Group Sales Basics: Education Days

A stadium, arena or field house is much more than a place to watch sports. In the hands of a creative sales rep, it’s a blank canvas waiting to be filled with imaginative ideas…ideas with the power to move a ton of group tickets!

The beautiful thing is that these don’t have to be centered on your sport (or any sport). At the Bucks, we use our arena for a wide array of programs that have nothing to do with basketball, however, they all have basketball tickets built in. Some examples include vendor fairs, holiday parties, Cub Scout belt loop classes, dance competitions and clinics, blood drives, workout classes (Zumba, Yoga, Barre, etc.), networking events, continuing education classes, and more.

One of my favorite ways to effectively use a facility to increase group sales is with Education Days. Sometimes called “Career Days” or “Speaker Series”, Education Days couple content-specific programming with a game. We call them Education Days because we always try to deliver educational content in addition to a fun and memorable gameday experience.

FORMAT

The content varies, but most of our programs follow the same basic template: Groups arrive in the early afternoon, have ~2 hours of programming, and then they enjoy the game that evening. 

A great example of this is Bucks Student Leadership Day, which welcomes hundreds of students from middle school and high school student councils. The students arrive in the early afternoon, listen to a keynote address on leadership, rotate through a few breakout sessions, and then stick around for the Bucks game that evening.

How the ~2 hours of programming gets filled depends on the audience you are catering to. We’ve used the time to host panel discussions, listen to keynote speakers, conduct crowd-participation games, watch videos on the scoreboard, and/or set up vendor fairs on the concourse. Most groups want to hear what it’s like to work in pro sports, as such, we typically have Bucks executives address the crowd and answer questions. When possible, we match the speaker with the group, like having someone from our marketing team speak at DECA Day, sales managers speaking at Career in Sports Day, our broadcasting team speaking at Journalism Day, etc. We also invite groups to supply their own speakers. For example, DARE usually invites someone to share a story of how destructive decisions deeply impacted their life and the lives of others.

WHY YOU SHOULD LOVE EDUCATION DAYS

Money - Education Days are a relatively simple way for you to put up huge numbers on the sales board while also moving boat loads of seats.   

Easy to prospect, easy to pitch – Once you’ve identified a target audience, prospecting is very easy. A lot of Education Days are supported by a presenting organization, like FCCLA or DECA, and the main contact can put you in touch with all of the chapter advisors. Pitching is simple because you can skip most of the needs-analysis questions and get right into talking about the event, date, and pricing. Presenting organizations can/should also support you with marketing and promotion efforts of their own. There’s nothing better than a prospect saying, “Our state advisor mentioned this at our last meeting and it sounds like a great idea!”

Easy to replicate – As you’ll see from the list of examples below, the Education Day format can be applied to a wide variety of groups.

Simple to execute – Selling campaigns are relatively easy for a sales rep to activate: send a mailing, an email, and make follow up calls. When possible, get the state advisor to also send correspondence, post on their website, mention it at other events, and promote through their social media channels.

Very high renewal rates – Teachers/Group Leaders love these events and will usually bring a new group of students year after year.

Help you sell lower-demand, weekday games – This one is huge! In sports like basketball and hockey, weekday, early-season, low-demand games are usually the hardest to sell. Education Days, however, work best at these games! In fact, most school groups are only allowed to get transportation at weekday events.  

Expanded Reach – An analysis of Bucks Education Day attendees revealed that the average group travels more than an hour to attend. Some groups travel up to 5 hours! When surveyed, many of the group leaders said that they are always seeking fun, educational, and exciting events for their students. Education Days hit all of these points!  

Programs are successful regardless of team performance – Education Days work whether your team is contending for a championship or in a rebuilding phase. As long as you are providing value then these groups will continue to attend season after season.

• Best Practice: Make Education Days a Priority! When I was with the Cavaliers and LeBron was an absolute beast (he still is), we could have easily sold out the entire arena to season ticket holders, but we didn’t. We strategically held back inventory for groups so we could continue to deliver programming like Education Days. In doing this, we willingly agreed to take less revenue because we knew how vital groups are to a long-term, sustainable sales strategy. Sports is a rollercoaster; sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. Keep delivering meaningful programs and groups will stick with you no matter where you are on the ride.

TIPS FOR SELLING SUCCESS

Give yourself time - I recommend you give yourself at least 3 months to pull off a successful Education Day. The first month is outreach: mail, email, calls, and supporting efforts from the presenting organization (if applicable). The second month is follow up calls. The third month is finalizing all of the orders, issuing tickets, and planning the actual event. Three months out is better for schools as well because the group leader needs time to get approval for the trip, distribute order forms to students, collect the forms, issue payment, and make travel arrangements. On top of this, many schools require you to go through the invoice/purchase order process, which can take weeks/months to complete.

Bus parking – Offer to pay for it if you can. Transportation can be a big obstacle, so easing the burden a little bit can go a long way. Think about ROI: If covering a $50 bus pass helps you close a $1,500 group, is it worth it?  

Ask for input and feedback – Invite presenting organizations, teachers, organizers and administrators to submit ideas. The more they feel connected to the event the more likely they are to bring their groups to it (and to keep coming back season after season).

Offer two price points – If you only offer cheap tickets then your groups will only buy cheap tickets. I recommend you offer a lower-priced option (but not your cheapest seats) and an upgraded option. The majority will still take the less expensive option, however, if any take the upgrade then you’ll get more commission in your pocket! 

Make it easy for the group leader – We email a packet of information to group leaders as soon as their payment is processed. The packet includes a map to the arena, directions on bus parking, where to enter, suggestions on where to eat (if they are leaving the arena and coming back for game), and a card for the group leader to exchange with the bus driver so they can communicate on the pick-up time and location. The simple gesture of sending this information helps put the group leader at ease, which reduces the amount of incoming calls (freeing up your time to generate more revenue).

Snail mail can be your best friend – Getting a teacher or administrator on the phone during the school day can be very difficult, which is why the old-school method of snail-mail is still the most effective way to get your message to these audiences. As an added benefit, group leaders can show the collateral to their principal (or whomever needs to sign-off on it). Don’t worry if you don’t have a name to address the letter to, a generic heading can be just as effective (Student Council Advisor, DECA Advisor, etc.). When I created Tech Day for the Cavaliers, the mailing was addressed to Technology Education Teachers. It was so warmly received that I sold almost 2,000 tickets without having to make a single cold call (I could have sold more but we ran out of seats).

• Best Practice: Instant Credibility. Our simplistic mailings include a cover letter and an order form. When possible, the cover letter comes from the presenting organization and is on their letterhead. Having the endorsement of the presenting organization usually makes it a lot easier to engage prospects. In a lot of cases, we write the letter for them and then get their approval before mailing it out.  

Go to the People – If you are working with a presenting organization, ask if you can speak at one of their conventions and/or set up an information table. The more personal connections you make the stronger your programs will be. Just a few weeks ago, our newest group rep stood in front of 300+ police officers to promote D.A.R.E. Day. He also set up an enter-to-win box. In less than an hour he walked away with 50+ business cards from D.A.R.E. officers, but he also met several people that wanted to do group outings outside of D.A.R.E. (fallen officer fundraising events, precinct holiday parties, and more).

TIPS FOR A GREAT GAME DAY EXPERIENCE

Make it fun! – The educational content makes it appealing to the teachers, but you also need to make it fun to keep the students engaged. As noted, some groups travel hundreds of miles and there’s a strong chance that your event will be the first game many have ever seen. Here are just a few ways to inject some energy:  

• Ask trivia questions while students are sitting and waiting for the event to start.
• Have your entertainment team(s) perform in-between presentations. We try to get our mascot, dunk team, and/or dance team to make an appearance at our education days.
• When possible, we let every attendee shoot a free throw on our court. On the days when scheduling (or the sheer volume of people) prevents us from getting everyone on the court, we like to invite the teachers to shoot free throws. They usually get thunderous applause from their students and it makes the day more enjoyable for them.
• Either before the event starts, or as soon as it is over, we welcome groups out to center court for group photos.
• Some of our events include a customized t-shirt (we build the cost into the ticket package). It’s great to see entire sections wearing these shirts during the game but these shirts are also great grassroots marketing tools. Every time students wear the shirts to school they help to keep your team top of mind, which should help with securing renewals and attracting new fans.

Under-promise, over-deliver - Adding an unexpected Fan Experience can help forge positive memories and increase your renewal rates! For example, I like to ask questions at the end of the presentations to see if the students were listening, like, “Where did our first speaker attend college?” When a student gets a question right, I invite them to down to the court. Once I have a set amount of students lined up, I’ll say something like, “For being good listeners these students are going to get to high five the Bucks players during halftime tonight!” Everyone usually goes nuts when they hear this. At halftime, we invite the lucky students and their chaperones to participate in the experience.

Keep it short and take breaks – Don’t over-pack your event with content. Many of the attendees are there for a fun day away from school, not to be bombarded with information. We like our guest speakers to talk for ~10-15 minutes and then answer questions for a couple minutes. After that, we take a break, let the students stretch, use the rest rooms, and do something fun before we move into the next presentation.

Delegate – When possible, ask the presenting organization to provide the keynote speaker(s). Also encourage them to involve their student leadership. For example, FCCLA likes to have their state officers give the welcoming address and introduce each of the guest speakers. Students help design the breakout sessions at our Student Leadership Day. At previous Tech Days, we had students showcase their robots and talk about robotics competitions.

Student Representatives getting ready to introduce the keynote speaker at Bucks Student Leadership Day. (Photo Credit: Manteau)

EDUCATION DAY EXAMPLES

4-H Day – “4?H is delivered by Cooperative Extension—a community of more than 100 public universities across the nation that provides experiences where young people learn by doing. Kids complete hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and citizenship, in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles.” (Source: 4-H.org)

AVID College Fair – “Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a global nonprofit organization that operates with one guiding principle: Hold students accountable to the highest standards, provide academic and social support, and they will rise to the challenge. AVID’s kindergarten through higher education system brings research-based curriculum and strategies to students each day that develop critical thinking, literacy, and math skills across all content areas.” (Source: Avid.org)

• At the Bucks, we incorporate AVID into our College Fair and Career in Sports Day. Students in attendance get a presentation on different professions in the sports industry and are then invited to meet with college representatives that are set up on our concourse.

BPA Day – “Business Professionals of America is the premier CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields.” (Source: BPA.org)

Career Fair – Already a staple with most sports teams, Career Fairs invite attendees to meet with potential employers. We like to fill our concourse with a healthy mixture of different industries, but we always try to include as many sports teams as possible (because they help to attract the most attendees). To add value, you can have educational presentations take place during the event. For example, have someone from your HR team talk about the pros and cons of resume writing and interviewing. You can also have a panel discussion of team executives to share the stories of their careers. We’ve aligned with Teamworkonline.com to present our Career Fair over the past few seasons.

Career in Sports Day – This is our most simplistic Education Day topic, but it works. We invite students to learn about different careers in pro sports, outside of being an athlete. As noted, this event can be coupled with a college fair to add more value and increase attendance. The target audience is high school business classes.

D.A.R.E. Day – “D.A.R.E. is a comprehensive K-12 education program taught in thousands of schools in America and 52 other countries. D.A.R.E. curricula address drugs, violence, bullying, internet safety, and other high risk circumstances that today are too often part of students’ lives.” (Source: Dare.com)

DECA Day – “DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.” (Source: DECA.org)

FCCLA Day – “FCCLA, short for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, is a cocurricular organization that aims to help youth in public and private schools with family bonds, careers, and participation in the community.” (Source: Wikipedia)

FBLA Day – Future Business Leaders of America. “Our mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs.” (Source: FBLA-PBL.org)

FFA Day – “FFA (Future Farmers of America) makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.” (Source FFA.org)

Homeschool Day – There are several associations for families that homeschool their kids. Invite all of them to your facility for a behind-the-scenes tour, educational discussion, and then for some fun, family bonding time at a game.

HOSA Day - “HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America)'s two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people.” (Source: HOSA.org)

Journalism Day – A little different than Weather/News Day, our Journalism Day serves as an education event for students and a recruiting event for the journalism/communications college at one of our local universities.

Junior Achievement Day – “We are the nation's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart academic and economic choices. Junior Achievement's programs—in the core content areas of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy—ignite the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century.” (Source: Juniorachievement.org)

SADD Day – “SADD’s mission is to empower young people to successfully confront the risks and pressures that challenge them in their daily lives.” (Source: SADD.org)

SkillsUSA Day – “SkillsUSA improves the quality of America’s skilled workforce through a structured program of citizenship, leadership, employability, technical and professional skills training. SkillsUSA enhances the lives and careers of students, instructors and industry representatives as they strive to be champions at work.” (Source: Skillsusa.org)

STEM/Space/Science/Engineering/Tech Day – This can be as broad or a specific as you want. We are working on a program this season that focuses on promoting math, science and engineering to students that may be interested in the aerospace industry. My Tech Day program in Cleveland was vaguer and usually featured presentations from Cavs executives in IT, graphics, and facility operations.

Student Council Day/ Student Leadership Day – Invite Student Councils to learn about leadership. For Bucks Student Leadership Day, we aligned with the Wisconsin Association of School Councils (WASC) to help coordinate the event.

Weather Day / News Day – These events are more popular with baseball teams because they take place prior to a day game (we typically don’t have these in the NBA). Most include presentations from a local TV news anchors and/or weather persons.

I welcome your feedback and would love to hear of any Education Days that aren’t on this list.

Happy selling!

Carl Manteau

Milwaukee Bucks Sr. Director of Group Sales

The opinions expressed in this article are my own and may not reflect those of the Milwaukee Bucks or the organizations mentioned.