This time of year, and right around the end of December are when I take a lot of phone calls and emails from potential clients and customers. I really enjoy these initial conversations, getting to know players and parents, hearing their stories and learning what makes them tick as a player.
Without fail though, every year, I get asked “why are advisers so expensive?”
The simple answer is that a good adviser is not cheap, and a cheap adviser is not good. This goes hand in hand with just about every product or service on the planet.
When players and parents ask why advisers are so expensive, I usually ask them how much money they spent chasing the summer tryout camp circuit. Then I ask them if I could have cut those expenses in half if my adviser fee is still too much.
It’s funny that parents and players will spend an average of $1500 per camp, per weekend, for and average of 6 weekends each summer. And only after that they will call an adviser, then saying they cant afford or don’t want to pay it. This is the result of not having a plan to move forward, and the primary reason why they should hire an adviser anyway.
Every year, all year, I get told by players and parents that they don’t think they should have to pay for an adviser. Ok, that sounds good. And I don’t ever want to pay to have my car repaired or tuned up again. I don’t want to pay for a doctor appointment, or to get my taxes done, or to have my attorney write my contracts.
No one works for free. Would you work for free? The idea that you, or me, or anyone else, should get services for free is absolutely ludicrous. NHL players pay their agents, and they are required to have an agent under NHLPA rules. If they pay their agent/adviser, shouldn’t you?
So lets do the math.
If you spend $9000 each summer with camp fee’s, hotels, meals, transportation and other incidental expenses, that’s a lot of money. That is the North American average spending for hockey families. Some spend more than double, some spend less. I know a family in Alaska that spent over $20,000 two summers ago.
So, if I cut those expenses in half, and got your player onto a good team that would help reach the end goal, that would be a valuable service wouldn’t it? If I cut those expenses by 75%, it would be a more valuable service then.
Doing more math, you need to add in, that by cutting expenses, the adviser saves you a lot of time. Limiting travel time saves more money. Imagine not having to take six to eight vacation days to take your child to camps. Imagine spending those vacation days actually on vacation.
Doing more math, imagine saving all that time comparing one camp to another. Saving the time and headache of trying to guess which camp to attend over another camp taking place on the same days.
If you’re thinking about hiring an adviser, think about the savings, as well as the expenses. Especially now when you are just embarking on that summer camp circuit.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
