By Kevin Klipstein
It’s not unusual for people to ask me what I do for a living after I have told them what I do for a living. Yes, I’m the CEO of one of 45 National Sports Governing Bodies recognized by the US Government, and responsible for managing the affairs of the sport in the US including everything from the rules of the game, sanctioning play, fielding our national teams, hosting the official national championships while ensuring healthy grassroots development of the sport, all under the umbrella of a membership organization. But the question I’m being asked is, “What do I do ‘professionally?’” You know, my day job.
You would think this misunderstanding comes from people who are not “in sports,” or at least not “in squash,” right? Surely squash players know what U.S. SQUASH does, and that it’s at least a full time job for someone, if not a full staff of people to manage the sport in America, right? Well, you might be surprised to know that more often than not, it’s a question from individuals directly involved in the sport, including active players and dedicated volunteers.
Issues?
So do we have “issues?” Like any organization, of course we have issues, and setting my own issues aside about getting asked this question often, I think it all comes down to communication. Looking back at what I’ve written in this piece since starting over three years ago, sadly, six months into the job, based on feedback from members, I identified communication and our organized play infrastructure as our two biggest areas for improvement.
While we have made some strides in our organized play structure over the past three years, we still do not effectively communicate who we are, what we do, and why someone should actually care.
When I’m asked, “What’s U.S. SQUASH’s value proposition?” My response is, “That depends”
Challenges?
My estimate is there are two main reasons for our lack of communication. The first being that, until recently, we really didn’t know what we were doing and what we were not doing; we didn’t really have good reasons why or why not; and we certainly didn’t have much of a sense for what real success would actually look like if we achieved it.
For the most part, this challenge has been met in the form of a three-year strategic plan the Board will approve this summer. As you may have read in other articles here, we have been working on this for the last year and, in short order, we will publish it, summarize it, and most importantly, market and implement the substantive programs it calls for over the next year and beyond.
The second challenge is tied more directly to the “issue” of communication. What we do, or at least the part that you might care about, is tied directly to who you are, or, more appropriately, what your involvement is with the sport. In marketing and business, this means what we communicate and to whom needs to be targeted to varied and specific audiences, or constituents. When I’m asked, “What’s U.S. SQUASH’s value proposition?” My response is, “That depends.”
Solutions
Do we have an elevator pitch? Yes we do. It’s targeted by audience, and our challenge now is not determining what our value proposition is, or more appropriately, what our value propositions are, but communicating them in an effective way to the variety of constituents we serve. Having written this now, I already feel so much better, and the next time someone asks me what my “day job” is, I’ll have to qualify the question by asking, “That depends, who are you?” And depending on who you are, look for communications from U.S. SQUASH on why we’re more relevant to you than ever before.
