A Lesson From the Sam’s Club Lady
Shawn Jones
DIRECTOR, ATHLETICS
Shawn has 30 years of head basketball coaching experience combined with 11 years as an athletic director. He has coached in Colorado and Texas, and has taken teams to three Final Four tournaments and a state championship. He has seen numerous players of his continue on to compete at the college and professional level of the sport. He is also proud to have seen many of his athletes become high school and collegiate coaches themselves. As director of athletics, Shawn is a key member of Ballogy’s team, driving the company’s athletic strategy, partnerships, coach engagement, and product vision. He has been married to his high school sweetheart for 32 years and they have raised three wonderful children together. Shawn has a passion for player development and the desire to assist coaches with effective, time-saving tools of administering and assessing skill development drills.
We are all skeptics by nature, I suppose. It is getting harder and harder to trust a product or service to be all that it says it is or does. I think this is mostly because we have all been burned at one time or another and have our guards up when it comes to sales presentations and promises.
I went to Sam’s Club recently and wanted to get in, get my stuff, and get out. I was on a solo mission. Upon fumbling through all my cards to see if I even remembered to bring in my Sam’s Club card, I was greeted by a wonderful, smiling woman who offered to make my life easier by signing me up for “Scan and Go” services on my phone. Without breaking stride I replied, “No thank you,” as I continued to try to find my card so she would let me enter into the promised land of bulk shopping.
She was awesome. She walked with me, informing me that if I signed up for “Scan and Go” I wouldn’t need to be looking for my card right now. I laughed and stopped walking. “OK, good point, I guess. But I don’t want to pay for anything more than I already pay for my membership.”
She told me I was in luck, as “Scan and Go’ was a free service. Like Jerry McGuire, she had me at ‘free’. “Ok, look. It might be free… but what does it do and how does it help me?” I asked, as I planted my back foot ready to begin my assault away from her and back onto my mission. She then stated the very best thing I think any service or product can claim—”It will be easier and faster for you. No standing in line or waiting on other customers. Just scan and go.”
Boom. Sign me up! She did, which took all of 2 minutes, and I went about my business. I scanned my items like a boss with my phone and proceeded to walk past the check out lines and across the parking lot without waiting on any other human being. I gave her a wink and a nod as I left the store. Job well-done, ma’am. Much respect.
At Ballogy we want to give coaches and athletes more time. We want to make your lives easier. We know you are on a solo mission to do what you have to do. You have goals you want to reach; things you want to accomplish. Let us tell you how we can help you do it easier, faster, and more efficiently, just like the “Scan and Go” lady did for me!