The Agency that gives back to its Talent

NEW YORK - May 26, 2016 - PRLog -- When looking at different agencies that manage their talent one stands out to us beyond the others. CK Talent Management, Inc. is truly a different kind of agency. We wanted to understand what makes them different, so we spent the day at CK's Corporate offices in Manhattan to find out. We arranged a meeting with Allison Evans CK's Executive Vice President.  In Speaking with Ms. Evans, we find that CK takes a different approach to scouting, signing and maintaining their talent.

We asked Ms. Evans what makes her agency different: "We screen our athletes and talent, the funny thing is most agencies don't. When we see a great athlete, actor or model we make contact, but that does not mean we are going to sign them. It means what they have done so far interests us and there might be a possibility that we could help them expand their career."

"Our Athletes go through a tough screening process before they are offered an invitation to join our agency. They fill out an application it is reviewed by a panel that includes professionals in their respective industry and those who will be working with them at our agency. They will either  receive an invitation to join or are sent a letter thanking them for their interest. "

In spending time with Ms. Evans we began to realize that CK Talent Management is really different. Their staff is real with their talent, agents actually say no to their talent when necessary. Most agencies don't do this fearing the talent will leave them.  Since it was January we were able to sit in on some of their yearly meetings and see what they were outlining for the coming year. We attended several meetings agents were having with their talent. The meetings sounded very much like a professional business meetings, similar to what you would see in corporate America. A business plan was introduced for the coming year that included marketing, fitness, nutrition, and social media expectations. Allison explained that they do this with each of their talent every January.

We asked what happens when talent has higher expectations than what can truly be reached? Allison said, "We usually root this out in the initial screening process, but if it does come up we explain that we need to take small steps strategic steps. We explain that they need to focus on their talent and trust in us that we can see the bigger picture. However, we don't fear using the word no to our talent." Allison explained that trust is important in a client/agent relationship and we build that slowly over time. "We go through their personal and professional ups and downs with them. We are always here for them and they realize that."

We closed our day with Allison watching her in a staff meeting preparing to meet a potential sponsor for one of their athletes. We noticed that everyone had a job to do, one had done company research on the sponsor, another tested the products to be endorsed by the athlete and another did a marketing plan proposal for both the athlete and the sponsor.  She said, "We want the sponsors relationship with our athlete or any of our talent to be organic and natural."  "We want our talent to fit into the company culture, they want to learn from our athlete and our athlete wants to learn from them."

We found that most agencies want to have a large volume of talent in order to make more profit. CK Talent does not have to do this, it is not their business plan. Their team is made up of the best in the industry former Olympic Coaches, NCAA compliance officers, Fortune 500 marketing executives, former and current entertainment executives, etc.  Their professional staff want to work with talent that is truly the best at what they do too and that is why their selection process is so tough.

At one point during our interview Allison said,  "Most agencies get a lot of talent but they do not focus on maintaining that talent while they are with them or they sign them and the talent never hears from them." "We check in with our talent on a regular basis and we do not just sign anyone." She mentioned to us that CK has developed as part of their corporate structure a formula to invest in their signed talent. CK Talent Management offers free personal training, nutritionists, coaches, financial planners, etc. to their signed talent. This in itself sets CK Management apart from the others.

Mary Sutton is a freelance business reporter whose articles appear in several national and international publications.