Kathy’s Sports Sales Mailbag … “Hey Kathy!” … June 12

With NBA finals, WNBA in full swing, baseball, soccer, football, Olympics coming….don’t forget we are 195 days until Christmas!

“Hey Kathy,

We do annual reviews in the fall before the holidays and hand out raises and promotions at that time. There is an undercurrent here and not sure what to do to change it. What are your thoughts?” Always Been This Way in the West

Hi Always,

I am not a fan of it. First, if you are doing 1:1’s with your team (and all departments should) there should never be a need for a formal yearly evaluation that comes as a surprise. At the most, you should be summarizing quarterly and there should be no surprises as they are being coached weekly.

Tying promotions and raises to a yearly eval is the kiss of death. If you don’t get anything you are shut down for another year to be considered. Promotions and raises should be given based on merit year round. THAT is inspiring and motivating.

Kathy

“Hey Kathy,

How do you get Community Relations to sell? We are a minor league team and everyone sells…or should.” All In in the east

Hi All,

There are different ways to sell. Providing the platforms and going along on meetings to provide the background and info are one way. Community Relations has the ability to bring in a lot of partnership revenue through the pillars they create and the foundations they put under them as well as supporting the sales reps in those same pillars. CR can be the conduit for a lot of sales, not necessarily there to be on the phone calling for sales.

Kathy

“Hey Kathy,

We have been told this year to not have a PRIDE game as the political climate in our state is not good. While disappointing, we understand. However, we were also told that if anyone is LGBTQ+ we need to keep it under wraps or we may have to be let go. I’m looking to move as this is not comfortable for me, but is it even legal in a state that is not recognizing LGBTQ?” Fearful in the south

Hi Fearful,

First of all, I am sorry this is happening to you and your teammates. I would recommend looking up the legal aid group closest to you in your state and setting up an appointment to meet with them to find out your rights. We will connect via email to discuss more.

Kathy

“Hey Kathy,

I’m a young marketer and was hired to manage social sales for a team. I would like to utilize ways other businesses are maximizing sales…special text offers, joining in a team app and getting special offers, etc. The President says social media is posting things on the social websites such as how the team is doing. How do I convince him there is so much more?” Itching to do my job in the midwest

Hi Itching,

There are a kazillion teams out there that would love to hire you in a heartbeat. Your desire to utilize social media to generate revenue is commendable and definitely needed in todays teams. Perhaps going to your President and showing the opportunities tied to active selling social media with potential goals for revenue may change his mind. Ask if you can give it 6 months in addition to the ‘traditional’ social methods and let him know you will track sales from it. After 6 months, if he doesn’t see revenue value then you can make a decision at that time.

Teams! The social ideas for selling from our younger generation marketers are worth listening to and at least enable them to create the future. Let them set the bar for new and innovative ways to sell.

Kathy

Kathy Burrows, Chief Energy Officer, Sold Out Seating

Time to get your team ready for 2030 and beyond?

Want to connect better with B2b? Want to inspire your team to new levels? Want to have your team create a strategy plan for success? It’s not typical sales training anymore. It’s sales strategy planning with your team members! Depending on your needs, will also work with leadership training, partnership training, and CR.

Let’s talk and see where you are and where you can go !  Contact: kathy@soldoutseating.com 

Have a question? 

Questions on Sales, Marketing, Community Relations, etc. with your team? Leadership? Job related? Send your questions by 5 p.m. Tuesday’s for inclusion or personal answer in Kathy’s Sports Sales Mailbag to: kathy@soldoutseating.com

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