Sports Industry Leaders Share Best Practices for Growing Ourselves in 2018

As I enter into 2018, I feel as though I am surrounded by articles discussing ways to succeed and achieve in 2018. One common theme I tend to see is that the tips and opinions written in these articles are written with outside perspectives. These articles are still incredibly written and can provide fantastic insight on how someone new to their career, like myself, can begin to fine-tune different skills to become a better salesperson, leader, and coworker. This prompted me to seek direct input from some of the business leaders in the sports industry that have had a direct impact on me over the last few years while in college transitioning into the real world.

I reached out to a few different people that I see as ethical leaders who are doing things the right way and strive to be better themselves, while also challenging those around them to be the best they can be. The point of me writing this is not for you to read what I say and learn from it, but to take the information I have gathered from these men and apply it directly to our lives and our work. I have so much to learn, and I am so thankful that these men took time out of their busy schedules to not only have insightful conversations with me about the sports industry and sales, but also to be willing to let me share their thoughts so that we can all benefit from the knowledge they have to share.

I asked them to each tell me the top 3 best practices that have helped new salespeople succeed, and also the 3 worst practices that have caused new salespeople to fail. I hope you learn as much as I did from their answers.

Nick Richardson, Inside Sales Manager, Texas Rangers:

Best:

Follow the process and stay organized: There are no shortcuts to success. It is a daily grind and you must embrace it. Things that were built fast were not built to last. 

Know your product: You should be the expert. You should be able to paint the picture well over the phone, over email, and in person. Master the product in order to get the client to be comfortable in closing the deal. The sale is in the details. 

Relentless Effort: Focus on learning one new thing per day. Be where your feet are and know that if you create value for your company in the position you are in, then you organically create value for yourself. This in turn will afford you opportunity to earn leadership and promotion opportunities.

Worst:

Failing to ask for referrals: This is a no exception rule. What is better, cold calling and individual buyer calling all day, or calling someone who is already warm and came from someone you already spent valuable time developing a relationship with? ASK!

Lack of communication: Be a 360 degree communicator. Be able to relate and communicate with management, peers, and other departments within your company, and create equal business stature with potential and current clients. If you lack the ability to do that, you have an uphill battle. High Clarity = High Performance

Poor Follow-up: The follow-up post initial conversation, post appointment, or post sale is paramount. Make is special, make it you, make it more than just a phone call or email. 

Scott Hebert, Inside Sales Manager, Minnesota Timberwolves:

Best practices:

Work Ethic:  Nothing is more important than work ethic when you are starting your career. Inside Sales is the best time to learn while outworking everyone around you. Those who make the most calls, set the most meetings, have the best conversations, and listen with purpose climb to the top quickly. They improve their sales process the quickest and set the tone for their career, long term. The work ethic you develop early on is crucial to the professional you will be in the future.

Curious: Our top reps tend to be those who are curious and ask a lot of great questions. They are curious about how to use our software more efficiently, how to execute our sales process at a higher level, and how to improve on a daily basis. Not only do they ask, but they take the next step and apply this knowledge in their process. This curiosity allows them to improve faster than those who do not apply themselves in a similar fashion.

Leaders:  Top producers are those who lead in many ways. They lead by their work ethic (calls/meetings/touch points), follow the process diligently, and take initiative in other areas. They volunteer to work additional events, extra hours (including holidays at times), and ask for help. They tend to be humble enough in wanting to go the extra mile by put themselves in a position see more success while being a great teammate and developing leadership traits. Leaders are not born, they are made. Top producers lead by example and EARN the respect of the group around and even more importantly, their management group which eventually has a lot of influence on their next career move.

Limiting practices:

Glass being half empty: Reps who focus on the challenges more than the opportunity tend to fall behind the fastest. There tends to be a constant obstacle stopping them from achieving their fullest potential. The obstacles vary based on the time of year and continue to build if they don’t take the initiative to find ways to overcome those challenges. Better reps are able to recognize challenges, understand how they can overcome them, and apply that knowledge in their process instead of it weighing them down.

See this as a job vs. a career: Reps who get into the sports world with the mindset of it being a “job” tend to have less patience and fail to see the big picture. They focus on the day to day nuisances of the position with the calls, meetings, emails, etc. With this mindset it is easy to become frustrated when success is not immediate and it is tougher for them to understand the big picture. Every interaction should be seen as an opportunity to learn and develop better practices, relationships, and future interactions with their clients for long-term success. Reps who see the big picture and do more of the “little things” tend to be those who have a strong career mindset and set themselves up for continued success.

Don’t do the “little things”:  Echoing the last point, the “little things” are most times, the most important things in the long run. Handwritten notes, always following up on time, keeping great notes, staying organized, volunteering to do more, the list goes on. These small touch points build trust, character, credibility, and lasting relationships, which eventually lead to more success in their current role and beyond.

Darryl Lehnus, Director, Baylor Sports Sponsorship and Sales Program:

Top 3 practices:

• Being naturally conversational/making conversation about the client
• Learning how to ask good questions
• Listening skills/responding to what you hear 

Worst 3 practices:

• Talking too much to begin/too much information overload to clients
• Trying to speak from a script/robotic call
• Not listening

Joe Schiavi, Director of Sales, Palace Sports and Entertainment:

Best:

Focus: Coming in every day with clear cut goals, a plan to achieve, and desired results in mind.

Consistency: The ability to replicate your best practices and processes day in and day out, despite successes, challenges, and limitations

Positive Attitude: An authentic catalyst to transform any challenge or obstacle into a success story

Worst:

Doing the opposite of the 3 above is sure to cause you to backtrack in your career.

Adam Vogel, Director of Inside Sales, New York Mets:

Best Practices

·      Relentless Belief in Product- Battling objections from the heart

·      Continuous Student of the Game- Finding opportunities to always be better

·      Fail Fast- Embrace objections

Worst Practices

·      “I have to” mindset- I have to make a lot of calls; I have a big goal to hit

·      Means as the end- Skipping over rapport/ relationship building to get to the close

·      Bypassing referrals- These are your warmest leads, ask every call

Shawn McIntosh, Director of Ticket Sales, Houston Dynamo:

Best Practices:

• Consistent with their work effort – My top reps are able to remain consistent with the effort they put in on a day in and day out basis. Peaks and valleys are to be expected in sales, but remaining consistent in the areas you can control leads to a more balanced sales pipeline.
• Working just as hard at getting better as they do at their job – Making 100 phone calls, coming in early and staying late is fantastic, but that level of effort will only take you so far if you’re not evolving and growing as a sales professional. The reps that invest more time in reading, role playing, meeting with senior leadership, etc, are typically the ones that outshine the rest of their class.
• Proactivity – The reps who manage up and seek out help generally have a leg up on others. Waiting to be told you’re behind on sales goals leaves you in place of having to play from behind. The reps I’ve had that approach management proactively to let them know they are in a “sales funk” are the ones who most often times see their way out of those valleys.  Asking for help is always a best practice and a clear indication of someone that cares about his/her success.

Worst Practices:

• Reps that rely solely on hitting the phones and calling the lead lists they are provided tend to have a lower ceiling than the ones that seek out leads through prospecting, attending networking events, and capitalizing on game days. 
• Reps that are averse to stepping outside of their comfort zone limit their ability to reach their full potential. All too often, I see reps fall into routines that bring them a sense of comfortability. Being comfortable is the enemy of success. Reps that dive in head first on trying to new things, jumping outside their own personalities, embracing new trainings, etc, are the ones that distinguish themselves.
• Most of my reps tend to learn how to have strong sales conversations with prospects rather quickly. The reps that struggle the most are the ones that allow prospects to drive the direction of a conversation and ultimately fold after hearing objections. The inability to push back and get to the heart of an objection can be crippling to a sales rep’s ability to succeed.

James Bryant, Manager of Inside Sales, Colorado Rapids:

Best Practices:

• Consistency. Whatever the metric (calls, meetings, talk time, meetings completed), to do it consistently week in week out is a true indicator of a successful representative that has a process in place for him/her to succeed in the role. Anyone can have a great day on the phones but can you have a great week or months doing it? The longer you are consistent the more likely you are not going to fall into the trap or the rollercoaster that sales can be.
• They manage their days effectively. There are a number of things that could go on in a day such as meetings, roundups or even distractions from fellow teammates. The best reps plan their days out in advance and block hours off strictly for outbound calls. We call these “power hours” were we shut down out emails, blast the music and everyone hits the phones!
• Discipline. Inside Sales Managers roles are to give you a platform and the blueprint to succeed. It’s an open book test and the individuals that stick to being disciplined in their training tend to have more success than the ones that don’t. The more disciplined you are to the training that you have received (hopefully good training), the better the rep has succeed!

Worst Practices:

• Spend too much time on things that don’t drive revenue. During the day, your goal is to create as much outbound activity as possible using all the tools to your advantage. Sending emails, figuring out payment plans, putting it in your CRM during your $$ is a waste of time. Those activities should be done early or late in the day and not in primetime outbound mode
• They don’t continue to learn.  Sales is not a silver bullet industry and the reps who don’t continue to challenge themselves and learn always get left behind. Reading books, listening to webinars or role-plays after the initial training leaves reps stagnant and not improving. 
• Don’t have a winning mentality. A sales department has a team environment, which is vitally important. However we are all competitors and want to be the #1 on the board. The ultimate goal is to generate revenue than the person next to you and if it doesn’t annoy you that they are #1 over you then your mentality needs to change. Always try to win but not at the expense of other people.

There is so much to learn sometimes it can feel overwhelming. If we can each grasp 3 things we want to focus on to be better at in our careers this year, we will begin to see vast improvement. What are your three things you are going to get better at this year? Please feel free to comment what you are working on and how you will be better this year, as I know it helps to get thoughts down on paper. I would love to read them and learn from your thoughts as well. I hope we can all continue to grow in our careers and in our lives together. Thank you and please feel free to share this article.

Jonah Erbe