provide? Is your fee negotiable?
- Who is responsible for your expenses? Are they covered in the fees?
- Do you receive compensation from other professionals who provide services for your clients?
- Have you ever been reprimanded by a league or sued by a client? What was the outcome?
- Do you have any objection to your work being reviewed by a third party?
- How many clients do you represent at my position? How many new clients do you add per year?
- Who will be negotiating my contract?
- After the initial signing of my playing contract, will you be my contact person on a daily basis?
- Please provide me with a complete list of current and former clients for the past five years. Do I have permission to contact them?
In light of the worldwide bull market for executive talent, these questions should be modified to fit your personal situation and saved for future reference. Not all executive recruiters are paid the same way -- and certainly not all recruiters operate in the same manner.
You should start thinking like a professional athlete. Basically, that's how we recruiters think of you. You're the talent. Are you a franchise player?
