culture

Spurs Share Values & Insights with Baylor Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3)

kirk_wakefield 2017, Lead, Learn, Personal Development, Sell, Sponsorships, Tickets , , , , , , , , , ,
Spurs Share Values & Insights with Baylor Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3)
by Brad Sherrill – September 2017

What can we learn from the Spurs organization?

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.

Nine members of Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) engaged in a series of small group panel discussions with over 100 S3 students at the September S3 Club meeting. Among these nine were Joe Clark, Laura Dixon, David Elkins, Justin Wynter and S3 alumni Stephen Gray, Lindsay Beale, Travis Gafford, Ashley Johnson and  Erika Moulder.

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.

How the San Antonio Spurs Grow Good People

kirk_wakefield 2016, Integrity, Lead, Personal Development , , , , , , , , , ,
How the San Antonio Spurs Grow Good People
by Laural Logan-Fain – April 2016

Defining Culture

Culture is defined as the customs, rituals, and values shared with the members of an organization. You can see it by watching the way people interact every day. Culture is ever evolving. Culture is not something you can necessarily control; but it is something about which you can be purposeful. Management guru Peter Drucker once said, “Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got.” At Spurs Sports & Entertainment, we recognize that every employee plays a part in shaping our culture. Like any worthwhile venture, it takes consistent effort with all of us working together as a team to create a culture that is reflective of our values: Integrity, Caring, Success!

Climbing the Corporate Ladder

Biologist and educator Thomas Huxley noted, “The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”

When we hire at Spurs Sports & Entertainment, we actively seek people who are not only highly proficient in their roles, but also fit with our culture and reflect our corporate values. Many of our staff have grown up in the organization, starting out as interns or assistants, but over time have grown to become our managers, directors, and vice presidents. This is great for stability, but as with any company, our staff (especially our ever-growing Millennial population) are eager to climb the proverbial corporate ladder. However, as a relatively small organization with many long-tenured members, the ladder may seem to some more like a step stool with only a few rungs.

Changing the Conversation

Author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said, “Too many people spend more time planning how to get the job than on how to become productive and successful in that job.”

Like most organizations, we are mindful of increasing employee satisfaction and decreasing turnover rates. To accomplish this, we began to shift the conversation. Instead of focusing on promotion and ladder climbing, we emphasize continual personal growth and ongoing professional development. We implemented an Individual Development Plan (IDP) and began having career discovery (or as we lovingly call them “What do I want to be when I grow up?”) conversations with staff. As part of the IDP, staff also set short- and long-term goals and identify support they need to achieve their goals. The focus is on the whole person. We still talk about career paths and promotions, but the conversation has expanded to include “How can I grow personally? How can I develop professionally?”

Develop, Grow, Lead

As author and leadership guru John Maxwell states, “Success each day should be judged by the seeds sown, not the harvest reaped.”

In an effort to assist employee development we launched our corporate university, Spurs Sports & Entertainment University (SSEU). Our SSEU tagline reads: “Growing human capital is our number one priority.” 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. Staff are invited to have breakfast with the president and discuss culture. They can learn about strategic planning, including the development of major vs. minor league sports, from an executive vice president.

We offer values based leadership courses that reinforce our corporate values and provide tools for staff to better handle conflict and work more effectively with one another. Our Leadership 101 series helps managers make the transition from being an individual contributor to an effective leader of people. Other course topics include game presentation, presentation skills, using data, creativity, writing skills, and much, much more. We also offer facilitated team building sessions for departments and cross-functional teams to help break down silos and build trust. Critical to having a successful culture is recognizing that employees are our greatest asset. Through SSEU, we continually invest in our human capital.

The Results

A year after launching the IDP and SSEU, our company culture survey reported increases in employee satisfaction. Employees identified that someone at work encourages their development (88%, up 15%); their manager takes time to talk with them about their professional goals (91%, up 10%); and they have a good understanding of their strengths and areas of improvement (82%, up 17%). Our culture continues to reflect our values of Integrity, Caring, Success, but it has evolved to include greater opportunities and support for staff to grow personally and develop professionally.

Pitch Perfect Alpha

Floor or Front Office: It’s all the same at Spurs Sports & Entertainment

kirk_wakefield 2016, About S3, Integrity, Lead, S3 , , , , , , , ,
Floor or Front Office: It’s all the same at Spurs Sports & Entertainment
by Kirk Wakefield – April 2016

Values-driven

What values drive your organization? What values drive you, personally? If you had to choose one word–one value–to describe what is most important to you, what would it be?

Integrity–doing the right thing–is the most important value of the San Antonio Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) organization. You can’t miss it. The values of the organisse valueszation are posted throughout all the offices, meeting rooms and on the desks of the over 250 employees, which is sure to grow as SS&E recently added a fifth franchise, San Antonio FC, in the USL.

The success of the Spurs on the floor and front office is no accident. From ownership to the coaches and players to the interns, the values are clear. As Frank Miceli, Senior Vice President, Sales & Franchise Business Operations, shared, “They are openly discussed and shape everything we do from our ownership down to every member of the staff. We have a common vision,  engage in transparent communication and everyone has a voice. We are deliberate in our decision-making and are open about questioning everything in an attempt for continuous improvement.”

How do values shape the culture?

The three values of integrity, success and caring are the basis for daily operations. The same respect you see on the court you see in the offices, as employees are encouraged to collaborate, display humility and demonstrate a team orientation where no one person is more important than the team.

As Mr. Miceli points out, “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but of strength, to utilize the many talents and resources of SS&E.” Employees are more likely to ask for help and achieve personal and professional growth in a place where they know caring, respect, sincerity, support and compassion are part of the DNA of ownership and management.

Success is important at SS&E, but the process is as important as the outcome. An individual may have great personal success, but it must not come at the expense of the team. Rather, the team achieves targeted goals together, each pulling together and demonstrating care for others in the process. It’s not all about work for the sake of work; employees are encouraged for being creative and innovative and having fun along the way as they enjoy the journey together.

Baylor S3 success stories

Thanks to the leadership which began with Russ Bookbinder and continued thanks to Rick Pych, Frank Miceli, Joe Clark, Tim Salier, and Lawrence Payne, SS&E has hired the most graduates from the S3 program than any other partner.

Lindsay Beale (S3 ’10) started as a summer intern her junior year and joined SS&E after graduation as a group sales account executive. Mlindsay bealer. Miceli observes that Lindsay consistently exhibits all of the traits valued by the organization and climbed the ladder with patience and humility from account executive, to senior account executive, and now Group Sales Manager for all the SS&E properties.

Stephen Gray (S3 ’10stephen gray) joined the SS&E inside sales department after graduating from the S3 program. Stephen’s hard work led to a promotion with the organization’s AHL team, the Rampage. Stephen did very well selling, setting Rampage individual sales records. But, more importantly, as Mr. Miceli points out, “Stephen really understood the sales process and how to motivate others. He became Manager of Ticket Sales for our NBA D-League franchise in Austin and has really helped turn the franchise around.”

True Partnership

Many of the teams and companies who partner with the Baylor S3 program do so because of shared values. The relationship between the Baylor S3 program and SS&E operates as a true partnership, where the values of both organizations closely match. Issues and opportunities are discussed with transparency. Each is concerned for the welfare of each other, but most importantly, for the welfare of the young people entering and growing in the industry.

As Mr. Miceli shares, “We are honored to be members of the Baylor S3 Board. The relationship with the program and students has been very valuable for us from the standpoint of meeting(and hiring many) well-trained students ready to join the sports world in sales and customer data management.” In return, Baylor is deeply indebted to the leadership of the SS&E organization and their contributions to the school and the program.

The Baylor Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) program is the only academic program housed in a business school with a complete major focused entirely upon sports sales & analytics. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about the Baylor S3 program by visiting www.baylor.edu/business/S3. 

Cover photo courtesy of Chris Covatta, SS&E and USL Soccer.

 

Students: Finding your Perfect Sports Business Employer

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Students: Finding your Perfect Sports Business Employer
by Brian Norman – January 2015

Students: Finding your Perfect Sports Business Employer

It’s your senior year. You’ve been through hundreds of hours of classroom instruction, completed multiple industry internships, and built your network extremely well. You’ve taken advantage of every opportunity. You are ready to jump head first into a full-time position within the sports business.

Now that you’re ready for the real world, how will you choose your perfect employer?

This is a simple question I ask every job candidate I interview, yet I’ve found it is very hard for many to answer with ease.

How can you find your perfect fit? Be honest with yourself, and decide what job characteristics are most important to you. You’ll find many of the biggest factors below.

Coaching

Who will you report to? Personally, I believe this is the most important aspect of finding the right fit. Your first boss in the sports business should be someone who will actively coach you in your first role.

They should genuinely care about your long-term success and develop a personalized plan to help you accomplish your goals. You should expect them to push you to accomplish your goals while also serving as a resource and support system along the way.

This individual should be proactive in providing feedback, as it is important for you to consistently understand your strengths and areas for improvement. They should know how to best deliver feedback, and how they can assist you in applying it in real time.

Finally, their reputation matters! It is important that your first supervisor is well respected and well connected as, more often than not; they are your primary connection to the rest of the industry.

Culture

Simply put, culture matters. Some questions to consider asking your future employer:

  1. Does the leadership team promote and foster success at every level?
  2. What type of traditions are unique to their organization?
  3. Are best practices both shared and celebrated?
  4. Do employees truly root for one another?
  5. Is the organization proactive in seeking new opportunities and trying new ideas?
  6. Is executive leadership accessible?
  7. Do business departments collaborate well across the board, or do they operate in “silos?”

Training Program

You will learn more in your first 12 months in the business than you can ever imagine. Your training program is vital not only to your success in your first year, but it serves as the foundation for your entire career.

In Philadelphia, new sales executives with the 76ers go through an intensive two-week training program before they begin reaching out to prospective ticket buyers. This ensures they are truly ready to communicate with prospects, while also giving them the confidence to succeed early on.

While your initial training is important, consistent ongoing training is equally as crucial. Just like professional athletes, you must continue to fine tune your craft and work on making yourself better everyday.

In Philadelphia, the sales leadership team provides consistent ongoing training to their staff every Wednesday and Thursday morning. This training focuses on different topics each week, keeping in line with the current sales process in order to give members of the sales team the tools necessary to succeed.

Opportunity for Growth

The best hiring managers aren’t looking for the next entry-level candidate. They’re looking for someone to groom to be the next great sports business executive.

In order to do so, they must provide opportunities for entry-level employees to grow within the organization. Therefore, you should ensure these types of opportunities exist when applying for your first position.

Further, be sure to ask about additional opportunities that may exist after your first promotion. Does the organization you’re interviewing with offer their senior level employees the opportunity to further grow their careers through “track” programs? Remember, career growth doesn’t end after your first promotion!

Exposure

Your first job in the sports business should serve as an extension of your college curriculum. You should constantly look for opportunities to learn more about the industry.

In order to do gain this knowledge, you’ll undoubtedly need exposure to other members of the organization you work for.

Does your potential employer facilitate these opportunities?  Are you given access to materials to broaden your knowledge of the business?

Pay Scale

Unless you’re a 20-year-old who can hit a 100-mph fastball, throw a 50-yard touchdown pass, or guard an NBA All-Star, chances are you’re never going to get rich off of your first job in professional sports.  A typical first year sports business executive in ticket sales used to be less than $35,000 (when this was first written), but better offers today (2021) are in the $40s with a chance to make more on commissions and bonuses depending on the position and level of success.

Should an additional few thousand dollars be the deciding factor on which job you take?  My advice? It should not.  Make sure every other category measures up before relying on pay scale to make your decision.

For those looking to learn more about sports business compensation, click here to see inside sales rep salaries from Ziprecruiter of roughly $45k or $22/hour. The question really isn’t what your starting salary is; the question is where are you going?

Location

This factor is entirely personal and unique to every one.  One thing is for sure, having the ability to move out of your hometown, city, or state drastically opens up your opportunities.  There are 122 professional teams within the four major American sport leagues, or over 140 counting MLS.

Limiting yourself to 2-3 throughout your career can inhibit your growth.  Nonetheless, it is important to find what makes most sense for your personal situation. Just know that you’ll spend about one-half of your waking hours with people you work with (see the graph in the cover photo). That’s a lot of time to spend with people if you pick the “right” location, but the wrong job.

Are you the best around?

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Are you the best around?
by Jeff Eldersveld – August 2013

What does “best” mean?

The word “best” is interesting. While clearly defined in sports with crowned champions, MVPs, medals and trophies, the business side of sports is a little harder to understand.

Who is the champion of website marketing? What was the best in-game promotion?

Sure, there are awards for these types of things, but they are voted on by members within the industry – based more on gut and feel rather than stats and numbers.

If I ask you who’s the best hitter in baseball, you should reply with the league leader in batting average (don’t say Yasiel Puig!). If I ask you to name the best promotion in Minor League Baseball, you could reply with a variety of answers from Brittany Spears’ Child Safety Night with the Newark Bears to Free Gas Night with the Fort Myers Miracle. Different promotions are the “best” in their own unique way.

Best in class

A characteristic of the best salespeople and managers I’ve known is that they have a clear vision to be the “best” wherever they are. If people in this business are satisfied with middle of the pack or bringing up the rear, odds are it won’t be long before they’re realizing their vision of work somewhere else. Here are some tips that have helped me stay focused on the right path.

Define what value means to your organization–>especially your boss.

dan migalaNot everyone has the same idea. You should constantly present data, statistics, or examples that prove your worth to the organization. For those already employed, this is a great way to solidify your position within the organization. For those seeking employment, this is a great way to get a foot in the door. Dan Migala, Founding Partner of Property Consulting Group, could not agree more:

“Iowa State University Associate Athletic Director, May Pink, just reminded me at NACMA this year that hiring decision-makers look for candidates that show they want the job the most. I think this is great, timeless advice. I would encourage any applicant to find multiple opportunities during the interview process to show vs. just tell why you want the job the most.”

Always encourage others. Go out of your way to compliment a job well done.

You can’t get anywhere in your career by yourself. The people who can propel your career development are the ones with whom you work most closely.

Take time to cultivate those relationships; it will strengthen the chemistry within your team and positively affect the culture within your organization.

The faster you embrace your company’s culture, the better, says Migala, “Understand that the culture and people you work with and learn from are more important than the logo on your business card.”

Be unique

You are your own person. “Be yourself, ” says Oscar Wilde,  “Everyone else is taken.”

“Legendary Notre Dame SID Roger Valdiserri taught me early in my career that each person is the sum of their own experiences,” explains Migala. “The minute I realized this, I stopped trying to guide myself into the box of what I thought the industry wanted me to be and focused instead on carving my own path.”

Start now

So start being the best around. And if you are the best, share it. Shout if from the mountaintops, market the heck out of it, or more literally, leave your comments below. Remember, we make each other better. The worst thing that you can do is keep your “best” to yourself.

 

Creating the right culture for your sales team

kirk_wakefield 2013, Careers, Lead, Learn, Sales Management , , , , , , , , 0 Comment
by Jake Reynolds – July 2013

Creating the Right Culture

What is culture?

We hear the word thrown around in the sales industry about as often as actual sales are being made.

monumental swagGallup defines culture as “the attitudes that employees have about the environment in which they work.” Every organization defines and creates culture in different and unique ways, but most agree the key to a successful sales culture is engaging your employees and creating an environment that promotes and allows them to have success.

At Monumental Sports, we strive to create a culture within our sales department that displays our commitment to becoming the best at what we do through education, hard work, accountability and having fun! We keep employees engaged through team building events, sales contests, and consistently communicating expectations for success.

Create an identity

An important element of developing a solid culture is creating and communicating an identity as to what your team values and promotes.

At Monumental, we created an identity within our Inside Sales department to accomplish these goals known as the S.W.A.G. program. This program helps identify the culture and core pillars of what our program is built on and promotes: Success, Wisdom, Attitude and Growth. Through recruiting, daily management and tracking progress, we consistently communicate our expectations and use these characteristics to build our foundation. What do these four pillars mean?

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Brian Norman
Brian Norman

“Strong culture is at the core of every successful sales team. Culture is especially important for entry-level departments that feed the rest of the organization. Employees take pride in the culture and traditions they helped establish, and bring that with them as they move into senior level positions within the company. Strong culture is paramount in building a successful and sustainable sales and service team.” [/dropshadowbox]

Success – We will put employees in a position with the tools necessary to be successful. Success is defined differently for everyone – learning, selling, driving revenue, making money, getting promoted – we will work to find what your goals are and provide you with the necessary resources to accomplish your goals and be successful.

Wisdom – Learning never stops! We believe in continued education and development for all reps. We want our dedication and commitment to training and year-round development to be unrivaled in sports. Our focus and goal is to give employees the foundation of wisdom and knowledge to grow and build their career on. The focus is on career not a job.

Attitude – We help guide employees to understand what it takes to be successful by reinforcing the attitude and confidence needed to reach their full potentials. Our goal is to be the best in the business and expect nothing less.

Growth – The primary goal and motivation of our Inside Sales program is to give employees the opportunity, knowledge and tools needed to grow their careers and grow within Monumental Sports. We promote from within. Our success is defined by how many careers we can start and grow within our company. Over the past two years, we promoted 33 reps internally to senior level positions within Ticket Sales, Group Sales, Guest Services and Sponsorships.

What about you?

Every organization has different philosophies and principles that guide and dictate their culture, but the key is engage and lead your team to help establish what your guiding principles will be. In establishing the culture within our department, I followed the roadmap below to help achieve our identity.

  1. Create an identity
  2. Consistently communicate principles and expectations
  3. Follow through and live your brand

Every successful organization has an effective culture that helps drive big results. What will yours be?

What drives fan passion?

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What drives fan passion?
by Kirk Wakefield – January 2013

What makes a passionate fan?

A passionate fan devotes heart, mind, body, and soul to the team. The consequences of a passionate fan base are increased ticket, media, merchandise and sponsorship revenue to the team.

But what are the antecedents to fan passion? What causes fans to be passionate?

Researching passion across thousands of fans and all major sports, we can now explain the vast majority (~75%) of the WHY fans are passionate for a particular team and not a fan of another team. Teams become popular when it becomes part of CULTURE.

Colin Faulkner
Colin Faulkner

In Chicago, “Cubs fans are part of a special group; the best fans in baseball who get to call the best place to watch baseball their home, Wrigley Field,” explains Colin Faulkner, Vice President, Ticket Sales & Service with the Cubs. The experience fans get at Wrigley make it cool to be a Cubs fan and it provides a positive identity for fans. It’s become part of the Chicago culture.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”550px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Fan passion is based on the team’s CULTURE:

Cool: Is the team cool, original, and different from other teams?
Unique: Does the team occupy a distinct space in the sports marketplace based on their exclusive logo, brand name, and singular quality, design, colors or style?
Love: Do fans love the players on the team? Are fans emotionally attached to players?
Trust: Do fans trust the organization running the team to be dependable, competent, responsive, and to act with integrity?
Utility: For what fans get for what they give up in time, effort, and money, what is the value of a ticket to a game?
Relationships: What does the image of the team say about fans to others? Does following the team bring social approval?
Experiential: Does the game environment allow fans to enjoy the experience and entertainment? Does the game experience build evangelists for the team?[/dropshadowbox]

 

We can score and rank teams on how strong the CULTURE is for teams in their markets. This data offers marketing diagnostics for teams and quantifies value for brands evaluating sponsorships.

An example

We took a sample of 430 students at Baylor University to measure their passion for professional teams in Texas. Given our location 90 minutes away, students are biased toward DFW teams.1

 

Culture, Passion, and Fans

Implications

1. Fan perceptions of team performance doesn’t necessarily predict passion. Students accurately see the Texans as one of the best performing teams and the Astros the worst, but this doesn’t correspond with how passionate they are about these teams. In fact, once we statistically account for the other elements of CULTURE, performance doesn’t help explain fan passion at all.

2. The Cowboys have not performed particularly well on the field in the past 15 years. Why are they so popular? Because they effectively position themselves as a cool, unique franchise with an exciting game experience. They have become part of the CULTURE.

3. The Spurs are frequently recognized as one of the best run franchises. While these students have a bias toward the DFW teams, they recognize the trust fans have in the Spurs organization.

Mike Birdsall
Mike Birdsall

4. The utility–or perceived value–of ticket prices is closely related to fan passion and the experience at the game. The true value of tickets is never a matter of cost, but always a matter of passion and past experiences.

What can teams do to build a CULTURE of passionate fans? Next month we’ll discuss, among other things, how organizations can build passionate fans by upgrading the experience and developing coolness.

“At Penn State football, if you missed the awesome touchdown catch, no worries. Pull out your smartphone and watch as many times as you want from multiple angles,” explains Mike Birdsall, FanConnex. “Don’t want to wait in line for food? At Stanford you can order food from your seat and receive a text when it’s ready to pick up at a special express window.”

 

 

1 Survey was taken the week prior to the Rangers falling out of first place.