My name is Shane Mattingly and I am a senior at IUPUI studying Sport Management at IUPUI. My sport sales class sells tickets for the Indianapolis Indians and the Indy Fuel through the Sports Innovation Institute, and the commission revenue generated from this projected helped to fund my travel to Cleveland for the Teamwork Online Sport Sales Workshop and Job Fair on February 3. The event was held at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers. We began our morning on the practice court with a delicious breakfast, followed by our first round of interviews in a nearby conference room. I intentionally scheduled a majority of my interviews for later in the day, knowing I’d wake up and feel energized more and more as the day went on. After a few quick remarks from representatives with Teamwork Online, we were split into groups and taken to different areas of the arena to conduct our first of three training sessions.
Sales professionals from sports teams all across the country led us as we broke down different tips, tricks, and suggestions for conducting sales calls. Our first training session covered the introduction of the call and the importance of high energy when on the line. The second training session covered the needs analysis portion and the importance of asking open-ended questions during your discussion with potential clients. Following the second training session, we returned to the practice court for lunch, then split back up for a tour of the arena. Having worked with the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for about seven years I found myself comparing features of Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to Gainbridge quite often throughout the tour. As construction continues here in Indy, I’m curious to see where we rank among arenas in the country two or three years from now, especially having toured one of the nicer destinations for NBA fans after their recent renovations in Cleveland.
After the tour concluded we remained split up with our groups for the final training session, where we covered overcoming objections, the importance of “feel, felt, found” when overcoming those objections, and finally asking for an appointment! Once we received our Teamwork Online sales training certification, we wrapped it all up with some closing remarks on the practice court, then completed the remainder of our interviews. Throughout my day I had fantastic interviews with professionals from the New York Mets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indianapolis Colts, and NASCAR!
Having taken Dr. Pierce’s Sales In Sport class last year, it undoubtedly made me a step ahead of many others when attending the sales workshop, which I am incredibly thankful for. Additionally, having taken Professor Amy Vaughn’s Career and Leadership Principles course last year as well, it made me another step ahead of my competition as I felt that each of my interviews went amazing! I cannot thank Dr. Pierce and the IUPUI Sports Innovation Institute enough for making this all possible! The takeaways from the event such as the sales tactics and the interviewing experience undoubtedly made the trip worth it, and I look forward to the opportunities that stem from this experience!
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