What A 9 Year Old Can Teach You About Selling ...

... Or Selling Your Program

John Wooden said that coaches and players have to work together to achieve success.  We as coaches have the responsibility to get our players to buy-in to what we are trying to do.

How do we get our message across to players in a way where they will listen and retain the information?

The picture below is from an article I read on being a better salesperson.  It mentions that most people only remember 1 thing from a sales call a week later.  Because of that, we have to make sure our message is short, simple, and impactful enough for it to be that one thing that our athletes remember.

I hate listening to coaches ramble on when trying to motivate, teach, or give important information to athletes.  We have to learn how to communicate efficiently on the level of our athletes.

Kevin Eastman Coaching U Live Notes 7-9-13

I borrowed these notes from one of my favorite websites: Men's Basketball Hoopscoop at http://www.mensbasketballhoopscoop.com/kevin-eastman-coaching-u-live-2013/

Kevin Eastman Coaching U Live 7-9-2013

Constructing a Great Team (the DNA of championship teams)
   ***Note*** he jumps all over the place, ex. Says there are 10 points, only does 8.

1) Coach in the moment, lead in the moment.
- He shared the story about Doc Rivers having each Celtic, coach, trainer, etc give $100.00, then putting it in the ceiling of the Laker locker room. He told the team they would collect their money back in June at the NBA finals.

2) The best leaders always have their antennas up
Never miss an opportunity to learn something you can use with your team.

3) We must invest in ourselves.

4) Never put a ceiling on your growth.

15 chairs
Eastman placed 15 chairs on the court in a row, simulating a bench. He talked about building a team and where people sit in this process.

- These 15 chairs are the most critical to our team/program.
- Who do you include on your team?
- What standards/culture do you build for your team?
- How do you build the mindset they need?

3 important seats 


#1 Best Player
You must have a great relationship with your best player. Build a strong relationship so you can get into their head.

-  Great messages must be received and acted on
-  Must get into their mind & heart
-  You must have buy in - they MUST believe
-  There must be TRUST a. time b. consistency c. proof
-  Must live in the TRUTH a. live it b. tell it c. take it


Bench Guys
-  Surround your problem guys on the bench with great guys ... don’t allow problems to sit together and grow into bigger problems
-  You can’t just be ready, you MUST be prepared
-  The bench is an area of education, not entertainment (elbows on 
knees, not on chairs)
-  Bench must be engaged, not entertained
-  Don’t just “see” the game, watch the game
-  Must be competitors, not companions
-  It is not “garbage time”, it is “trust time”
-  You’re not just coming off the bench, you are entering the fire”
-  You can’t just ease into the game, bring ENERGY. 


Assistant Coaches
-  Go with solutions, not just problems
-  90% evaluation, 10% emotion
-  You must calm the head coach when they are emotional
-   “Weed the garden”, take care of issues for the head coach, program
-  See the game, don’t just watch
-  Eastman always watches practice from the same location where he will 
sit during games. 


Role Players
-  Clearly defined roles by the head coach
-  Role players must execute their roles
-  “Do your job completely”, New England Patriots locker room
-  Your job, this day, this game
-  “Opponents must make decisions when all of us are executing our roles”, Ray Allen -  Your role is your impact on our success!
-  Sacrifice your fame, for this name (Kirkwood)” Gordon Wood
-  Be an all-star in your role
-  Do what you do, it’s ok to not do what you don’t


Leaders
-  Leadership is an all the time position (captains)
-  Every play, every minute, every day
-  Learn from the past, produce in the present, and prepare for the future
-  The easiest place to lead is on the court...true leaders lead in all 
venues. 


Team
-  Success lies in simplicity
-  None of us is as strong as all of us
-   “The jerseys don’t make the team”
-  The proper chemistry & proper roster can often trump talent
-  Teamwork is not a preference, it’s a requirement
-  The first act of sacrifice is accepting our culture and accepting your 
role.
-  There can only be one team on This Team.
-  Every season there will be 3 or 4 “next steps”, be on the lookout for 
them.
-  Must play with and for each other.
-  It’s against human nature to want what’s good for someone else...but 
very important if we want to achieve team goals.
-  Teams can sense staff friction
-  Keep antennas up for malcontents, they are best recruiters on your 
team
-  Studies have shown teams the touch the most where the most 
successful teams.
-  Teamwork doesn’t mean everything and everyone is equal.


Mathematically equating to teamwork!
-  Teamwork divides the effort
-  Teamwork adds the efficiency
-  Teamwork subtracts the selfishness
-  Teamwork multiplies the rewards

Evaluate Relationships
1)  Liked, trusted, respected coaches (best teams)
2)  Liked, trusted, respected other players
3)  Coaches liked, trusted, respected by players
4)  Coaches liked, trusted, respected by coaches

Team Killers
-  Whisperers
-  Personal agendas 


What Eastman learned at LeBron James Camp 
LeBron on why Heat win.....
-  We are a team of sacrifice
-  Sacrifice shots, points, minutes, positions...
-  Must act on sacrifice          
-  TEAM over everything & anything
-  Everyone liked every player and every coach 


When refocusing the team during stretch run, each player (on the Heat) signed a Commitment Contract 

-  Contracts where unique to all players

-  Each player was willing to do anything at any time. 


Motivation vs. Inspiration

Coach K introduces the janitor to his basketball team each season. K says the janitor “sets the tone;” he is among the most important members of the team!

Myths of Success - Hard Work = Success

-  Hard work is a given - going beyond is what separates good from great. “Doing the un-required work”

Relationships = Networking

Show Up, Shut Up, Keep Up!

“Never say no to a basketball opportunity” (he listed many examples of guys who have advanced to greatness because they never turned down an opportunity.

Commitment Every day 100%

Loyalty 100%


Keep list going …

Ollie is Proof of a Brand That Works

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Richard Hamilton and Ray Allen, NBA veterans and former Connecticut standouts, were standing 15 feet from the podium as the Huskies -- their Huskies -- celebrated atop the podium at AT&T Stadium while confetti fell from the rafters.

Connecticut, a 7-seed that lost to Louisville three times in the regular season by a combined 55 points and finished third in the new American Athletic Conference, had just won the national title by defeating the rumbling Kentucky Wildcats 60-54 on Monday night. "Man, just imagine if you'd gone to Las Vegas three weeks ago and...," Hamilton said.

Before he could finish, Allen began to nod. "You'd win money," the Miami Heat star said.

Few outside Storrs, Conn., thought the Huskies would be here. Of the 11 million-plus people who entered a bracket into ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge, .016 percent had the Huskies and Wildcats facing off in the championship.

But UConn coach Kevin Ollie, who represents a new breed of young, relatable coaches, thought this was attainable. And his players believed him when he told them they could win a national championship a year after the NCAA blocked the program from the postseason because of APR (academic progress rate) failures.

He's been the motivator, the teacher and the leader all season.

And now, he's just the winner.

"They've got something special inside of them," Ollie said. "I wanted them to step outside of their egos and just play basketball the right way. And that's what they've been doing through this magical run. When we lost by 33 to Louisville [on March 8], everybody said we were over with. Those guys have been through so much. When it was dark days, they still played together. And now we're in the light and it's real good to see the emotions on those kids' faces because they're the ones who stuck in and believed. A lot of other people didn't."

Welcome to the new age of coaching.

Ollie, 41, made money in the NBA as a gritty guard for 12 franchises in a 13-year playing career. Most of his coaching peers began their careers as low-level assistants and pushed through the various hierarchical rungs to eventually secure head-coaching gigs.

Ollie didn't do it that way. And that's fine.

Longtime coach Jim Calhoun essentially bequeathed this Connecticut program to his former standout guard, then an assistant coach, two years ago. Ollie's limited time on the bench -- a common knock against young coaches -- was fodder for doubters when he accepted the job in 2012. He had coached only two seasons as a member of Calhoun's staff. But he was ready. Clearly.

"Every day, you saw these guys being inspired," Allen said. "You saw them out there playing with so much passion. You saw Kevin's passion on the floor. That's how he always played. ... I don't believe that there's ever a traditional path of life. We all find our journeys in many different ways."

Ollie's rapid ascent is remarkable but no longer foreign. Ollie is a member of a new breed of younger coaches who've rebuked tradition and assembled successful programs with tactics past generations did not embrace.

The Bobby Knight era of coaching encouraged discipline over everything. Ollie and his peers still demand it, but they're also willing to take the steps to close the gap and bond with their players. They're mentors and friends. They're tough yet approachable. They're professional and fashionable. They're superiors who feel comfortable enough to talk about their affinity for rap music without worrying that they'll lose respect.

Ollie prefers Snoop Dogg. Um, Snoop Lion.

But he's not one of them. He's also not some ruler sitting on a throne. And that's what the Huskies like about him.

He wants to connect with them.

"I mean, he loves us, man," Tor Watts said. "He told us in the beginning of the year that we're going to be here. And we love him. And we love each other. When we have an actual team, you can just do whatever you want on the court and we were able to get here. He's more of a bigger, older father figure than a coach because he just came out of the NBA. He's young, he's energetic. He's able to practice with us. He's able to run hills with us. ... We just try to win for him."

Before Monday's game, Shabazz Napier discussed the day he cried in Ollie's arms after a rough stretch. Niels Giffey said the coach's confidence in his players resulted in the nightly scrappiness and passion that fueled the run for the only 7-seed in NCAA tournament history to win a national title.

And Ryan Boatright praised Ollie for his willingness to relax. He said he expected his coach to dance with the players after the game. "He's like our best friend but a father figure at the same time," Boatright said. "He's gonna turn up [in the locker room]."

Ollie didn't deny that.

"Oh, yeah. I gotta break my moves out," he said. "I gotta warm my knees up first, though."

These 45-and-under, locker room-dancing, basketball-savvy, foot-stomping, advanced-stats-driven, father-figure, big-brother-like, hip-hop-listening leaders have been bubbling to the brim of a game that's still owned by a group of legends who go by mere single names or letters: Boeheim. Coach K. Roy. Self. The new breed isn't as powerful, tenured or successful -- yet. But Kevin (Ollie), Fred (Hoiberg), Archie (Miller), Shaka (Smart), Richard (Pitino), Josh (Pastner), Mick (Cronin) and Cuonzo (Martin) are next.

Well, Ollie is now. And that's proof that knowledge can supersede coaching experience.

"This is what UConn basketball is all about," Ollie said. "This is what Coach Calhoun built, and he gave me the baton. I'm just trying to keep proving everybody wrong. Everybody said our university is going to go down after the sanctions. And people left. We're still here. Somebody the other day said we're a Cinderella. We're UConn. UConn is always gonna stay here."

Ollie didn't have a lengthy résumé, beyond his NBA career, when he took the job in 2012. But he knew the game. And he knew how to convey that wisdom to a bunch of youngsters, who took it and won the national championship Monday night. He knew how to talk to them. He knew how to jell with them.

He knew how to be real with them.

That's why they love him.

That's why they fight for him.

And that's why they won it all for him.

"He's just a great motivator," Giffey said. "Honest person. He's always 100 percent positive, and he believes in me. He does that while being demanding in a way."