In the middle of the Great Resignation–the Big Quit or the Great Reshuffle–no better time exists than now to emphasize the best way to go about resigning without looking like a quitter.
Let’s start from the time you first take a job until the time comes to move on.
Establish an open-handed relationship with your direct supervisor:
Openly share your career goals.
Be realistic. Look at career paths on LinkedIn to see how long it takes others to get where you want to go.
Plainly discuss areas you need to grow.
Focus on 1-2 at a time. You have 40+ years of your career to grow.
Be patient with yourself.
Schedule review meetings even if the supervisor doesn’t.
Be proactive but not overbearing.
Find a mentor:
Who has at least 10 years more experience than you.
Who is in a place or role you would someday like to be.
Who has your best interest at heart.
Who will tell you the hard truth when you’re wrong.
Respect them for saying it. Truth is a rare commodity. Treasure it.
Who will meet with you on a regular basis.
Keep in touch with your professors (and mentors):
Whatever you’re going through, they’ve heard it all before.
Since they’ve no stake in the matter they can give unbiased counsel.
Odds are they know your supervisor or others in that role and can provide insight.
They can help you if/when you are ready to move.
When issues arise that make you think about quitting:
Talk with your supervisor about it.
Don’t identify a problem without offering a solution.
Look for ways to help others.
Be an answer.
Leadership will notice.
Don’t complain to peers or others. It makes you part of the organization’s problem.
Remember all companies have their problems.
Learn to manage frustrations.
Learn to navigate political waters.
Make learning instead of leaving your first choice.
When you see opportunities to go elsewhere:
Discuss the pros and cons with your supervisor.
Run it by your mentor.
Run it by your professor.
Your supervisor, mentor and professor should never be surprised to learn you’re moving on.
If you ultimately decide to make a career change:
Provide at least two weeks notice.
Be organized and helpful. Provide detailed notes so others know what’s going on after you leave.
If you leave to a competitor, expect to be asked to leave immediately.
This is not about you.
Organizations have a business to run and have to protect clients, colleagues and intellectual property.
Professional courtesy, communications and grace go a long way on how you are remembered. Since the sports industry is small and everyone talks to everyone else across every league, all of these count double.
These same tips fit for almost any other big decision, like switching majors, churches, or other organizational commitments.
Other tips for how to manage careers in transition? Comment below.
After the first round of the Baylor S3 Pro Day of virtual recruiting with 30 interviewers, 54 of the students rated each of the interviewers, selected their favorite two interviewers, and commented on one that didn’t go as well as hoped. After the second round of S3 Pro Days on March 5 (click here for more info), we will distribute information to interviewers (who also get the chance to rate the students on their interviewing skills). The S3 Best Interviewer Awards for S3 Sales and S3 Analytics will be announced for the S3 Awards Banquet on April 14.
These evaluations are much like teaching evaluations. We certainly prefer students enjoy the experience. Admittedly, sometimes learning experiences can cause user discomfort. So, good on you as professor or recruiter if you can do both: Supply enjoyable learning experiences that serve the welfare of all parties for both the short and long term. To that end, we offer 45 comments about what students liked best about interviewers, which thankfully outweigh the 24 comments on areas of improvement. Learn as you will from these.
Student POV
Interviews for Sports Sales & Analytics Internships & Careers
45 Areas of Excellence
1. Intentionally listened and asked good questions.
2. Asked very thoughtful questions and really answered my questions well.
3. Most enthusiastic and didn’t make it feel like there was a power difference between him and me.
4. Most willing to show me things like what they do in Tableau.
5. Just fun to talk to.
6. Really easy going and easy to talk to.
7. They stood out above the rest for their openness while discussing their roles and the company culture at their respective teams. They came across as completely genuine, giving me their unfiltered opinions on their workplace instead of telling me any kind of pitch.
8. Made me feel instantly comfortable during both conversations I had.
9. Super genuine and friendly; They were not intimidating at all and very helpful in explaining their role and answering my questions.
10. Very easy to talk to and did a great job answering any questions I had. I very much enjoyed talking and felt at ease and was disappointed when our time was up.
11. Asked unique and challenging questions that kept me on my toes.
12. Was genuine and kind while also getting down to business without any unnecessary conversation.
13. Very personable and made a hectic time feel relaxed, calm and helpful. Made the conversation feel mutually beneficial which was great. Super informative and helpful.
14. We had a really great conversation about just life. We shared a lot of similarities; was informational, and I got to walk through my resume.
15. Took an interest in me beyond my job qualifications and wanted to get to know me better on a personal level. They made me feel like they wanted to speak with me and told me I could reach out any time in the future.
16. Asked great questions and directed good conversation! Awesome at engaging and made me feel really comfortable.
17. I was able to see how well they enjoyed not only working in their field but with each other too. I also felt relaxed in the interview and it was one of the ones that I actually had fun being interviewed.
18. They were the two most enthusiastic people I talked to. I made really good connections with both of them. They also were very interested in making it clear that if I were hired that they would invest in my career to the fullest extent.
19. Was very specific and had the 30 min interview laid out in sections of what to accomplish. I got to do a mock phone sale and a 45sec pitch.
20. Genuine and engaging during our talk.
21. Very open to answer any and all questions and truly share passion for the job and role as a manger. Provided an open and transparent look at goals for those new to the organization and what managers seek to get out of them.
22. They made the conversations really smooth and easy and showed a genuine interest in me.
23. Was very open and had great energy. Seemed very invested in our interview and even joked around a little bit. Overall a great interview and I was incredibly impressed with the organization.
24. They gave great insights on what their companies did and gave in-depth analysis of the field of analytics, especially CRM and BI. Also, they made the effort to personally connect with me.
25. Asked challenging questions and, in the interview, pushed me to do better. Charismatic and has good leadership.
26. It felt like they were actually interested in getting to know me.
27. They had amazing humor and personality and seemed really interested in talking to me! They acknowledge all of what I said and asked follow-up questions accordingly. They made the speed dating a lot of fun because it may have been an interview, but it seemed more like catching up with an old friend!
28. Seemed very interested throughout our entire call and even asked for a second interview to better our connection in order to be a future reference for myself.
29. Discussed the many ways they took care of employees during the ongoing pandemic, both with their mental health and with their paychecks. Detailed how the team handles the social issues that have become as prevalent as ever in recent times.
30. Open, friendly, and honest. Made me feel more comfortable.
31. Extremely genuine and excited to hear about why I want to get into sports. They asked very good questions and went into detail when answering questions that I asked about their organizations. Both came across as wanting to help me in my journey in any way they could.
32. Very interested in me and my future goals, very engaging.
33. Super high energy and gave me an awesome description of time with the team. Super helpful and seemed genuinely interested in my career growth.
34. Asked questions about my personality and we were able to chat and have a great conversation!
35. Gave me a whole lot of advice on how I could answer interview questions better. Offered to connect me with other people within the organization, which was awesome.
36. Truly took the time to know me and understand what I was looking for in a future job opportunity.
37. Very encouraging.
38. Let us know that no matter what happens they were here to help us. Even if that means we go for a decision and it does not include their organization. That is admirable.
39. Took the time to know me knowing that I am only a sophomore yet was intrigued when looking at my LinkedIn profile. So kind and just wanting to help.
40. Extremely kind, was prepared with knowledge about me, insightful answers to my questions, willing to help, relatable.
41. Very interested in what I had to say and gave me great advice.
42. Very kind and helpful.
43. Gave great advice, flowing conversation, tremendous insight into job and analytics in sports. Willing to help.
44. Seemed very genuine in wanting to get to know us. Gave me some valuable advice and perspective.
45. We had a fantastic conversation about the importance of mental health in the workplace (and in general) and the emphasis put on it.
24 Areas of Improvement
1. Really didn’t have much of an interview experience. It was too casual.
2. Questions were very vanilla. Couldn’t get a good read off them.
3. Didn’t really seem like they wanted to be there.
4. Wasn’t easy to talk to.
5. I sort of felt like I had to lead the conversation, where with the other recruiters, they were the ones guiding it.
6. Seemed not to take our 10-minute call seriously. Never made eye contact and was constantly looking around the room. Gave cookie-cutter monologue and nothing more.
7. Asked very structured concrete questions. I heard from others that they kept people over time and shorted others. Didn’t appear open.
8. Informational but it was very cold. It wasn’t a natural conversation like the rest of my 10 min talks.
9. Rapid fire questions, less conversational interview (granted, we only had 10 minutes).
10. Asked a lot of questions that didn’t pertain to anything important and also not related to S3 or internships.
11. Did not feel a connection with the organization or interviewer specifically. Nothing against, is a great person. I just did not find myself enjoying the interview or the chemistry.
12. A stand-in for my interview didn’t seem too ecstatic to be there. Seemed very dry.
13. Not very engaging and didn’t show a lot of emotion.
14. Had one short interview where I was asked very off-topic and slightly offensive questions.
15. I was confused on the style of the interview. Seemed harsh.
16. Seemed very distracted; like the focus was elsewhere from the start. It threw me off a little bit and it felt like we never really got into the interview at all.
17. Didn’t have a lot of emotion and didn’t seem that interested in talking to me. It felt like more they were just doing this to put a check mark on their calendar.
18. Felt more like an actual interview and less of a conversation. It was intense, which is fine, but I enjoyed some other conversations more since they were more chilled.
19. Conversation was not engaging and was not very interested in me or what I was saying.
20. Didn’t really seem very interested in being at the event. Wasn’t super open about time with organization, which made the interview pretty difficult to stay engaged with.
21. Not all that open to talking much about the organization and the conversation was hard to get through.
22. Impersonal and mechanical conversation. Improved in the second round of interviews but felt like they were checking boxes rather than trying to make a connection or be a resource.
23. Typing the entire time.
24. It was so awkward; I was given short answers to questions that I asked.
When the S3 program launched in 2004 we were—and are—the only academic program in a business school devoted to developing talent aimed specifically at generating revenue in the business of sports. After placing more than 270 professionals in sales and analytics positions we see even greater demand for Baylor S3 graduates. Notable S3 alumni in management and executive positions at scores of professional teams, corporations, and agencies now mentor, train, hire, and advise students right alongside us, as do many outstanding professionals from coast-to-coast.
As we look forward to the next 15 years we must set the stage for success for those who follow. Much has changed in the past 15 years. Think about it. After the first graduating class of S3 majors in 2006, the iPhone was introduced in 2007. This mobile revolution transformed how fans search, buy and go to the game. Augmented and virtual reality are changing how fans engage with our experiences and sponsors. Venues are beginning to use facial recognition as admission.
With the onslaught of data and digital selling, properties and brands recruit and pay for the talent to manage and analyze data to more effectively and efficiently reach fans where they are—which is mostly (online) on their phones, tablets or desktops. The most productive organizations invest heavily in technology capabilities (in-house and/or outsourced) to enable the salesforce to connect and engage with fans in ways we couldn’t even imagine even 10 years ago.
Our position has always been at the forefront leading the way into the future. In keeping with our WINS values, we need more hard-working, integrated, relationship-driven, spirited people to join us.
Missing Talent
The advantage and disadvantage of the S3 major in the Hankamer School of Business has been its exclusivity. The most successful students consciously committed to a career in the business of sports no matter what the costs. That is still the case. As a side note—conscientious commitment to excelling in your craft, to your career, is still the price to be paid for success no matter the business. Companies still buy from people who know where they are going.
At the same time, S3 missed potential sales superstars. Great salespeople love to keep options open. Not wanting to be constrained to sports, they didn’t take the chance to be sold themselves. The Vice President of Sales at the San Antonio Spurs, along with many executives at other teams, often say, “Hey, just let me have a chance to talk to them!”
S3 missed out on problem-solvers keen to manage and analyze data to answer big questions businesses have in a digital-first marketing world. Marketing majors with a double-major with MIS, Accounting or Finance took their talents elsewhere. The Wide World of Sports has been slow to get up to speed. But, like every company today, they now demand more highly skilled analytically-minded graduates to close the gap.
Opening the Doors
S3 majors have always been well-rounded. Salespeople understand analytics and analysts understand sales. All understand the importance of living lives of integrity. Having integrity means having the courage to face the demands of reality. The reality is sales-oriented students thrive in the sales courses. Analytic types want the freedom to build out technical and quantitative skills.
Recognizing these realities, and the realities of marketplace demands and opportunities, the S3 program has moved to open courses to all Marketing majors. Students may choose an emphasis in S3 Sales (MKT 3310 and 4341) or S3 Analytics (MKT 4342 and 4360), plus an internship, for a total of 9 hours. They can still take all S3 courses (15 hours) if they use additional upper-level business electives. All S3 students selecting one of the two areas of emphasis will complete an internship in sales or analytics in the summer after the junior year. Read more here.
Internships
Our stock & trade has always been internships at the highest levels of professional sports, as well as associated brands and agencies. As Colin Faulkner, Senior Vice President of the Chicago Cubs, famously said in our first S3 promotional video, “In sports, to get a job you need experience. But to get experience you need a job.” Internships provide the job that provides the experience that gets you started in your career in sports.
We will continue placing students in internships for those that declare an S3 emphasis and take the sales or the analytics courses in succession during the junior year. Others may take the courses and interview for internships and positions as available, with priority going to declared S3 program students.
Graduates in the 2021 class and beyond may submit their declarations as S3 program members by completing this form.
The S3 Club
S3 Mentors
Further priority for internships and positions is given to those active in the S3 Club. The S3 Club will continue under S3 faculty advisement but will be wholly and completely run by students, supported by an S3 Alumni Advisory Group. The objectives of the club will continue to be to network with sports business executives and to learn more about relevant careers.
The End Goal
With the end in mind, our vision continues to be to instill integrity in the business of sports & entertainment. What’s changed? Nothing, except we want more students to catch the vision, to consider the opportunities, and to join us! We’ve removed every obstacle to keep superstars from exploring business careers in sports. Want to talk some more?
Why do parents, teachers, politicians, managers and salespeople continue bad practices? Four reasons and the ways we express them are:
We do what was done to us and assume it was best practice.
“Look at me, I turned out OK didn’t I?”
We lack the depth and breadth of relevant education to recognize bad practices.
“See, you can succeed with any background!”
We judge outcomes based on the exception rather than the rule.
“Look at her, she started here and is now vice-president!”
We lack the courage to meet the demands of reality.
“I know this isn’t working, but I can’t change what I’m doing now.”
Sports sales recruiters often ask applicants, “Why do you want this job?” The wrong answer is, “I just love sports.” The irony is when it comes to pay, work hours and benefits, they literally bank on the applicant’s love for sports to compensate for, well, real compensation.
How Do We Know the Sports Sales Management Model is Broken?
Sales 101
First, consider some basic 101 principles of sales management. These quotes are directly from a leading sales textbook 1
To attract and keep the best talent compensation must be uniform within the company and in line with what competitors’ salespeople receive.
Salespeople who perceive the system as unfair may give up or leave.
A constantly changing system may lead [salespeople] to constantly change their activities but never make any [more] money.
Companies that do not emphasize service or do not anticipate long-term customer relationships typically rely heavily on commission plans.
Salespeople working primarily on commission have little company loyalty and certainly are less willing to perform activities that do not directly lead to sales.
Inside sales reps in sports do not receive compensation in line with what they can get anywhere else. Top salespeople often see the system as unfair (given effort & reward) and leave as soon as a client sees how good they are (and offers multiples of current pay). Teams frequently “play with the lights” changing compensation systems in ways that rarely favor the rep by making the rep more money. The shift toward service-only reps leaves inside sales reps relying heavily upon commission and sacrificing customer welfare and service. As a result, few have loyalty and are certainly unwilling to do non-sales related activities.
Turnover
Second, consider the effects and costs of turnover. Average sales turnover across industries annually hovers around 25%. 2 Typical sports sales practice is to recruit a new class of inside salespeople every 4-6 months, suggesting something closer to the average turnover among car salespeople (~70-75%). 3 Some are promoted (internally or externally), but most leave the industry voluntarily or involuntarily.
Costs of turnover are estimated between $75,000 to $200,000 per salesperson4, taking into account recruiting, training, and lost sales. You can calculate yours here. The NBA estimates third-year reps generate 3.4 times the revenue as first-year reps. Unfortunately, relatively few get to the third year.
If I fail over half of my students each year, you wouldn’t say I’m a good teacher. In our program, we can’t blame the students. We recruited them. The same is true for teams. If annual turnover is anything much more than the non-sports corporate average (25%), at some point we must have the courage to start looking at the system and grasp the reality.
Training
Most sports sales managers are interested in training. The problem is the low proportion of these with any professional training in personnel management, compensation structure, leadership, and other sales management responsibilities. Many make great effort to learn to compensate for the lack of formal training (i.e., business management-related degrees). A few have had professional selling courses. A few have MBAs. Most were selected on the basis of being great salespeople, rather than management skills–which are two quite different things.
Sales students not taking the sports route are often hired by companies like Oracle, IBM and other major corporations who offer starting pay closer to $100,000 than $30,000, even while spending months in training before ever making a sale. We don’t expect teams to be on par with Oracle. But, $10-$20 an hour and first year commissions won’t attract the best talent among graduates who just spent tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars getting an education and accruing student loans.5
A New Model
Sales executives and managers (in sports) routinely bring in motivational sales speakers and hold weekly pep talks. Why? Because the nature of the role and associated benefits of the job aren’t intrinsically motivating on their own merits.
One of our partners, Spurs Sports & Entertainment, decided to do something about it with the support of leadership, including Frank Miceli and Tim Salier. Lindsay Beale, Director of Business Development at SS&E, walks us through the four steps they undertook.
Step 1: Look at the hard truth
We studied our sales work force and realized we were recruiting talent, investing resources into their professional training and development and they were leaving our organizations for other local corporations in sales roles. We thought we had the hiring and recruiting figured out. We found individuals who really wanted to sell. For years we felt our compensation was competitive to other sports organizations. This helped with recruiting, but when you hire talented salespeople, they have opportunities outside of the sports & entertainment business.
Corporations look for talented salespeople from reputable organizations. They use aggressive recruiters, signing bonuses, high base salaries and competitive compensation packages to attract them. We realized we couldn’t compete with them–specifically with our representatives with under 3 years of tenure.
We worked with finance and HR to evaluate our current sales structure to establish a plan to address our top concern of retention. Through our research it was also clear compensation wasn’t the only place sports sales are behind the corporate sales world. We are currently in the process of addressing sales retention by reviewing three areas: compensation, sales enablement and culture.
Step 2: Create competitive compensation
Teams may think their compensation is competitive with other teams, but that is the wrong comparison point if the goal is to retain talented salespeople. We restructured in four ways.
Supplement commission in the first few years with a higher base salary to provide stability while the sales representatives build their books of business. [Among S3 partners moving in this direction, this ranges from $30,000 up to $42,000 for base pay.]
Restructure commission to reward all sales revenue. We realized our commission structure heavily rewarded products that more tenured representatives were selling but weren’t incentivizing newer representatives.
Provide a strong upside for top sales representatives, with clear rewards and recognition for high achievement.
Hire sales representatives at a full time, full benefits position. No seasonal positions.
Step 3: Give them the tools
We established a Sales Enablement strategy applying digital tools, analytics and strategic processes to allow our sales team to excel in their jobs.
Utilize data and analytics.
Lead Scoring
Appending data to sales leads to target individuals for specific campaigns
Examples: Outer markets for weekend plans or high net worth individuals for premium events.
SS&EU: Classes are offered during work hours, are hands-on, and cover a variety of topics. They are facilitated live by in-house experts to encourage the cultivation of ideas and relationships across departments. SSEU is supported at the highest level of the organization and every executive teaches a different course.
Internal and external sales trainers
On the job sales training
Step 4: Create a people first culture. Really.
Provide a clear path for internal promotions.
Recognize each seller has an individual selling style. Coach, develop and set metrics to fit each representative.
Promote work life balance for everyone.
Eliminate the following phrases from management vocabulary:
Grind.
First one in, last one out.
Outwork everyone else.
Focus on quality of work and their commitment to the sales process, goals and team.
Commitment (you want) vs. Compliance (you must)
Allow flexible hours that still meet business needs.
Increase self-empowerment. Encourage reps to make their own decisions on how to manage time and activities to reach goals rather than micromanage to the numbers.
Coach reps to improve each day and strive for stretch goals they set for themselves.
Conclusion
We believe the S3 program can recruit more and better talent to the major the more teams buy into the new model aimed at development and retention. Just because teams can recruit people to fill each sales class with low wages and benefits doesn’t make it the right thing to do–either for the candidate or the team’s welfare. Basic sales management principles show us how we can do better.
Some teams are taking the lead. Since word has gotten out, others have reached out to say they are following suit. Do you want to join them? Are you in?
Selling: Building Partnerships, 2014, Castleberry & Tanner, New York: McGraw-Hill. Quotes straight from the book are in italics. ↩
Paul Epstein challenged the room of executives, managers and students to truly put people first. With over a decade of managerial experience in pro sports, most recently as Director of Sales at the San Francisco 49ers, Paul shared how their sales organization was transformed by helping people “find their WHY.” When organizations put people and purpose first, performance takes care of itself.
Tim Salier, Vice President of Franchise Operations at Spurs Sports & Entertainment, shared how the Austin Spurs G-League team faced high sales force turnover and low productivity. Putting people first, the sales structure was flattened, base salaries of account executives increased above $30,000 and career planning began with stretch assignments to strengthen skill sets in other areas. The results? Revenue rose 300% and more sales reps stayed in place after rampant turnover in the years prior.
Putting Your Money Where…
Chase Jolesch, Director of Ticketing & Premium for the Vegas Golden Knights, stated, “If people truly come before purpose and performance, we must act upon it. We can’t say we care and then ask people to work for less just because it’s sports.” Shawn McGee, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Homestead Miami Speedway added:
U.S. Compensation Across All Industries
I’ve seen both sides—low base and high commission and higher base with less commission. In the past, I fully subscribed to mitigating risk by paying a lower base and providing a more substantial commission, as well as forcing the salespeople to drive revenue in order to increase compensation. However, at my current company, we pay a higher base and little commission. At first I thought it would lead to lazy salespeople and lack of urgency to hit numbers. We actually found it allows us to source better talent who are still driven to reach the goals…and we can retain those sales people.
Research from the NBA suggests sales reps accept positions with a team for the potential career path and that a lack of clear career path is the main reason for leaving. We agree. Millennials, like most of us, want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to see a future and purpose in what we do.
Some studies report compensation is rarely a reason for entering a sports sales career. That’s because starting salaries are often far below other industries. The table (right) offers pay comparisons to similar positions across all industries (i.e., not sports). If we want the top talent, will we get it by paying under market rates? If we want to maximize revenue, can we do that by offering the minimum?
Those on the brand, data and agency side of sports are largely competitive with the general market. We look forward to those responsible for ticket sales to lead the way in attracting and keeping top talent.
Leadership Style
As leaders it comes down to our own personal purpose, values and approach to managing and leading others. Do we see our relationship with employees as more parent-child (Theory X) or adult-adult (Theory Y)? Which do you think achieves the best results with today’s generation? (Hint: Same as when this first came out in 1960. You have to know your Y.)
People are different. Some more different than others. We think most S3 graduates are ready to perform, but variance exists. Learning new skills requires more direction, but once learned need more support and coaching. Research shows over half of leaders use the same leadership style regardless of situation or person, which translates into not meeting the needs of employees at least half the time.
Situational leadership adjusts to the person-situation. The best leaders know when to delegate, support, coach or direct, based on the employee’s skill development. (See Situational Leadership Model below.) Managers who put people first focus on knowing individuals, what makes them tick (their why) and adapt to meet their needs. Results follow.
The Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SSE) organization puts situational leadership into action. When Allen Schlesinger took an innovative approach to social selling that gave up on cold-calling leads, SSE unleashed Allen to become the leading revenue generator in the NBA’s developmental league (now G-league).
The Cost of Leadership Failure
Replacing a sales rep takes 3-4 months and typically costs at least 150% of the reps’ compensation in lost revenue and added recruiting & training costs. We might have a different view of turnover if we pictured $75,000 walking out the door each time one leaves.
Average turnover in sales across all industries generally hovers around 25% each year. Common thinking is (a) if turnover is over 25%, the problem is management not the employees, and (b) employees leave managers not companies.
Why do employees leave managers? In the sports industry, not unlike others, we promote the best salespeople to become managers. Unfortunately, great sales people make terrible sales managers, as about 1 in 6 suited for sales are good fits for management. We know this is true in sports–the best players are rarely good coaches or managers–so why do we think it works in business?
The Secret of Success
The good news is other ways work. Members of the S3 Advisory Board, like Eric Platte at the Atlanta Hawks, have sales management training programs that identify quality candidates with the right mixture of sales competency and openness to servant leadership to develop into future managers.
The 49ers Sales Academy is a result of a culture shift based on People–Purpose–Performance, in that order. How did they transform the sales force?
First, the focus changed from a “manage up or out” to a retention approach. They asked, “How can we find people who have not only the basics to succeed but whose strengths can shine in the organization for years to come?” The search is for great talents, great people–those who want to do something special.
Second, they took the external sales philosophy of “every seat has a story” for customers and applied it internally to employees. In recruiting, that means taking deep dives into why they are in this business and their values that determine how they do what (sell) they want to do.
Third, once a part of the team, management continues the process of starting with WHY to engage and listen to employees to identify themes to incorporate systems and behaviors to accomplish purposes important to employees. (See diagram, right.) Performance is not the objective, but the result of a people→purpose orientation.
Thanks again to Paul Epstein for bringing these words and illustrations to life–and who now continues his journey to inspire others at the BW Leadership Institute. Are you interested in learning more about the Center for Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) at Baylor? Do you identify with the WHY & HOW of what you’ve just read–and want to join us? Visit www.Baylor.edu/Business/S3. Thanks to those who traveled to Waco to experience record-breaking cold. Check out your pics below! Click on one to begin the slide show.
The Spurs were the first organization contacted before the S3 program launched in 2004. We often say that the Spurs organization is “Baylor South,” because so many of the 250+ S3 graduates started careers in San Antonio.
These professionals discussed how S3 Values play out in day-to-day life in successful careers.
Take It Personally
Justin Wynter, Manager of Corporate Partnerships for the Austin Spurs, shared a story in support of the S3 Culture tenant to always “take it personally.” Wynter spoke about how he and his associates rose from underachieving to become a top of the league organization. This hard work came to fruition when the team received 8 of 10 year-end NBA G-League awards after receiving zero only a few short years before Justin Wynter and Stephen Gray (S3 2011) decided to take personal responsibility for business performance.
Act with Integrity
Joe Clark, Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service, encouraged students to interview teams and companies. He highlighted the importance of making sure that an organizational culture is strong and a positive fit. Finding those organizations that care and do things the right way is an integral part of experiencing long-term success in the sports industry.
Go the 2nd Mile
Laura Dixon, Head of External Relations, exemplified the broad landscape of positions available across the sports industry. S3 Club members heard about her journey from working on an Olympic bid proposal to her current position where she works to strengthen stakeholder relationships on behalf of Spurs Sports & Entertainment. In going the “2nd mile,” Dixon does a little bit (or a lot) of everything in this role, going beyond the job description people typically associate with the sports industry.
Group Sales Representative Ashley Johnson shared a story of how Sales Representative Erika Moulder’s group were recently given a goal of making five in-person sales appointments for the week. Ashley noticed on the sales board that Erika set 19 appointments, going the second, third, and practically the fourth mile.
Redefine Success & Failures
S3 Club Member Tatum Lowe spoke highly of the insight she gained over the course of the evening. Lowe said she learned, “the idea of redefining our successes and failures . . . focus on the small victories that you achieve every day, before you know it these will add up to major successes.” She was inspired by how visibly passionate SS&E executives, managers and employees are about their careers, exemplified by the core principle of going the 2nd mile, in San Antonio as much as it is in Waco. In fact, they traveled 200 miles each way to freely share their time with S3 students.
How to Choose Among Job Offers
Lindsay Beale, Senior Manager of Group Sales, shared a common theme to the Spurs and S3: Pick your next position based primarily on the character and values of the manager who will directly supervise you. This person plays an integral role in developing your abilities and determining the opportunities for success. When they move up, you’ll have chances to move with them.
Next Up
Our next S3 Club outing with the Texas Rangers is on Tuesday, September 26! We will join Nick Richardson and four more S3 alumni at the Rangers, Taylor Bergstrom, Mike Segoviano, Jeff Brown and Jonah Erbe, as the Rangers take on the Astros from Globe Life Park in Arlington.
What separates you from everyone else in your business? How is your brand perceived by others?
“Branding you” was the topic of our panel discussion held at the new Foster Campus for Business and Innovation at Baylor University. The audience consisted of students from the Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) program as well as sports industry executives. The panel included Tami Walker, Head of Brand Management for Phillips 66; Derek Blake, Vice President of Partnership Marketing and Military Programs at La Quinta Inns & Suites; and, Greg Grissom, Vice President of Corporate Development at the Houston Texans.
The discussion yielded important insights on how to brand yourself in any business, but specifically in the business of sports. We each have a personal brand that makes each of us unique, as the iconic Dr Pepper brand reminds us, we are “Always One of A Kind.”
The Four Pillars
Derek introduced four key underlying principles of who you are and how others will see you.
Connecting – Be a networker. Help people meet other people, which in return broadens your network.
Humility – Unless you are an entrepreneur, you will always have a boss until you become CEO. And then you will have a board of directors. Always have the mindset of WIT–whatever it takes. Be willing to do anything, even if it means taking out the trash or making the coffee, no matter your seniority level.
Integrity – “Don’t shift with the wind.” Do the right thing, even when no one is watching. During hard times don’t stray from core principles and values.
Giving – Set yourself apart by giving back, regardless of how much money you make or what your position. Plenty of people know how to take. Being a giver means you are a service to your peers, business, society and the community.
Why Ration Passion?
Tami talked about how it was important to have a framework for your personal brand. First, you must develop expertise. Whether it’s through education, experience or a combination of other learning opportunities, expertise sets you apart from others. Know what skills and talents you possess and what skills you need to acquire. Second, you must have passion that distinguishes you from others.
Mike Libecki is an example of someone who pursues his passion. Life is sweet–the time is now–so, why ration passion? Don’t hold back who you are and showing others what you love. Being passionate is being human. Don’t place a limit on your passion. Combining passion with expertise is a great combination.
Relatedly, Greg emphasized three ingredients to your personal brand:
Passion – See a common theme here? Passion can change and evolve as you experience life, but decide what passion really makes you tick now.
Competitiveness – Compete. Be bold. Make decisions. As a young adult and student, this is the perfect time in life to be bold and take a risk with your career.
Trust – Your personal brand reflects those who surround you. Others see who you trust and those who trust you. Building trust with the right people in your network is important in building your brand.
Market your Brand
After you understand your personal brand, the next step is to market your brand. What good does your brand do if nobody knows about it? Here are a few pointers from the panel:
Use the Power of Who – One of the commonalities among panelists was the power of your own personal network. Who you know influences the content of your brand and how you market it. Bob Beaudine has a great book titled “The Power of Who.” Read it if you want to grow your brand. One point Beaudine emphasizes is to use your “who” to market you.
Get Involved – Involvement in a variety of activities places your brand across a wider market. I joined St. Jude as their Corporate Chairperson this past year. I am passionate about the cause. I wanted to share my talents. Serving introduced me to a totally new network of people. Get involved to serve. Don’t overlook the opportunity to build your network while you serve.
Be Different – Being your own brand means being different. For example, since everyone is so consumed with social media and email, we forget about the power of postal mail. Executives may (dis)miss an email, but every hand-written note gets read. When you meet someone new, send them a hand-written note. That makes you different.
Promote –Promoting your own personal brand is as easy as coming up with a username and password. LinkedIn is a free platform to share your talents and skills and connect with others. One approach–sometimes required by corporate policy–is to create separate professional Facebook and Twitter accounts. Use social media and digital strategically. Be careful. Most future employers will review before hiring.
Develop your Brand
Now that you understand what your brand is and how to market it, develop your brand. Notes from the panel include:
Risk-taking– Green paper buys things. We like it. But don’t let money get in the way of your passion. Use the time early in your career to take a risk while responsibilities are low. Go deep on why you are passionate. Then ACT on that passion without caring about the financial compensation. Now is the time to set the momentum for your career. Money will follow.
Learning Agility – Be a “seeker of knowledge.” The number one predictor of career success is learning agility, which includes people agility, mental agility and strategic agility.
Power of Mentors – Mirror others that have success. A proverb provides, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Identify seasoned veterans as mentors. Each executive you see today still has mentors who offer advice and serve as a mirror for the future self. Find someone who shares the same core values to help lead along your journey.
Build your network – You always have room to add to your network. The bigger your network, the more visible your brand. It is still true: Who you know gets you the job. What you know keeps you there.
Derek Blake sums it up, plain and simple, “My name is all I have.” At the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, people buy you, not the product you sell. Be intentional–have a plan–on how to market your brand. Be the brand others can’t live without.
Want to know how to find your perfect employer in sports? Read on!
Networking events are taking place around the world throughout the week of April 13th. This is a great opportunity to come out and network with other sports business professionals that work or live in your area. All backgrounds are welcome, from those just starting out to industry veterans. The format of the evening is very casual – 2-3 hours of open networking over drinks with your industry peers. All of our events are listed on our Eventbrite page at thebusinessofsports.eventbrite.com, and each city will have its own direct link below.
Tickets for these events are $5 in advance or $10 at the door with 100% of this money being donated to The V Foundation for cancer research. We want to make it clear that we are not looking to make any money from these events. The goal is the same as it has always been – to help fellow members of the sports business community connect with one another. However, one of the best parts about working in this industry is how charitable it is and how sports can be used to support the community.
Here is the full list of participating cities, with links to each registration page (some still in progress).
How do you get into sports? Once you get in, how do you succeed in sports? The short answer is: Demonstrate a strong work ethic, network and build relationships within sports, and exhibit integrity in all you do.
The somewhat longer answer is to read everything on this page. This is the one-stop shop for any and everything you ever wanted to know about sports careers. Enjoy.
Getting the interview in sports
Everything you ever needed to know about getting the interview, how to shine in an interview, and what not to do in an interview. Written by an HR expert, Jeannette Salas, Houston Texans.
That question crosses everyone’s mind at least once…if not countless times throughout our lives. It may seem a strange question to ask in an interview, but I ask it every time.
We think we know what we want to do for our career as we graduate college. But, in reality you rarely stay in the same position or with the same company for more than just a few years after accepting that first “real” job. For this very reason, I tell the students I mentor not to worry about where they will work or what their job will be when they first enter the workforce. Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years.
Just Get Started
The real focus should be: Just get started. Once you are in an organization, do your job to the best of your ability–and better than anyone one else who is performing the same role. That will allow you the opportunity to then ask for more work (often at no increase in pay), which leads to more responsibility, a greater role within the company, a more prestigious title and more dollars in your pocket.
From there the long and winding road begins. Once you prove your value to an organization and have grown (or sharpened) your skills set, the doors begin to open. You are ready to look at other opportunities, ones that may have been out of your reach earlier in your career, but now fit well with your passion and your experience.
Know How to Leave Your Job
But, it is VERY important that as you begin to move from job to job, and up the corporate ladder, that you leave your job in better shape than you found it. And make sure the relationships created there remain firmly intact.
While this seems logical, leaving a company can be tricky. You basically tell them you are departing for greener pastures. How do you do that without leaving a bad taste in their collective mouths?
Personally meet with your manager first, before telling anyone else.
Do not mail it in from an effort perspective during your final days.
Plan how to effectively transfer responsibilities and complete unfinished work.
Continue acting as a model employee who wants the best for everyone.
You never know when you might once again work for this company or for anyone who works there somewhere else. Just ask Bill Sutton, who started and ran the Team Marketing and Business Operations department for the NBA. Originally, Bernie Mullins worked for him. Fast forward a few years later, after Bill left the NBA, Bill was working for Bernie…you never know if those who work for you or with you will later be your boss.
Know How Not to Leave a Job
So you interview for a different job and receive an offer. What if you choose not to accept? As a professional in the sports world you never know if you will later want to work for that company or someone else in that company who moves elsewhere.
Here’s how not to do it: Don’t email ten minutes prior to an interview stating “I will not be at the meeting as I have accepted another position that is paying more than double what you are offering.” That happened this past week. Really. Needless to say, that individual will not be interviewed again. The Golden Rule applies anywhere and it applies here: Communicate with others the way you would want to be communicated with.
Here’s my story. I started in pro soccer and spent 12 years pursuing my passion. I expected to work in soccer my entire career. But, thanks to good friends, George Killebrew (Dallas Mavericks) and John Alper (Legends), I was referred for the Associate AD position at SMU. I loved my job at SMU, but after two years my position was eliminated. I had opportunities to stay in Dallas in pro sports and in sports radio, but I took a gamble and moved my family to Atlanta to run the Atlanta Beat of Women’s Pro Soccer (WPS). After two seasons, the league was struggling and I was worried. However, a friend of mine interested in a position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway asked me to make a call to their VP of Sales, Mike Mossholder. I just happened to have worked with Mike in MLS. Mike shared with me that NASCAR was a great industry and that there was an open VP position at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). Within three weeks, I accepted that position and packed up my life in Atlanta for the move to South Florida. I NEVER anticipated that I would be working NASCAR or living in Miami. But, the Lord leads us where he wants us to go and certainly had I not been let go from SMU, I would not have taken the position in Atlanta and therefore would not have reconnected with my friend…or ended up in Miami with HMS.
Look at Colin Faulkner, a Baylor S3 Board member and Baylor Bear. He knew soccer was played with a round ball, but that was about it. He had little experience, but he impressed me enough to give him a chance at the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas). He got his foot in door. Then, he performed above any and all expectations. He created and maintained solid relationships across the industry. This, then, allowed him the opportunity to go to the Rangers (MLB), the Dallas Stars (NHL) and ultimately to the Cubs (MLB). He burned no bridges and always left his position better than he found it. And yes, I would hire him again in a second, but now there is no way I could afford him! And who knows, someday, I may be working for him.
It’s a Small World After All
People think the sports industry is huge. In reality, it is very small. Most of us know each other or at least know someone who knows that person.
So, create a solid personal brand and cultivate positive relationships. At the end of the day, it is simple: Get your foot in the door. Get started. Outwork everyone. Create relationships. Maintain relationships and don’t burn bridges. Work your way to your ultimate job. It is truly a long and winding road, but well worth the trip.
Tickets for these events are $5 in advance or $10 at the door with 100% of this money being donated to 
