What Makes A Top Sales Rep Successful?

In 2015, I was a very young and inexperienced sales professional just out of college about to head into an inside sales role with my hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Looking back almost 7 years later at the person I have become both personally and professionally, I have come quite a long way since stepping foot onto the sales floor for the first time in Philly. Over time, as I have continued to maintain success in the sports sales industry and progress in my career, I typically always get asked the same thing by younger individuals looking to break into the industry or folks that have just secured that first job in sports sales- "what makes a top sales rep and what can I do to become successful?" For me, success in sports sales is broken down into three key pieces, all of which have allowed me to become extremely successful over the years:

1. Work Ethic & Dedication: When I began in my role as a Sales Associate with the 76ers back in 2015, I knew it would be a challenge. Not only was the team the worst in Basketball (Trust The Process), but we had the largest sales staff in the NBA. I knew in order to succeed, I had to outwork my competition. I was consistently the first one in the office and the last one to leave every day. I also made sure that at the end of every day, I was the leader in both calls and talk time. Sales is a numbers game at the end of the day, the more calls you make, the more people you will talk to. The more people you talk to, the more quality conversations you have- the more quality conversations you have, it will lead to more sales, and you climbing up the sales leaderboard with your eyes on that next promotion. Not only that, but the more calls you make, the more confident you will become on the phone and with the sales process, handling objections, etc. After about 10 months in inside sales with the Sixers, I found myself at the top of the leaderboard and was promoted to an Account Executive. Even in 2021 as a senior level seller with the Blues, the grind does not stop. I strive to outwork my competition and maintain my spot at the top of the leaderboard every single day. By possessing that relentless work ethic and the unwavering desire to be the best every single day, the sky is the limit for your success.
2. Eagerness & Willingness To Learn: As a sales rep, no matter how polished and experienced you may be, there is always room to learn and improve. For me starting out in my career, I always would be proactive in finding ways to learn and get better every day. For me, as an inside sales rep, I would shadow senior level reps, listening to their calls and seeing how they handle certain objections, sometimes even going out to lunch with them to pick their brain on different aspects of the sales process. I also would have monthly 1-on-1 meetings with different folks on the senior level leadership team to debrief on how my calls & meetings went in a given week and see what I can be doing to get myself to the next level from a career growth standpoint. Moral of the story, since my first day in the sports business, I have always made it a point to be eager and willing to soak up as much information as possible to improve both personally and professionally as a sports sales executive and in order to become a top rep, you should follow suit. To get better at your craft, you need to possess a constant desire to learn and get better every day. If you embrace that mindset, you will be successful!
3. Time Management & Organization: Starting out as a brand new sales rep, it can be intimidating! Hundreds of calls loaded in CRM, setting follow-ups with prospects and managing your pipeline can be tough to stay on top of when you are just starting out. However, by managing your time efficiently and coming in with a plan in place every single day, it will translate into success. From a call standpoint, I learned very early on in my career that call blocking (setting certain times of the day for certain groups of calls) helps to create structure in a given day and allow you to be more efficient- everyone works better when they have a set schedule! From 9-5, or "money hours" you should doing anything and everything you can to put up revenue and having your day scheduled appropriately will allow you to do that successfully. In addition, in inside sales especially, you are dealing with a lot of rejection, and it can be easy to have a negative outlook on things if you are not selling something in a given day, but by having your day segmented out, it also allows you to take a step back at your day and take a look at the small wins in a day that will lead to long term success (maybe it's a meeting that went really well, or some good phone calls that you had). On top of simply organizing your day, keeping track of your pipeline and making sure you control the sales process and stay on top of following up with your prospects is crucial to being successful. Time kills all deals, and by not following up with prospects in a timely manner, it hurts your ability to close deals and to be successful.

If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this! I hope you are able to find at least one nugget from this that you can implement to improve as a sports sales rep, or take with you if you are seeking that big full time role in sports sales.

-Ryan