Tickets – Page 3 – BaylorS3E

Why the NFL is Lifting the Blackout Rule

kirk_wakefield 2015, Luxury Suites & Premium Tickets, Sell, Sponsorships, Tickets March 24, 2015October 31, 2018local ratings, media contracts, NFL, NFL blackout, no more blackout, pressure, selling out, TV 0 Comment

by Eric Fernandez – March 2015

The NFL announced yesterday (3-23-15) that for 2015 they will lift the 30+ year blackout rule. The blackout rule has been in effect to “protect” season ticket holders. Teams that couldn’t technically sell out the game 72 hours before kick-off would have the game blacked out in their local markets. The change for 2015 is driven by two simple reasons:

Pressure from the TV Networks, in particular CBS and FOX, to remove blackouts
Teams no longer have an incentive to sell out games

#1. Pressure From TV Networks

The current TV agreements, that kicked in before the 2014 season, increase each teams annual TV money to between $200 – $220M. Or said another way, before each team plays a down, TV money pays for salary cap and team operating expenses and leaves each team $10+ million dollars in the black. That’s a nice business model – do nothing and make millions.

Make no mistake, TV drove this decision. Local market viewers are 50% – 75% of the local market TV rating.The NFL can’t justify crippling their largest revenue source, which is now the overwhelming majority to revenue for each team. Expect the TV viewing experience to innovate and improve as networks seek ways to recoup their investment.

#2. No Incentive to Sell Out

Read point #1, read it again and then read it a third time. This is no different than a pro athlete who ups his game in a contract year, makes a financial windfall, then gets a bit fat and happy with a large contract. Teams have no incentive to sell the last 10% of tickets. If anything you’ll see a shrinking of future stadiums with a model that’s focused purely on premium seating and season-tickets, sold well in advance on long-term contracts. We’ll witness the conversion of stadiums to “sound stages” with made-for-TV experiences.

As journalists are taught in J-School, the secret to uncovering a story’s truth is to “follow the money.” The same can be said for the NFL’s blackout lift.

Getting in the game: Removing and replacing the fear of rejection

kirk_wakefield 2015, Luxury Suites & Premium Tickets, Sell, Sponsorships, Tickets March 17, 2015November 1, 2018overcoming objections, overcoming rejection, preparation, professional selling, Sales, sales process 0 Comment

by Carson Heady – March 2015

Those moments prior to dialing, pulling that door or entering the board room are like stepping in the batter’s box or breaking the huddle.

You formulated a semblance of a strategy, thought (or over-thought!) and now you have to execute the play. But what if I whiff? What if the pass is intercepted? What if they say no?

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]I have found that rejection is a natural human reaction to changing status quo. Most people don’t like change, and most of the time your product or service is asking them to do just that, change for a perceived value. Overcoming this obstacle is purely a numbers game. By knowing exactly how many contacts, calls, demos, presentations, it takes to close a deal, you effectively establish a process. The numbers dehumanize rejection by making it all part of the end game. Celebrate the losses along with the wins, they are all part of the process. ~David Woodbury, Venture Builder/Rev7.co [/dropshadowbox] A fear of rejection can prevent us from playing the game effectively, if at all, spelling D-E-F-E-A-T from the start. We may be confident in our knowledge of the product or service we represent. We may have prior success or failure we’ve learned from. But, facts are facts: no one enjoys being told “no.”

So, how does one eradicate the trepidation surrounding rejection?

Overcoming “No”

1. Be Prepared.

The more ready you are to confidently present your product, service and yourself, the less likely you can be deterred from that path. Knowledge and the ability to delicately drive through the selling process are what lay the foundation for the successful sale. Preparation builds confidence because it’s one less thing to worry or think about. Arm yourself with as much as you can in the situation. Go in with your intended qualifying questions, plans for rebuttals and confidence to close.

2. Name the fear.

Recognize the fear and work to dismiss it. You have more control over it than you think. If you have a fear of rejection, acknowledge its presence and contemplate why it exists. Are you afraid of not selling because you fear repercussion? Do you feel unsure of yourself or your pitch? Similar to the “release the mechanism” scenes from the Kevin Costner baseball flick For Love of the Game, you hone in on your directive and drown out everything else. If you allow yourself to deviate from the game plan because of desperation or fear, you certainly will hear “no;” so it’s all the more reason to ensure you remain undeterred.

3. Focus on process.

The real “fear” you should have, if any, is that you leave out a crucial step or do not give customers a clear picture of why they need what you have. Replace the fear you have of being told “no” with a focus on simply sticking to steps. You cannot control what your contact will do, but you certainly can control what and how you deliver. When you leave the conversation, your goal is to have a signature or a clear-cut reason as to why the customer decided against buying with a specific plan to follow up or move on.

4. Learn from the rejection.

Customers may decide against buying for reasons completely out of your control. That said, what worked during your presentation? What did you say that you may want to omit next time? Are there ways to tweak your product offerings or strategy based on the reason for opting out? It is very possible to lose the business today only to regroup, retool and revisit with a better solution that your customer will choose to use.

5. No isn’t forever.

The customer who decides against change today may feel differently given some time or change of circumstances. Leave a solid, lasting impression: Stand apart from those simply trying to get a sale at any cost. Earn the relationship. Stay in touch. Offer to help in any way you can. Find a way to be valuable, even if it brings no immediate monetary gain. When they have a need you can fill, you’ll get the call.

Bottom line

Never even think about the “no.” Your focus should be to control what you can in the selling process. We spend too much time worrying about what never comes to fruition. You control truly learning your customer’s needs, formulating a plan to address those needs, and addressing any concerns. You won’t win them all, but if you leave each conversation knowing the specific reasons your customer did not purchase, you did your job and can learn, grow and get ready for the next “yes.”

Selling vs. Telling

kirk_wakefield 2015, Sell, Tickets March 3, 2015November 1, 2018info dumping, pitch, probing questions, selling, telling 0 Comment

by Ben Milsom – March 2015

Making the pitch

Recently I attended a recruiting meeting with a local college football coach where the goal was to get the high school senior to commit to attend his school. I agreed to attend the meeting after I was sure that I wasn’t breaking any rules and also because I knew I was going to learn something. I met the coach before the meeting and we discussed the goal and the best practices when it came to this type of meeting. The college had a great history of success as well as a fine reputation of placing students into great jobs once they graduated. Needless to say the coach really had a great product to sell.

Info Dumping

Most new salespeople come into sports sales really excited about many things: a new city, an exciting player, a winning record or just the fact that they are working in professional sports. This leads many times to what is called “info dumping.” The excitement leads the salesperson to do more telling than consultative selling. Many times in meetings the salesperson has done most of the talking without gaining information from their prospect. This is exactly how this meeting went. The coach introduced us and began discussing team record, school history, alumni and the city where the school was located. The whole time the student was eating his lunch with a somewhat glazed look on this face. I kept thinking about how many times this occurs in sports sales. This “pitch” only really works when your product is winning. There was still so much information to be learned from the student. What are some of the questions that could have been asked?

What is important to you in your college selection?
How important is education vs. football?
How comfortable are you with the location of the school?
Tell me about what you would like to study?Why?
MOST IMPORTANTLY after all the information is gathered: What is it going to take for you to commit to X college?

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”600px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Pitching in sales works in the same way it works in baseball. It’s one direction and irreversible. To be an effective sales professional you need to engage in strategic listening to understand your customers preferences, priorities, level of interest and more before you propose, pitch, tell and sell. – Gregg Baron, President, Success Sciences[/dropshadowbox]

Selling not Telling

Matt Smith, Regional Manager, IMG Learfield, shares, “When I think of this mindset of selling not telling, I think of a Doctor and a Pharmacist. Old-school salespeople were pharmacists, while we must be Doctors. A good doctor must know everything about the problems of the patient, everything about the possible treatments, then they must have an idea of how to tie the problem to the right solution…and they must do it all with the right heart and mindset. Pharmacists simply must know about drugs and prescriptions.” As a salesperson, offering a solution before learning all you can about the customer is like a doctor prescribing treatment without first knowing the ailment.

Conclusion

So many times we miss the opportunity to let our prospect tell us what they want and how they want it. This also misses a chance for us to ask for referrals, build a stronger relationship and ultimately up sell our product. The difference between a good and great salesperson in my mind is their ability to ask effective and productive questions and use those questions to make a consultative and productive sale. The telling approach usually leads to buyer remorse and ultimately money left on the table.

Using In-Depth Metrics to Improve Sales Rep Performance

kirk_wakefield 2014, CRM, Luxury Suites & Premium Tickets, Relate, Sell, Tickets December 2, 2014November 1, 2018account executive, accountability, analytics, compensation, contests, inside sales, metrics, motivation, numbers, reps, Sales, sales management, ticket sales strategy, training 0 Comment

by Drew Ribarchak – December 2014

Every sales manager wants the team to sell more full season plans, lower level seats and premium inventory. In-depth metrics allows you to reinforce and hold reps accountable to the goals and objectives your department wishes to achieve instead of saying the basic anecdote of “sell more X.” The most important metric is total revenue and total seats sold. If we better understand how to arrive at the total number, we can develop a strategic way to grow it.

In-depth Metrics to Track

Average ticket price (ATP) or yield is a measuring tool to ensure reps focus on driving lower level and premium inventory. Driving full season ticket equivalents (FSE) is crucial to the success of a ticket sales department, but selling a higher percentage of seats in the upper bowl will make it increasingly difficult to achieve revenue goals alongside FSE targets. In the last two seasons, the Columbus Blue Jackets have increased the ATP of new FSE sales by over 26% while growing the overall season ticket base each season.

You must have a purpose for the data you spend time and resources to retrieve. The most time consuming portion of reporting may be building and formatting the initial report. After the report is created you can simply import/export when you want to review.

Compensation & Contests

In addition to regular reporting, motivation must be in place to reward achieving key organizational metrics. Adjusting compensation plans and contest qualifications will help push the philosophy into action. For example, raise commission percentages on lower level inventory. The reps typically gravitate to the easiest ways to most affect their own bottom lines. You could test this in a contest by allowing only lower bowl and premium sales revenue count towards the short term contest.

Training

When reviewing data on sales performance, a couple of basic questions to ask are:

How does the rep currently compare to meeting or exceeding the company expectation?
How does the rep currently compare to peers within the ticket sales team or department?

If you notice a trend of a rep consistently falling well below expectations, one-on-one training sessions can help identify areas for improvement. Since reps have different motivational and behavioral styles, you must use your situational leadership skills to improve the rep’s individual performance.

Carl Manteau, Director of Group Sales, Milwaukee Bucks, offers insight:

Using metrics to “motivate” is a delicate thing – use too many numbers and the reps will think you are micromanaging, which greatly stifles motivation. Use too few and you lose accountability. Reps not held accountable tend to be less driven. I tend to hold some numbers back until they can be used for emphasis, either to show how well we are doing or when we need to pick our game up. I send out the weekly numbers to create accountability and promote a culture of healthy competition.

Additional metrics to measure with the assistance of a CRM/Analytics Department:

Lead Origin
B2B vs. Consumers
Face to face compared to phone sales ( 7.9% higher ATP, 23% higher total sale)
Average number of contacts to close a new sale
Close % among leads

Takeaways

In summary, as a sales manager you can use numbers to improve performance. Regular reporting with in-depth metrics will be most effective when it is:

Aligned to achieve organizational objectives
Supported with training
Increases accountability towards realistic expectations

4 Keys to Social Selling

kirk_wakefield 2014, Sell, Tickets October 20, 2014November 1, 2018linkedin, professional selling, prospecting, qualifying, social media, Success 0 Comment

by Tim Salier – October 2014

Social selling has become increasingly prevalent in the professional sports sales environment. For years, the concept of social media in the workplace has been associated with fears of misuse, poor time management and potential disclosure of proprietary information. However, recent trends have shown that, when used appropriately, social media can be developed into a very effective sales tool.

In discussing the concept of social selling with several members of the Spurs Sports & Entertainment sales staff, four primary steps were identified in developing an effective social selling strategy:

Develop your brand/presence on social networks such as LinkedIn
Target the “right” prospects
Engage with identified prospects
Build trust and qualify the prospects

Develop your brand

According to Allen Schlesinger, Premium Sales Manager for the Austin Spurs, developing an appropriate personal brand on social networks such as LinkedIn is critical. An appropriate personal profile on LinkedIn should be completed with updated personal information, professional affiliations, an accurate description of your role with the franchise and, most importantly, a professional profile picture.

Target the “right” prospects

Both Allen and San Antonio Spurs Premium Account Executive, Julian Dais, agreed that having a strategy to target the “right” prospects is the key to being successful with social media tools such as LinkedIn. The “right” prospect has a unique combination of (1) decision making authority, (2) some sort of connectivity or interest to basketball designated on their profile and, preferably, (3) a shared connection to help with an introduction. Both shared similar thoughts that there isn’t a “perfect” prospect, but there are multiple factors to look for in searching for the people they would like to prospect.

Engage identified prospects

After identifying the appropriate prospects, the next step in effective social selling is engaging those prospects in a way that invites further discussion. Julian and Allen commented that the initial message should include a brief introduction, a reason for reaching out to them and an invitation for further discussion, usually face to face but by phone if necessary. The initial message should be no longer than a paragraph and emphasize the invitation to meet in person for further discussion.

Build trust (and qualify)

The last step in the process is building trust and further qualifying the new prospect to insure an effective face to face meeting. The trust building and qualifying process is usually very similar to a traditional sales call. Use general fact finding questions about past interactions with the team and/or a casual e-mail conversation about mutual personal or professional contacts. After some brief two way discussion and confirmation that the prospect is qualified, a mutually agreed upon meeting location is established and the social selling process commences.

Social = Sales

Over the last couple of seasons, both Allen and Julian have emerged as two of the more effective social sellers within Spurs Sports & Entertainment as well as their respective leagues and sales categories. In fact, Allen is widely recognized at NBA League meetings for his best practice usage of LinkedIn as a sales tool. Averaging approximately ten LinkedIn generated face to face meetings each week, Allen currently ranks as the #1 New FSE revenue producer in the NBA D-League and attributes 90%+ of his new revenue generation to social selling.

Cover photo source: Mark Smiciklas

The surprisingly simple little secret to landing a leadership position

kirk_wakefield 2014, Careers, Lead, Learn, Personal Development, S3, Sales Management, Tickets October 3, 2014November 1, 2018leadership, leading, managers, mentors, sales management, work ethic 0 Comment

by Kirk Madsen – October 2014

What is leadership?

For everything written about leadership and management (an Amazon.com search yields over 1 million books on the topic!), we sure seem to have a lot of questions about what it is and how to do it. One of the questions people in leadership positions get asked all the time is, “How did you get to where you are now?”

Whatever their answer is, it will probably include a surprisingly simple little secret.

Ready? There is no secret.

There really isn’t much of a mystery. Leaders follow simple, repeatable processes anyone can start immediately!

But, before we talk about these processes, let’s first establish two key ground rules:

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”400px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Ground rule #1: Consistency is king.

Ground rule #2: A positive attitude is non-negotiable.[/dropshadowbox]

These two ground rules are the cornerstones or the foundation for all you do. Over the long haul, building success without these cornerstones is impossible. From there, focus on a few key concepts:

Concept #1: Do more, now.

Leaders work harder and generate results more consistently than their peers.

Dionna Widder, the Vice President of Ticket Sales & Service with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sums this point up perfectly: “You do not need a title to be a leader. Set yourself apart with your work ethic and results.” Everyone is capable of having a great week, or even a great month. Leaders have great quarters and great years. Sure, they have their off-days. So did Michael Jordan; his were just better than everyone else’s.

Concept #2: Lead, now.

Take on a leadership role with your current team.

Joe Schiavi, the Director of Inside Sales with the Detroit Pistons, offers some practical advice to practice leadership now: “Teach less experienced reps and give time out of your day to make sure that your teammates have the best possible opportunity for success. Your manager will notice your extra efforts. Your teammates will respect you because you took the time out of your day to help them when they needed assistance.”

Concept #3: Be a student.

Every day.

Consider how much more capable you are of passing a test when you’ve taken the time to study. Widder recommends, “Schedule a meeting with your manager or other leaders in the industry to learn. Seek out resources and dedicate time to be a student.” Books, articles, TED talks, conversations with others – there are countless resources available. Use one of them every day!

Concept #4: Pick your peers.

Immediately find mentors and surround yourself with successful people.

Do you know what I love most about being a leader? Finding others who want to succeed, and empowering them to do it. On a peer-to-peer level, spend your time and energy with people who exhibit the positive personal and professional traits you see (or want to see) in yourself. On an executive level, ask the people you admire to mentor you. The benefits of surrounding yourself with successful people will be real and immediate. “Ask and welcome feedback from your leaders, peers, and friends and develop plans to improve areas that need improving,” Widder says. “Feedback can be both positive and constructive; both are valuable to your growth.”

By applying these concepts, you’ll have a greater impact on your organization. The greater the impact, the greater your chances of breaking into leadership positions.

Cover photo courtesy of MarcMo.

How to successfully transition from sales to management

kirk_wakefield 2014, Careers, Lead, Learn, Personal Development, S3, Sales Management, Tickets October 3, 2014November 1, 2018Astros, career plan, development, game plan, manager, patience, ticket sales 0 Comment

by Andre Luck – October 2014

Early in my sales career I knew I wanted to make an impact in young people’s lives, and I felt the best platform for me to do so was as a ticket sales manager. The transition from a successful salesperson to a successful sales manager is an exciting yet challenging transition. Fortunately I had great leaders and mentors that prepared me for this step. I wrote this article for salespeople that aspire to one day take the step to sales management. I’ve provided a few tips that helped me along the way.

Management vs. Sales

We hear that the best athletes do not always make the best coaches. The same principle exists in sales. Yet, organizations continue to take top salespeople and rush them into management even if they are not fit to lead. Make sure you step into a management position for the right reasons. There is nothing wrong with being a lifelong salesperson. There are great opportunities to make a lot of money in premium and corporate sales. Very successful salespeople will actually take a pay cut when stepping into their first management opportunity. I have friends in the industry that tell me they enjoy only having to manage themselves day to day opposed to an entire department.

Good Bucket/Bad Bucket

Jason Howard, Senior Vice President of Ticket Sales & Marketing for the Houston Astros, gave me great advice early in my sales career. You will see bosses do a lot of things you agree with and not agree with. As you observe different management styles and actions, put these items into a good bucket and a bad bucket. The good bucket would consist of the things I liked and wanted to make sure I did when I became a manager and the bad bucket would be the opposite. To make sure I did not forget what was going into each bucket I started keeping a journal as new ideas would come to me.

What’s Your Game Plan?

How will you recruit the best talent for your team? What do you want your team to look like? What are your methods to keep your staff motivated? What are your non-negotiables? These questions along with a list of many others are questions you should be thinking about now. Start preparing your business plan now and get feedback from those you respect in the industry. The first time you think through your plan should not be when you are asked to put together a 30-60-90 day business plan as part of your interview.

Hire Tough

The most important thing you can do as a leader is hiring the right people or what the book Good To Great calls “getting the right people on the bus.” Know exactly what it is you’re looking for and never settle on a candidate. During an interview is the very best you will ever see a candidate; they will not all of a sudden be better once they are hired. If there are any doubts on a candidate it is better to pass, as you may regret it down the road if you lower your standards.

What, How, and Why

As a manager it is important to set clear expectations for your team of WHAT you expect them to do, train and coach them on HOW to best do it, and clearly explain WHY you want them to do it. Senior Director of Group & Inside Sales for the Houston Astros, PJ Keene, says,

“Be prepared. The best salespeople want to know why you make the decisions you make. Since they value their own career development, understanding your decision making process is important to them. In order to help progress their careers, think through ahead of time what is really most important to you and be able to explain why you made a decision or why you think a particular direction is the best way to go. Be prepared to answer those questions before your best salespeople ask them.”

When your team knows what is expected, how to do it and why they are doing it they are more motivated and you will see greater results.

Patience is Key

Ralph Waldo Emerson has a great quote: “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.”

Be patient and don’t lose sight of the task at hand. As a salesperson, your number one priority is to generate revenue. Developing leadership skills should come secondary. Don’t jump at the first opportunity. Make sure the values of who you work for align with your values. The bosses you work for and your personal and professional development should be more important than your title, compensation, and the organization. If you are a great leader the right opportunity will present itself. The money will follow. It is okay to be more than prepared for your next step.

Three things I’ve learned in starting a new collegiate ticket sales center

kirk_wakefield 2014, Sell, Tickets August 1, 2014November 1, 2018college, CRM, hiring, new, sales center, sales management, starting, ticket sales, university 0 Comment

by Chase Jolesch – August 2014

In the last five years, colleges have started outbound ticket sales centers modeled after professional sports. After spending nearly three and a half years working with the San Francisco 49ers and Legends Premium Sales, I received the opportunity to go back to my alma mater and start an outbound ticket sales center at Baylor University.

I’ve been working the past eight months to develop Baylor’s program. The three important things I have learned so far are (1) create a positive relationship with the ticket office, athletics foundation and marketing department, (2) implement a CRM system to help manage fans more efficiently and (3) hire and lead the right employees.

Create Positive Relationships with Other Departments

The ticket office, athletics foundation and marketing department all work with tickets in a variety of supporting roles. I connected with each department to learn how they work and be able to implement productive changes.

Creating these positive relationships between departments is built on communication. As Matt Rousso, Director of Ticket Sales & Service at the University of Southern California, shares,

“At USC we work closely with our ticket office on all ticketed athletic events leaning on their expertise to help improve overall processes as well as the fan experience. There is no doubt that we will continue to improve our synergies in this respect as our tenure together increases.”

Each department has a variety of objectives, but the overlapping goal is to provide a great customer experience to each fan.

Implement an Effective CRM System

We recently implemented a CRM system that our ticket sales center, ticket office and athletics foundation all access. This helps internal communication so we know what is going on with our fans as we document calls, sync e-mail lists and make notes in the system. The ticket sales center uses CRM to prospect leads and turn them into specific sales opportunities.

Rich Wang, Associate Director of Analytics & Fan Engagement at the Minnesota Vikings, has over eight years of experience in the database world, believes

“having the right information is key in today’s world. CRM provides the level of detail and insights a sales center can act on in real time. Further, CRM can provide data that allows an sales organization to form tangible relationships between existing clients and prospective targets.”

For a CRM system to be a productive tool, every department needs to be involved, and for that to happen you need the right employees.

Build the Right Team

We have taken a methodical approach to building the Baylor ticket sales center. The culture we want to create is one that cultivates talent, but also challenges and pushes. Finding the right candidate can be difficult, so we look for candidates eager to learn, work well in teams and want to be challenged.

Jared Kozinn, Director of Business Development-Premium Seating at the Detroit Lions, has experience building sales teams in the NHL, MLB, & NFL. Jared says he likes to, “look to hire passionate candidates with positive attitudes that want to learn and are open to constructive criticism.”

While finding talent through a variety of sports networks, including the Baylor S3 program and referrals, our sales center is beginning to take shape.

It has and will continue to take some patience to get things where they need to be to make it an overall success. Through positive internal relationships, CRM collaborations with fan experiences, and training the right employees the Baylor Ticket Sales Center is well on its way.

Sales Management: Why Process Trumps Talent

kirk_wakefield 2014, Lead, Sales Management, Sell, Tickets June 1, 2014November 1, 2018ability, hiring, retention, sales management, sales training, salespeople, skills, talent, ticket sales 0 Comment

by Flavil Hampsten – June 2014

Which matters more: Process or Talent? That’s an easy one. Process always trumps talent.

Before you get upset and start defending how talented your staff is and that you couldn’t generate the numbers that you do without them, imagine how much more productive they would be if you gave them leads that close at four times the normal rate? Or if you have sales events for them that routinely lead to $100,000 days?

I’m not going to completely define what process should be in place, but I will say that as a sales manager, process always trumps talent. Here is why.

#1 Talented Individuals Are Simply Not Enough

Sales managers need to hit a departmental goal. There needs to be method to maximize revenue from each individual on the team. Therefore, a process should be devised to assist everyone in order for the department to achieve goal.

I’ve never spoken to a sales manager who claims to have all A+ sales talent on staff. Most have a mix of A+, A, B, and C sellers. However, most have an A+ revenue budget to achieve. Having a great process can bump the level of each seller and give the department a better chance to achieve goal.

#2 Talent Comes and Goes, Process Stays Forever

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Having the right process in place has been an important element to the success of the teams I have managed throughout my career. The hiring process, sales process, lead-gen process….even convincing sales people to fall in love with the process of becoming great. They might not believe it right now, and I don’t think I did when I started my first job in sports, but process and persistence almost always trumps talent. ~Brent Stehlik, EVP/CRO Cleveland Browns[/dropshadowbox]With the ambitious nature of today’s sales executives, the average life of a sales executive is approximately two years. With no guarantee to keep top talent, the only method to ensure that you keep results is to have a process that maximizes each opportunity, regardless of which salesperson in assigned to it.

Why only two years? Generally speaking, the A+ sellers are the ones who can leave first, simply because other teams recruit them away with money and titles. Most times, sales managers hands are bound with budgets and departmental structure making it difficult to match the offer and the salesperson leaves. However, the departmental goal does not change. If a superior process is in place, the current salespeople will continue to deliver at a high rate, a new top salesperson will emerge, and the new salesperson will generate top numbers quicker.

#3 Talent Pool is More Like a Talent Puddle

Hard fact, but with the amount of positions to fill, the low pay, and extremely long hours in sports, it’s nearly impossible to hire all A+ sales talent. Therefore, by default, to keep your positions full you must hire a mix of talent levels in order to achieve sales results. A process is the only way to make this happen.

Even if you have one of the best recruiting and inside sales programs in sports there will be times where positions are empty or when talent is lagging. As a sales manager, you owe it to your company and your career to protect yourself from these times. The most foolproof way to do this is to engineer and implement a superior process that maximizes revenue regardless.

With work and deliberate practice talent can be created. However, superior talent cannot be created without hard work and deliberate practice while in a superior process. More importantly to a sales manager, you cannot have a successful sales department without a process to make everyone better. The talented individuals are simply not enough; you need to create and train talent to optimize performance.

Want more on good processes? Read Flavil’s, No More Cold Calls

Cover photo courtesy of Rosemary Demirkok

Top 5 Things We Learned About Compensation, Salespeople and Their Managers

kirk_wakefield 2014, Careers, Learn, Research, Sell, Tickets May 3, 2014November 1, 2018 0 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – May 2014

The State of the Sports Sales Industry Survey

With your help responding to the S3 Sales Report survey in December (N = 328) and the help of the NBA & Murray Cohn in surveying inside sales and account reps in the NBA and WNBA (N = 391), we gained a better understanding of the relationship between salespeople, their managers, and their performance. Here are the top 5 things we learned, along with average salaries at various ticket sales positions.

#1 Show us a team with a bad ethical culture and we’ll show you some unhappy salespeople.

In the sales culture, and maybe just culture in general, so much is about “show me the money.” But, guess what? The numbers don’t lie when it comes to job satisfaction. The ethical climate has at least twice as much influence on a salesperson’s job satisfaction compared to how much the sales rep earns on an annual basis. There is a correlation between compensation and job satisfaction; it’s just that money doesn’t tell us as much as knowing the culture of the sales organization.

#2 Sales professionals in sports are pretty smart.

If obtaining a bachelors or masters degree is any indicator of intellectual capabilities, then it looks like we’re a pretty smart bunch. In the U.S., only 36.6% have college degrees and another 11.6% have masters. What about salespeople in sports?

Over 81% of the S3 Report respondents, and more than 86% of NBA/WNBA salespeople, have college degrees. Among S3 Report respondents, another 15% have graduate degrees, along with 8% of NBA salespeople with advanced degrees. Together, we can say that about 95% of the sales force in sports are staying in school to graduate before making the jump to the pros.

#3 Winning isn’t everything. In fact, maybe not anything.

When it comes to what really determines who makes the most money, it’s not whether or not you’re selling the hot team. It’s not even market size. In fact, looking at the NBA data across all teams, the team’s won/loss record and the size of the team’s market together determine less than 20% (i.e., 19.6%) of salespeople’s total compensation. That means 80% of a rep’s compensation is determined by the organization and the individual.

The amount of commission one can make is influenced a bit more by market size & won/loss record (26.3%). But, that still means about 3/4ths of commissions earned is up to the team and reps.
Interesting fact: Because W/L record is correlated with market size, the team’s record has very little effect on compensation once we account for market size.

#4 The only selling time that correlates with greater commissions is face-to-face.

We measured what proportion of selling time NBA reps spent on the phone (65%), email (21.5%), chat/text (3%), social media (1.4%), and face-to-face (8.6%). The only activity that significantly increases commissions is face-to-face. Of course, we can argue that the other activities lead to appointments; but, the point is that personal contact is king.

#5 Once established, compensation in sports sales is competitive.

The current practice of hiring into inside sales to smile & dial as a proving ground may be shifting as more teams move toward more effective and efficient selling with sales analytics and CRM-based messaging and marketing strategies. But, in the mean time, we can see teams are able to attract able bodied candidates with compensation levels markedly below starting salaries of sales & marketing graduates working in other industries ($51,900). That said, once promoted to an AE position, prospects begin looking up.

The data below is based on data from salespeople and managers primarily representing MLB, NHL & NFL teams, supplemented by the data from entry-level sales reps of 25 NBA teams. We did not receive enough information from collegiate sports sales reps to represent that growing market of potential sales jobs.

Average Compensation for Sales Positions in Professional Sports (December 2013)

Wait ’til next year!

Thanks again to Murray Cohn and the NBA in collaborating on this study. We also thank our friends across the leagues who independently responded to our first annual state of the sales industry survey. In our next round (December 2014), we would like to gain more involvement at the league level and collegiate level so that we could reliably represent average salaries across each league and level, as well as dig deeper into what motivates and accelerates salespeople’s performance.

Cover photo courtesy of Barry Yanowitz.