Nathan Costa presents context in his thoughts on ticket sales and marketing, working both at the team business services level as the vice president of the American Hockey League, and now as the Executive Vice President of the Springfield Thunderbirds. Costa shares the interesting way that the Thunderbirds were born in 2016-17, but two franchises relocating. Costa describes the challenges of building a credible sales team, amid a past 20-year franchise existence that was 30th in attendance annually. Twitter: Ncosta83
Kathy Burrows returns to the podcast after her first appearance two years ago on Ep. 521, ready to discuss how she feels the 100-phone-call-per-day metric has hurt sports sales. Burrows challenges listeners with the idea of what that metric purpose serves, and whether it is misguided in what the end result of sales activity should be. Burrows talks about her refocus on monthly sales training over a one-time training module, in a constant mentoring capacity. Burrows also shares her upcoming projects, such as the Sports Revenue Workshop and Sports Sales Boot Camp, for the summer of 2017. Twitter: @BFirstPitch
Anthony Iannarino is a lot of things, but he refuses to be a shill for the tech industry's bias against sales phone calls. Iannarino explains that he feels the vested interest of the few have outweighed the realities of the many when it comes to whether social selling is as effective as phone calls. Iannarino shares his four levels of value, as well as some of the ways that a sales team can drive consensus during their presentations. Twitter: @Iannarino
After witnessing a lack of ticketing education cohesion in Europe, Andrew Thomas created his own conference positioned on building up acumen for the sports and entertainment industry. Thomas shares insight into some of the issues surrounding ticket platforms, as well as customer transactions online, including pricing mechanisms which may help or hinder the sales process. Thomas talks about his experience, both in sports ticketing, entertainment/theatrical ticketing, and working for ticket platforms, in terms of what limitations software and box office personnel have. Twitter: @TicketTattle
If its gotta be the shoes, then Nick DePaula has a story about it. The Creative Director of NiceKicks.com has been able to take his fans into the behind the scenes look at the shoe industry, shoe contract endorsement deals, and increase the amount of coverage in overall marketing of player brands. DePaula shares his beginnings from 2007, when he served as both Editor-In-Chief and Creative Director with Sole Collector Magazine. DePaula talks about the ZO2 Big Baller Brand of Londo Ball, the pinnacle of Michael Jordan's $3 billion shoe empire with Nike, and the impact on China of Yao Ming on the marketplace. Twitter: @NickDePaula
In a rather extensive conversation about data, Roger Tomlinson argues that board members, as well as senior directors, should be establishing protocols of training for their staff at venues. Tomlinson presents his case that box office staff tend to know their customers better than executives, yet tend not to be involved in the data initiatives that are rolled out. Tomlinson talks about ticket pricing, touting and how the value of the ticket is robbed by papering the house. Twitter: @brandinyourhand
Angela Gahan breaks down exactly what it takes to bring an entertainment production to Australia, and points out that it cannot sell just in Sydney, but has to be a show that can run throughout the entire country. Gahan specifies on pricing, brand and the art of the presale, where some shows are advance-sold over a year from performance night in order to gain its full audience. Gahan discusses various points of production contention, including travel costs and performers, which can make or break a show's extended run Down Under. Twitter: @gahan_Antix
Steve Nudelberg provides an intense sales training work out for anyone looking to maximize how they engage in broadening their relationships skills with a decision-maker. Nudelberg talks about how to make enough "touches" to count, crafting a CRM protocol to ensure that any prospect feels respected, but not sold to. Nudelberg shares his insight into the difference-making conversation skills that he trains in his sessions, ensuring that the prospect is in the right frame of mind during a face-to-face interaction. Twitter: @SteveNudelberg
In many ways, Simon Mabb presents the argument that one of the oldest businesses, insurance, may actually help the primary ticket marketplace. Everything else in the world has insurance behind it, including airline tickets, yet entertainment tickets do not generally. Mabb talks about how the coverage can help fans recoup their investment, as well as drive revenue streams for venues, ticket platforms and organizations through micro purchasing of insurance plans. Mabb discusses his efforts thus far in the United Kingdom, as well as his aspirations to bring insurance to entertainment ticketing aboard. Twitter: @SimonMabb
By listening to this episode, your network may have just tripled. University of Miami sports marketing professor Windy Dees discusses the program's marketing campaign, and subsequent advertising push, which illustrates networking and connections available for incoming students. Dees talks about the seriousness of actually having professors who are actively engaging in the marketplace in order to help their students land internships and jobs, along with building a credible course curriculum that goes indepth and researches various issues within the sports industry. Dees also covers her reliability to prospective students on social media complete with Drake and Honey Boo Boo gifs, how she laughs at her ratemyprofessor.com 3.9 rating and reviews, and why she's the most competitive supermarket onion weighing champion that you'll ever come across. Twitter: @GetDeesTweets