Sharrod EverettDirector of Football OperationsUniversity of South FloridaWhy did you decide to implement Teamworks with your program?I had been using Teamworks at Northwestern, and when I made the transition to USF it was the first thing that I brought up to our head coach. We needed something to help keep us all connected, make our lives easier, and help us do our jobs more efficiently. It helped us do this at Northwestern, and I wanted to make sure we had that in place at USF.Coach Taggert asked me what I needed, and Teamworks was at the top of my list. Once Coach Taggert saw the system, it was not a hard sell. It was a no-brainer, and he was immediately on board.What problems does Teamworks solve that weren’t being addressed?The ability to communicate effectively. Other systems don’t do that.Teamworks makes us able to communicate with our entire program, all the athletes, support staff, and alumni. There is no other system out there that allows us to communicate with everyone in this way.We use it to send out notifications during preseason. We set up automated wake-up phone calls for all our incoming freshmen saying, “Good morning, it's 6AM. Breakfast starts at 6:45.” After those messages, we get reports that tell us who is up and responded to the call and who is not. We will schedule automated notifications in advance that go out to our team and our coaches throughout the day reminding them of the schedule during training camp.We do a similar thing when we are on the road. I'll set up simple things like a text update that tells players where meals are or what room we are meeting in. I set these up before I leave, so I don’t have to send them out while we are on the road.Our ATCs use it to schedule appointments for doctors and therapy. They also use the Calendar and Check Availability sections a lot to figure out who is available when. Strength also uses it to search availability and put players into lifting groups. They use it to communicate updates and changes to the schedule.Having class schedules synced to Teamworks makes scheduling group meetings or meetings with individuals much easier and less time consuming.How would you rate Teamworks’ implementation process, training and customer service?I was already familiar with the Teamworks staff and how the process went by the time I got to USF. Really I just had to get everyone around me to be comfortable with the system. We had the Teamworks staff present it to our support staff and everyone was on board.Their staff met with everyone 1-on-1 to make sure everyone’s questions were answered and everyone was comfortable. They came back around 2 or 3 times to make sure everything was going well.The customer service is great. With these guys there is no such thing as a BCS program or a mid–major program. They take great care of us. The service is the same no matter the size of your program or what you are buying. Every time we reach out to them they treat us like we are their most important account and I think that is why they have been able to grow their business successfully.When we reach out to them, they are very aggressive about solving problems. There were times where they couldn’t solve the problem over the phone and they just came out here to help us. Hopped on a plane or jumped in the car and came out to make sure we were taken care of.After most companies make a sale, they disappear. Teamworks checks in on us and stays pro-active. They keep reaching out, even more after the sale to make sure it's going well.Normally when we ask a company for support we expect the response to be a day or two because that has been our experience in this market. With Teamworks, we usually hear back in a few minutes or less and the problem is already resolved.What makes Teamworks different?Efficiency. If you want to improve your day to day operation and be more efficient, recruiting and compliance systems won't give you the tools you need. In the grind of trying to run a program smoothly, Teamworks is it.These guys do one main thing, operations, and they do it really really well. They aren't trying to do 50 different things. They focus on their core, don't get distracted, and are always trying to get even better at what they do.The Teamworks guys are constantly asking for feedback. They let the customer drive where the product goes. They are always asking us “What can we do better?” “What should we do next?” No one else has ever asked us what we want. Other companies just go and do what they think is best, not what I need most.They listen to us and truly want to help us. Nobody else really does that. They let their customers try things out; they involve us in the development process, and let us test things out and give feedback before they start charging for it.The majority of their business is because of word of mouth. They listen, we know they care, and that’s why we recommend this system to other DFOs and other athletic departments.Would you recommend Teamworks to other football programs?If you want to improve the efficiency of your program, you need to take a look at Teamworks. You don’t have to buy it all. Buy the pieces that are most important to you. They will work to find a package that fits within your budget. Once you get your hands on it, it will be a no-brainer.The customer service, again, is paramount. You won’t have to worry about anything. These guys will take care of you.The system is easy to use. It is very clear and concise. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to use Teamworks. It is very user friendly.