steps – BaylorS3E

Outbound ticket sales: How to create a sales playbook to maximize sales

kirk_wakefield 2014, Marketing, Sell, Tickets April 1, 2014November 1, 2018collegiate, commitment, departments, NCAA, new, planning, process, sales management, sales reps, start, steps, strategy, ticket sales 0 Comment

by Mark Washo – April 2014

As NCAA programs continue to adopt more revenue-generating practices, activating an outbound ticket sales program appears simple. Hire entry level sports management grads, provide a desk, phone, and email address, pull past buyer lists and watch the ticket sales role in. While most understand ticket sales is more complex, how many take ALL key aspects of successful sales into consideration? [dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]“Game day name capture initiatives are one of the best ways for us to connect with fans that have formed a habit of waiting to make a ‘game time decision’ and show them the benefits of reserving their seats in advance as opposed to walking up and buying a ticket at the game. We also find that database collection efforts at community events and local sports bars are a key component in creating new relationships with local businesses and organizations.” – Jamie Levitt, Manager of Ticket Sales at Western Kentucky University[/dropshadowbox]

The first step to a successful program is commitment

To maximize revenue, the organization must commit to outbound sales over a full calendar year, not month to month or short term (3 to 5 months). After committing to a 12 months sales staffing plan, with a year round sales focus, you are ready to make your ticket sales plan, your playbook for success.

Create a sales plan or “Playbook” that includes:

The past: Review past season ticket sales reports to look for strengths to build on and opportunities to improve.
The future: Goals setting; annual, monthly, sales rep goals and quotas. Set realistic yet aggressive minimum expectations for your sales professionals, including minimum sales activity expectations and sales targets. Continually track progress towards the goals.
Develop a 12 month ticket sales timeline: The timeline should include “early bird new and renewal campaigns” while existing playing seasons are happening to capitalize on fan excitement and interest while they are still engaged. Waiting until after the playing seasons are over to begin new sales & renewals for that sport is not as effective at maximizing ticket sales revenue as renewing and selling new tickets during the season.
Recruit top talent: Don’t cut corners during the recruiting process. Activate a multiple step process, including a sales role-play interview step to help recruit the strongest candidates.
Hire enough talent: Hire the appropriate number of sales staff based on revenue goals; creating realistic revenue expectations will help you draw conclusions on appropriate # of ticket sales executives to hire.
Create motivating compensation plans with commission and bonus opportunities: Compensation models should provide incentives to sell, which aid in recruiting and retaining top talent.[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Failure to prepare is preparing to fail ~John Wooden “It is vital to have a game plan for your sales approach just like a coach has a game plan to execute on the field. The key is to have an attack plan for sales prepared once a schedule is made available. Often certain groups dictate the time of year they can attend an outing. For example school base programs, scouts, and ROTC’s need a two month leeway into a school year to plan an activity. An outline will help a sales person know exactly where they stand and what needs to be accomplished at any point of the year. Also, it is a quick and easy way to keep superiors up to date on what a sales representative is currently working on and how they are planning to make the next event a success. — Tom Phelps, Naval Academy[/dropshadowbox]
Commit to data base building: Invest in CRM to cultivate leads and grow your data base. Newer web based models provide 24 hour remote access.
Analyze your pricing strategy: Based on analytics that consider situational factors, increase the average ticket price with price integrity for single game pricing. Add incentives to encourage season ticket and advance purchase. Analyze your ticket sales customers buying habits and patterns to guide pricing.
Create season ticket benefits: Find creative low cost ways to provide season ticket benefits (e.g., with corporate partners) to provide added value beyond discounts (i.e., experiences).
Create flexible ticketing packages: Explore options such as vouchers or “pick me plans.”
Develop a group sales pricing strategy: Reward groups with appropriate benefits that include group leader incentives to motivate purchase.
Commit to consistent ticket sales training: Just like in well-run corporations, sales training must be consistent and on-going.
Promote the promotion: Encourage cross-departmental integration that support ticket sales initiatives with “buy in” from other departments; gain support from marketing/PR/social media and operations.
Create a positive sales culture: Create visible team-wide goals where everyone is committed to revenue generation. Include motivating reps through sales incentives and contests.
Develop a renewal and retention strategy: Explore ways to activate proactive retention efforts and develop strong customer service, with multiple “touch points” throughout the season.
Ticket Operations: Don’t forget to recruit professional and dedicated ticket operations talent. Sound ticket operations is needed to support any proactive sales effort.

It’s important to take as comprehensive as an approach as possible to selling tickets. Find ways to activate all of the key elements, you will be in a great position to maximize ticket sales revenue! [dropshadowbox align=”left” effect=”lifted-both” width=”550px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

“It’s always interesting to me, that all of us who work in professional or collegiate sports are exposed to elite athletes who we see practice & train every day, in order to stay at the top of their game. Therefore, it’s surprising that most ticket sales teams don’t commit to consistent sales and role play training. The most successful sales teams in sports (pro or college), have a dedicated commitment to consistent sales training, which includes sales role play, bringing in outside sales trainers and taking advantage of free sales content on social media such as this Baylor sportsbiz article.” ~ Brett Zalaski[/dropshadowbox]

Sales Managers: 6 Keys to Becoming a Great(er) Leader

kirk_wakefield 2014, Lead, Sales Management March 1, 2014November 1, 2018growth, Indiana Fever, leadership, learn, managers, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, Philadelphia 76ers, sales management, sports, steps, TMBO, Tulsa Shock 0 Comment

by Dionna Widder – March 2014

To be great(er) leaders, we must first master the craft of management, work on building upon our skills and talent, and develop trusting relationships with our employees and your managers.

The Great Blondin became famous for being the first person to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Not just once, but eight times over two years. He walked blindfolded, on stilts, and even with a wheelbarrow. He failed to build relationships with his audience therefore no one trusted him enough to volunteer to jump in his wheelbarrow to be pushed to cross the falls, except for his manager, who he carried across the falls on his back.

If we want to be better leaders, we must do these six things.

Be self-aware

An easy exercise to evaluate yourself is to write out five things you do well and five things you can do better as a manager. It is also important to draw awareness through feedback from reps. Would this kind of feedback surprise you?

“I want (my manager) to stop only training on how to sell over the phone”
“Start talking to us as professionals, not children”
“Stop canceling one-on-one meetings and not reschedule them”
“Start developing me on how to sell B2B”
“Stop being unapproachable”
“Stop socializing with select people in our department, it make me feel left out”

When areas of improvement are clearly identified, develop solutions. Carrie Kmetzo (Director, Ticket Sales & Service, Tulsa Shock) realized team building and personal connections with managers and reps would improve retention of reps. They created “Bachelor Brackets” on who would win in The Bachelor and hosted paintball games with reps to create fun engagement activities to build the connection.

Use outside resources to gain knowledge

Consider these sources: Books (join or start a book club), blogs, e-newsletters, associations, industry publications, participate in conference calls, webinars, leadership organizations (e.g., Toastmasters), and online search (Don’t know it? Google it. Don’t know how? YouTube it. ).

Mike Fuhrman (Inside Sales Manager, Minnesota Timberwolves) has been proactive at using outside resources and scheduling in time to participate in his company’s book club, being an active member of Toastmasters, and he participates in local chamber events.

Learn from your environment

Learn from others’ experiences. Be a sponge. As Samantha Hicks (Director, Ticket Sales & Service, Indiana Fever) shares, “I learn from the different styles of each of my superiors. I take note of how they communicate with me and with others in the room.”

Brian Norman (Sales Manager, Philadelphia 76ers) suggests having heads of the other departments in your organization be guest speakers periodically to expand the knowledge base of reps outside of sales and to help spur career motivation of sales reps.

Develop relationships & have mentors

Self-development doesn’t have to always be done by yourself. We need to involve others who are willing to provide constructive feedback, give you advice, and share insight from their personal experiences. Find at least one mentor of each of these four types: superior, lateral, internal, and external.

Utilize your manager to learn and grow

If you want training, go to your manager and ask for it and be specific what you want to learn and recommend how they can help you learn it. Michael Brown (Inside Sales Manager, Memphis Grizzlies) visits regularly with his vice-president (for “challenges”), asking what he needs to know to develop his skill set and make a bigger contribution to the department. Michael requests for the opportunity to sit in on upper level sales meetings in the office, and shadow him at games when possible.

Erin Leigh (Manager of Inside Sales, Brooklyn Nets) recommends offering comprehensive solutions when executives present problems faced by the team. Erin provided a solution– when the sales team started to lose their edge–to develop a comprehensive training program that she now leads for all sellers in the department.

Have a plan

Plans have goals, action steps, timeline (frequency), and how you’ll measure success.

List out the five things you want to do better. Define the actions you will take to accomplish each developmental goal. Establish a timeline and frequency in which you will execute each action. Define how you will measure your personal growth.

Ready to get started? Download this planning sheet and get with it. Now.

The Six Choices of New Leaders

kirk_wakefield 2013, Integrity, Lead, Networking, Work ethic September 16, 2013November 2, 2018Aristotle, believe, follow, leadership, Mark Twaiin, Proverbs, steps, vision, young 0 Comment

by Lynn Wittenburg – September 2013

People just starting to climb the ladder in this business often ask: How do I become a leader? I do not have ALL the answers, but here are six tips that will help.

1. Learn to follow

Say what? I asked you to tell me how to be a leader and you say to learn to follow? Yep, that’s right. You can’t lead until you know how to follow. And the best leaders are constantly following. Trust me, you don’t have all the answers. And solutions can come from anywhere in the ranks or from outside sources such as books, mentors, etc.

He who has never learned to obey can not be a good commander – Aristotle

There are 3 essentials to leadership: humility, clarity & courage – Fuchan Yuan

2. Be a part of the solution (not the problem)

Trust me, there will be plenty of your co-workers complaining about all the problems with whatever organization you happen to work for. An easy way to set yourself apart is to think of solutions rather than join in the bickering. First, your superiors will notice, but more importantly, it’s just a better way to live life. Don’t get caught up in the negativity. Have a vision & problem solve.

Where there is no vision, the people perish – Proverbs 29:18

3. Lead by example

People do not want to be told what to do. They want to be shown. It’s OK to get in the trenches.

Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow – Chinese Proverb

4. Surround yourself with the best

Don’t micromanage. It’s OK to hire people smarter than you. For me to be the best, I want to hire the best. There will be many things my people can do better than I can and that’s great. Give people rope. There are other solutions than just the one in your head.

The best executive is the one who has enough sense to pick good men to do what he wants, and the self restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it – Theodore Roosevelt

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity – General George Patton

5. Stand up for what matters

Pick your battles. This is probably the hardest thing to learn. When I was younger, I battled for everything. I thought it had to be my way or it would be wrong. The key to leadership is fighting for the important stuff, not every stuff.

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock – Thomas Jefferson

6. Believe in your vision & act

One of my favorite sayings from Mark Twain is “No one told them it was impossible, so they did it.”

There are so many naysayers in our world and everyday life. People will tell you your plan can’t get done. They will point out all the reasons why you will fail. And this is where you can set yourself apart as a leader. Believe in your plan. But, most importantly, ACT on it. And allow others to act. As a leader, I truly believe half of my job is to just say YES.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has – Margaret Mead

Picture courtesy of ExpoundInteractive.

Three Steps to Creating an Effective Entry-Level Sales Contest

kirk_wakefield 2013, Lead, Sales Management, Tickets August 1, 2013November 2, 2018contests, incentives, metrics, recognition, revenue, Sales, salespeople, steps, theme, time frame 1 Comment

by Brian Norman – August 2013

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

Think about a sales contest you have conducted (or participated in) that was missing something. Perhaps it did not have a specific purpose, was unorganized, anticlimactic, or even ineffective? Rather than using a generic model, create a personalized strategy that will help your team accomplish its goals.

Step 1: Set Specific Objectives

The first step in designing an effective sales contest is to determine the ultimate objective. Goals for entry-level sales staffs can vary; therefore it’s imperative to set specific objectives for your sales contest. Write down, in detail, what you hope to accomplish and how you will measure your success.

Questions that need to be answered include:

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

“An effective sales contest, done the right way, can produce big results for your team.

The preparation leading up to it, the execution throughout and the post contest assessment are all vital in maximizing the results from your contest. In order to get the desired outcome when building the sales contest, it’s important that it’s designed to help accomplish a specific agenda, create a fun and competitive environment, engage your employees and drive big revenue.” [/dropshadowbox]Are you basing the contest solely on revenue production?

Are you trying to increase departmental revenue by 10%, 25%, 50%?
Is there a specific team revenue goal you’d like to reach?
Historically, what was produced during this period of the sales cycle?

Are you focused strictly on moving inventory – regardless of revenue?

Is there specific inventory you’re focused on selling (club seats, VIP seating, etc.)?

Are you also focusing on increased call volume, on-site appointments, or other “hustle” metrics?

If so, do all of these metrics directly contribute to your ultimate goal?
Are these metrics readily accessible throughout the day to encourage/drive individuals?

Step 2: Design the Program

Establish each of these for every sales contest.

Team, Individual, or Both?

Recognize when it’s most effective to use a team-based contest versus an individual-based contest.

A team contest will help drive departmental unity. In theory, every member of your team will work together to accomplish the goal to receive some type of incentive. In reality, be aware of free-loaders who don’t contribute and seek the same incentive as the rest of their team. To address this, set personal “minimum qualifiers” to motivate everyone on the team to participate.

Is your sales group full of competitive, result-driven employees? If so, an individual-based contest may be the best route for your team. Create and facilitate a program that will bring out the competitive nature of your sales team as they compete against one another.

Sales contests can also tie in both team and individual aspects that will build team unity while rewarding top performers. Focus on dynamics that will motivate the team as a whole, while also pushing individual performance within the contest. An overall team incentive can be supplemented by smaller prizes throughout the contest to key performers.

Theme

In order to keep your team engaged throughout your sales contest, it’s crucial to design your sales contest around an exciting and entertaining theme. Whether you use current events (Olympic Games, March Madness, Draft Lottery), movies (Fight Club) or board games (Monopoly, Scrabble) to model the contest, it should be creative, fun, and most of all, engaging!

Time frame

The length of the sales contest is one of the most important pieces of the design. If your contest is too short, it may not give your sales team the proper time to accomplish the set objectives. If your contest is too long, your objective will lack urgency and it can grow stale. Refer to previous sales/hustle metrics to determine the appropriate timeframe to accomplish your objectives.

Incentives

What will truly motivate your team to increase their performance? Simply ask them! By [dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Eric Platte

“After running plenty of sales contests that produced different results, the underlying factor that motivates everyone is free and simple: recognition.

For example, the 2013 Final Four was in Atlanta so we capitalized with a sales contest. The winning member received two tickets to the tournament, assorted gift cards, in addition to a trophy and picture that we sent to the NBA league office and our executive team. After the hundreds of dollars we spent on the prizes, the winner was most proud of the email we sent to the league and the executive team with his picture!” [/dropshadowbox]asking your sales team what incentives they desire most, you’re accomplishing two things:

First, and most obvious, you’re able to put together a list of incentives they desire. Send out an email asking your team to present you with three items (under your set budget) that they would love to have. Whether its cash, gift cards, concert tickets, autographed memorabilia, or other prizes, you’re sure to get authentic feedback. (Best answer to date: C.R.E.A.M: Cash rules everything around me!)

Secondly, and just as important, you’re empowering your employees with the task of helping design their very own sales contest. This leads to increased buy-in and appreciation from your team. Further, you are presented with ideas you never would have thought of yourself.

Step 3: Review, Recap, Revise

What could have been done better?

Was the contest too long? Too short?
Was your sales team engaged? What could you have added to make it more engaging?
Did the original rules work throughout, or did you have to adjust them at some point? Why?
Did the incentives actually motivate your sales team, or were they simply a nice reward?
How close did you come to accomplishing your goals? Were the goals too easy? Too hard?

Analyzing Metrics

Simply put, did the contest accomplish your set objectives? Compare your team’s performance during the contest against previous data to measure the true impact. Record your results as they compare to historical metrics and save for future referral.

Finally, measure your team’s output over the weeks and months following your contest to gain additional insight into the contest’s level of effectiveness.

How much revenue was produced compared to last month?
How much revenue was produced compared to the same time in the selling cycle last year?
What percentage of sales was from the targeted inventory?
How does outbound call volume compare to the average call volume for the last week? Month?