Mike Dellosa grew up in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, rising to the role of Vice Presiden to Ticket Sales. So when it came to the pandemic, he did something drastic, throwing out the playbook entirely on how to sell tickets to fans. Dellosa felt that desperate times called for desperate measures, and he did whatever it took, by forcing in a different membership model than was witnessed at the organization before. And good thing he did, as Dellosa explains, because even the people he has working for him are now of a different generation, Gen-Z, who as he puts it, have some of the "best BS detectors" imaginable.
Few sales trainers try to dissect the tone of an office suffering from a multigenerational leadership gap like Judy Ferraro, who talks about the fissures found in the differences between the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. Ferraro shares her vision of how the office space has changed on the sales floor, especially with Gen-X being the smallest of the three generations, and ways to restore it. Ferraro also talks about her roots in improv, and how it is helped her gain momentum in educating others on how to make smarter calls, resisting the urge the make cold calls. Twitter: @JudyFerraro
Getting into the mindset of how to lead takes a lot of initiative. Executive coaching guru Tanya Wheeless explains some of the pitfalls that await many leaders when they are attempting to run an organization, across the board, from vision to staff. A former SVP of the Phoenix Suns, Wheeless presents her thoughts on how to engage workers that each supervisor manages, as well as how to properly evaluate productivity and efficiency. Wheeless talks about the labeling of Millennials, along with some of the issues that young people are having in developing an effective career in the workplace. Twitter: @TanyaWheeless
Action sports is going through a boom, as more of the world’s attention is paid upon it. Octogan’s Director of Global Sports Amen Teter discusses some of the various ways in which the world of skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding and other action sports have grown up to affiliate with some of the largest corporate brands in the world. This is remarkable turnaround from where it was only a few decades ago, when action sports relied heavy on VHS tape exchanges and underground circuit events, compared to the large-scale attention paid on it since ESPN’s X-Games. Teter represents pro skateboarding and teen sensation Mitchie Brusco, veteran Andy McDonald, and Snowboarding Olympic Gold Medalist Jamie Anderson. Teter also recognizes how the reduction of camera size for products such as the Go Pro have made Youtube sensations out of action sports stars such as pro surfer Alana Blanchard, whom Teter represents, and where the entire arena is headed in the future for most that choose to participate, as well as attempt to become brands themselves. Twitter: @AmenTeter
When this podcast was recorded, Allison Strekal had only one day on the job as the president. That’s when you know things happen quick in the sports industry. Strekal sat down for the podcast, and held her own under her new title position. Strekal shares some of the challenges of the Big Horns brand as well as her vision of what she wants the franchise to be during the off-season. Strekal has been working for the team for several years, starting off with her initial role of a 20-hour a week inside sales rep for the team. Strekal talks about her experiences in trying to sell the NBADL product to the Reno locals, as well as some of the various promotions that the team has highlighted over the years, including ones with current NBA star Jeremy Lin.
The Arizona Sundogs CHL hockey team made international news in 2013 by having their front office staff climb into a scissor lift and staying up there for over a week until they set a new record of season tickets. The news coverage hit both BBC news and Deadspin as a completely out of the ordinary way to generate season ticket sales. The Sundogs are the Central Hockey League affiliate of the NHL Phoenix Coyotes. Sundogs GM Chris Presson talks about the scissor lift stunt, as well as how the club functions overall in Prescott Valley, about 90 minutes north of Phoenix, in the Tim's Toyota Center. Presson discusses some of the ins and outs of working in minor league sports, as well as what the sports management programs aren't teaching their students, and focuses on how sports sales needs to be viewed as a mainstay for anyone choosing to enter the industry as an employee.
Robert Roveta has managed some of the top MMA fighters in the sport. Roveta talks about the period in MMA from 1993-2003 known as the “Dark Ages” prior to MMA’s acceptance by the mainstream. Roveta discusses his goals for managing fighters, some of the issues that have arisen without MMA agent regulation which have caused anyone and everyone to go into the role of fighter representation, and his time as an MMA event promoter. Twitter: @DenaroSports
The complexity of leadership is discussed with Jacksonville University Athletic Director Brad Edwards, who brings both administrative and NFL playing experience to the topic, particularly when mentioning his former coach, Joe Gibbs. Edwards broadens the topic to how his leadership skills have developed, especially when dealing with donors, coaches, student athletes, and promises made by previous administrations that he must now fulfill.
Robert Weese starts off the discussion with an examination of what sports organizations can do to improve their B2B sales staff, and ends on a determination of the role of A players amid a sea of B & C players. Its an amazing conversation where the heart of the issue, A players being held back in some cases, has caused massive turnover in sales staffs by their best employees leaving due to C players ruling the roost. Weese goes in-depth into the problematic world where a C player may be the sales manager or supervisor, and ways to ensure that the A players have a reason to stick around. Weese is a sales coach with www.B2Bsalesconnection.com which has been helping executives improve their sales skills online.
When it comes to organizational systems and people management, Sean O’Neil wrote the book on the subject. O’Neil talks about some of the misconceptions about why people do the things they do, whether a management style should favor process over people, and how to engage each type of person working within a management structure. Twitter: @BareKnuckleMgmt