TransferRoom’s mission has always been to make the transfer market more transparent and efficient. By opening up 21st century lines of communication between clubs, and between clubs and agents, we have facilitated more than 3,000 transfers and transformed how football does business.
But at the heart of any agent’s business is their relationship with their players. And if there is a breakdown in communication and trust between agent and player, that relationship suffers.
Of course, the process of arranging transfers has to involve a certain amount of secrecy. But if a player is left in the dark about how things are going, they can start to doubt whether their agent is working hard enough or has their best interests at heart.
Rival agents and intermediaries will not be slow to fill that information gap with promises that they can do a better job. So TransferRoom has devised the Player Loyalty Booster feature to help agents prove they are sourcing and pursuing the best possible opportunities to advance their players’ careers.
How does the Player Loyalty Booster feature work?
Agents who are already part of the TransferRoom platform will be familiar with how the system facilitates pitching to clubs and exchanging feedback. The Player Loyalty Booster allows agents to share certain elements of this information with players.
Each player will have his or her own landing page where they will have access to information about which clubs their agent has pitched them to, what feedback those clubs gave to the pitch, and which clubs have shown interest in them. The data will be updated in real time so all parties are up to date with where they stand.
Do players really want this?
24% of players switched agents in 2022 and this lack of trust will no doubt have contributed to many of those decisions.
This feature is designed to help fix that by highlighting all the work an agent does on a player’s behalf.
A frequent complaint from both players and agents is that the huge quantity of publicity, gossip and misinformation that surrounds the transfer market makes it difficult to know what is true and what isn’t. That’s why rival agents and intermediaries are able to get a foothold with players and try to tempt them away from their existing representation. But in the end, players want to know what the real situation is so they can make the best decision about the next step in their career.
How does the feature help agents?
Player Loyalty Booster is ultimately designed to help agents retain more of their players.
- Build trust. Sharing information with players, and being transparent about the work you are doing for them, increases trust - the key to a successful relationship.
- Increase communication. Keeping players in the loop ensures everyone is on the same page, working towards the same goals.
- Reduce misunderstandings. Being upfront about which clubs have been pitched to and how they have responded brings clarity and reduces the risk of conflict. If agents fill the information gap, rival agents and middlemen have less room to make trouble.
- Improve decision-making. By sharing information with players, agents allow the process to be more collaborative and give players more ownership of outcomes as they work together to find the right solutions.
- Enhance reputation. Because players DO want transparency, keeping them informed improves the reputation of the agent. If you stand out for honesty and openness, you have a better chance of retaining players and attracting new ones.
We know that agents won’t want all of their players to have access to this information, all of the time. That’s why Player Loyalty Booster can easily be switched on and off in one click. This allows agents to use the feature in whatever way best suits a specific player and situation.
Won’t this just add another layer of administration to the agent’s job and waste valuable time?
The Player Loyalty Booster feature requires next to no extra work from agents. All they need to do is decide which players they want to give access to information about pitches and feedback and TransferRoom will automatically generate the content and allow the players access to see it. Agents are essentially just sharing information about activity they have already had on the platform, not having to provide more. Likewise, clubs won’t have to do anything more than they are already doing.
This kind of information will simply prompt more questions than answers. Players will just be ringing agents and wanting to know why a pitch was rejected, and so on, won’t they?
Of course the feature will not replace the need for direct contact between agents and players. Its main aim is to improve communication and increase trust through openness and transparency. A lot of the time, players will simply use the one-stop-shop to check how things are going with all the different possible opportunities. In some cases, players may want to know more about how a pitch was received and why.
But at least they will know that their agent has made a pitch and, by using TransferRoom’s unique platform, has contacted the right people to provide a reliable response.
There will always be the need for direct communication between agents and players, and sometimes those conversations can be tough. But using the Player Loyalty Booster means those conversations are based on fact, not fiction, and there is a spirit of openness and collaboration that helps everyone find the best outcomes.
How will using the feature stop other rival agents and middlemen making wild promises and trying to poach players?
It won’t, and it can’t. But what the Player Loyalty Booster CAN do is allow agents to provide evidence to players of which clubs they have pitched them to and what the response has been. If other agents say particular clubs would be interested in the player, the existing agent can test that market via the TransferRoom platform, find out whether there is a genuine opportunity, and if not, understand why.
How will the transparency rating be calculated and what additional information will players be able to see?
In certain instances, it might be in the best interest of a player not to distract him with transfer information - and rather let him focus on his performance on the pitch. But in most cases both player and agent are better off with full transparency. To get 'High Transparency' status on TransferRoom, an agent needs to have enabled sharing with at least 50% of their players on the platform.
Once an agent enables sharing, a player will be able to see:
- Clubs the player has been pitched to
- Feedback from those pitches
- Any other interest that is declared via Transferroom
Will clubs be able to see that other clubs have accepted or rejected a pitch for a particular player?
No. Only the agent, and the player he chooses to share information with, will be able to see information about pitches, feedback and interest.
What’s to stop the information I share with my players leaking to other parties?
The only person that will see the information an agent chooses to share is the specific player, who has been verified by the agent.
Since its launch in 2017, TransferRoom has experienced very few incidents of breach of trust and takes them very seriously. Ultimately, the platform cannot prevent individuals from acting as they see fit. But what TransferRoom does provide is a platform giving instant access to up-to-date information - a tool that all stakeholders value highly and have no interest in compromising.
What if I still don’t want to use the feature?
Player Loyalty Booster is entirely optional. If you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to. We know that players value honesty and transparency as traits in an agent, and this feature helps agents build that trust. It is available at no extra charge, so you have nothing to lose by trying it and seeing how you and your players feel about it. We believe it can help you build loyalty with your current players, and build a reputation that will attract new clients.
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