Through my previous work history I was fortunate enough to work with two large databases of clients or customers. One was working with retail owners in a territory management role and the other was working with over 150 sporting clubs as their General Manager.
The beauty of working with such large networks is that over time you get to discover the certain trends regarding individuals that consistently repeat themselves such as people's personality, their resistance to change and the way they treat others etc.
As your experience and interactions grow, you notice that large sets of people can be broken down into subsets very much like the standard deviation chart (above) we learnt about at school.
For those who forgot it, the chart shows that when you chart any statistic multiple times, the most common results cluster around the middle (the average) with the outliers splaying out like taking a bell curve type appearance. The lines in the above chart indicates standard deviations away from the average.
This curve can be used to compare people's incomes, how much time they watch tv or what mark they got on their maths test.
As an example, if there are changes that need to be implemented as a manager, you'll find that most people are ok with it (middle 68.2%), some will really like it (left 15.9%) - with a small number actually complimenting you on how great it is - and some will detest it (right 15.9%) - with a small number ringing to abuse you. The abuse phone calls always seem a little more frequent then the compliment ones however.
The same patterns are seen at Clubs or when comparing clusters of around six or more.
As an example, if I was to present to a Football Association with eight Clubs on COZ App about how it can be used to grow sponsorship at your Club, I am sure that over half of the audience would like the idea and want to sign up their Club. One or two Clubs would really like the idea and come and chat with me after about all the ideas the presentation has given them and how they are enthusiastic to get going with its implementation. Of the ones that express an interest, some won't actually be that keen when it comes to investing some time in the enhancement so they will drop off. Of the eight Clubs, there will always be a couple of stragglers who - for whatever reason - think it is all too hard to even consider and that is ok too.
Anyone that has worked in sales knows that it is impossible to please everyone and if you gave 10 people a gift horse each - 2-3 people would undoubtedly look in its mouth and complain that it has bad breath.
The amazing trends in sports that is not at all surprising is the correlation between the Clubs that repeatedly appear to left of the chart (for positive measures) will also, regularly be the most or more successful Club in the competition and vice versa.
This is apparent from elite sports all the way down to grass roots levels.
This is in my opinion why it is very hard for a Club to turn its fortunes around in one season, because there is actually so many factors that go into Club onfield success.
My advice to any committee trying to become sustainably successful is clear "don't suck as much" and take a longer term approach.
What does this actually mean?
Take measures so that your Club doesn't continually chart in the right (lower end) and particularly the far right section of the chart when compared to other Clubs in the competition. Some areas will need defined strategy to drive this process and will probably take two to three years to make the progress that will see you winning premierships as opposed to one offseason.
A good example would be 'Player Loyalty' - improving the retention of locally born and bred players means a) the Club has to recruit less b) the Club can recruit smarter c) the Club will have more of a family feel d) the playing group will be closer and e) those players are more likely to continually be involved with the Club in a decade as a coach, support staff, parent or sponsor. Getting that player loyalty right can improve multiple components of the Club.
For Clubs needing to make improvements fast, you'd be amazed how refreshing some cultural changes such as bringing in a good coach, new committee members with fresh ideas or establishing a fund-raising committee can get things tracking in the right direction in a few weeks.
The first thing you need to do as a collective, is try and work out exactly where you are at (compared to your competition) by taking an honest assessment of the Club in a number of critical categories which all impact on on field success. This process takes courage as not everyone likes brutal honesty.
In sport we always expect it from the players, but don't always apply it in the board room. In my time, I saw a lot of organisations stagnate because no one wanted to offend the President by telling them their time was up.
For example how would this go down in a meeting? "Our Club should be performing much better financially- I think someone is stealing money."
To assist Clubs wanting to do a deep dive into how they may actually be tracking when compared to other Clubs in their competition, I have identified the top 16 categories to start your investigations with.
I always liked to start my analysis with the financials, as a Club with a clear financial direction, a good financial model and great systems in-place, is a great sign that their house is in order.
Financial Security
- Financial Model
- Fundraising
- Expenditure
- Sponsorship
Board Capacity and Productivity
- Clarity of Direction
- Staffing / delegation of roles
- Diversity of Ideas / Actual Skills
- Transparency
Onfield Performance
- Results
- Playing Numbers / Recruitment
- Coaching and Training
- Consistency
Culture
- Red Cards / Player Behaviour
- Loyalty
- External Perception
- External Relationships
Governance
- Systems
The idea of the charting being, that any right to left movement in any of the above is a sign that your Club is moving in the right direction and will become more competitive against the other Clubs.
When you are performing above average in all factors you are guaranteed to be a successful Club and when you are getting up to the elite space which is on the far left in numerous categories (meaning you are the best Club in the association for that specific category), no one in your association will be able to stop you.
For Clubs that are in this rare air and really want to push themselves, continuing to move themselves further away from the average in a positive direction means they will be becoming closer to the best performers in the state.
From a sponsorship perspective, It makes sense that businesses and organisations would gravitate to Clubs that they know have good leadership and culture, are successful and professionally managed, and are able to professionally manage their relationships for mutual benefit.
Everyone wants to jump on a winning bandwagon right?
To use an economic term, the bandwagon stage is where the Club can hit "the Law of Increasing Returns" where they can capitalise on their hard work (from years prior) and are getting players, supporters and sponsors actually coming to them because they are renowned as a great Club.
This is the 'sweet spot' of clubland and where being involved in a Club becomes bloody good fun.
When you hit this stage- expect to be abused, scratched and brought down by the other 84% of Clubs who never had the vision, leadership or put in the hard yards to break away from the pack.
Rest assured, the only things that can stop you now are points systems and salary caps, two things I know plenty about, but that is a story for another day.
ENDS
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