May 2: Kathy's Sports Questions Mailbag..."Hey Kathy!"

As some sports are winding down and others are gearing up, we start the month of May with questions for both! Read on...

"Hey Kathy,

In my end of season eval, I was told that I did a great job on selling to the consumer, but I need to grow my B2B. I am definitely more a consumer seller, as I think I relate better. Any ideas to grow my B2B?" C, west coast

Hi C,

Congrats on doing a great job on the consumer end. I do agree with your supervisor that growing B2B is not only good for the organization, but also for your own personal growth. My question is, what is it that makes you uncomfortable? Is it meeting with someone you feel is 'higher up'? Is it the price you are discussing? Is it because you are not sure how they would use it? Do you feel ill at ease talking with a business vs a consumer?  

Identifying the 'why' is key to turning this into an opportunity. If you feel they are higher up, remind yourself that you, too are 'higher up'...you are the specialist in your business, the CEO of your own small business, and no one in their company knows your company better than you. Go in with an attitude of how your company can help their company. If it's pricing, remind yourself this key point: you never know what someone else can/can't afford. What you CAN control is the quality of experience, so don't dwell on pricing but rather on what is the best experience you can provide them...the pricing will then take care of itself. If you are not sure how they would use it, sit down and review all the ways a company can have success with our product: using the suites as a second office, using it as a new prospect/sale tool, using it simply as a perk for the company...whatever you find, it's because in the assessment you asked questions that helped lead you to why they might want our product and how best they could use it. You don't know much about the consumer until you talk with them; what makes you think you should have all the answers prior to talking with the business?  

I personally have found that inviting a business to coffee or becoming friends with the gatekeeper prior to ever setting a meeting helps me prepare for that business meeting.  

At the end of the day you have something they may need to help their business, something they may want to make their families and employees happy, and something they may view in a different way once they talk with you. You are providing them an opportunity to do business in a different way. The one thing you are not doing is selling them tickets. 

"Hey Kathy,

We've started the season with some not so good weather, and consequently, our numbers aren't that great. We have catching up to do...any ideas to come up with sales in a hurry?" J, midwest

Hi J,

A lot of teams started out with some not so good weather...mother nature has not been kind to the start of seasons this past month. But this tells me a couple of things...one, there is work to do, and two, the importance of selling in the off-season instead of as the season gets closer.  

One thing we cannot control is the weather. If we start selling in the off-season, we start filling our Mendoza lines per game and the numbers take care of themselves. If we wait until closer, we rely on walk-up too much to help those numbers and that's not a recipe for success.  

But considering it didn't get done and now we are in a bind...we need to pick up numbers. What to do? My suggestion? As a team, commit. Commit to this month of May. Commit to power hours. Commit to a sale a day. Commit to a goal for the month and do all you can to attack it. Make this month count. Plan your day. If your day starts at 8, be there at 7:40, ready to go at 8. If you don't have power hours, commit to them this month. Make that 8:00 your first power hour and get a jump-start on every other business out there that starts at 9. Commit to a sale a day. If everyone can get in a sale a day, numbers will start to grow as will confidence. Create a plan. Who can you go after for bigger numbers for one power hour and who can you go after for faster decision sales for another? Has every group renewed from last year? Make that another power hour. Create a hook to close. Who generally buys in May? Most companies are finalizing a summer outing...hit the business targets heavily.  

Ask yourself who you can target as a whole and get the word out? Is there an event you can host, be it at the facility or at a library. Can you get in front of every sport or band booster club? Who has multiple locations that you can target? 

At the end of the day, success will come by creating a plan, and then working that plan to the fullest. It's the beginning of May. Sit down with your teammates and create your plan for the month. Create your revenue goal you want to hit as a team. Attack it. Work at it. Meet mid month and tweak it if need be. Decide who will target what (businesses, multiple location businesses, clubs, etc.) and create your plan from there. Get excited. The team on the field/court/pitch/ice has to work together to make it happen. We do the same inside the offices. Our goal is to 'win' as many 'games' as we can during the month. It starts with a plan, and then a committment to a sale a day. We can win this one! 

Keep me posted on the month! 

Kathy

Send YOUR sports sales questions by Tuesday noon to: [email protected] If it's not in the mailbag, it will be answered personally...either way, it will be answered! 

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Want to talk 1:1? Let's meet up at the ALSD conference in Atlanta in June. This one promises to be the best yet..if you haven't been, you're missing out!  https://alsd.com/content/2018-alsd-conference-and-tradeshow