The Sports, Sponsorship and Sales major at Baylor University is designed to provide students with as much work experience and sales training as possible so that we can exceed expectations and be leaders among our peers. The goal is to have the resume of someone who has been out in the work force for two years before we even graduate. Now I have been out in the work force for 2 years learning, growing, and being a valuable team member to the Houston Texans and the Sugar Land Skeeters. Not only have I contributed more than what was expected to the bottom line, I feel I have also been a major asset and a leader. I accomplished what I set out to do. And I continue to set goals for myself. I feel I have found my niche and I want to take my career to the next level.
Here is a more detailed description of the experience on my resume and how it has prepared me to tackle a new challenging career position.
B2B Sales- I hit the ground running at the Sugar Land Skeeters in October of 2011. The team originally hired me to do group sales. However, their intent was to not launch group sales until December. There was inventory to be sold and I was anxious to start making sales and establishing relationships in my new community. With my VP's permission, I began researching and prospecting new clients for sponsorship. Within less than 2 weeks I found a local jeweler to sponsor the Mother's Day Diamond Dig where they donated a 1ct diamond to be buried in the infield for one lucky lady to find. I made the first call, set up the initial meeting, pitched the idea, created a proposal, negotiated the deal and got the contract signed. I have since established myself across the Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, and greater Houston market as a corporate sales representative for the Skeeters. I have also made connections with major agencies such as Marion Montgomery, Inc. I now have countless corporate clients and contacts and have since generated nearly $200,000.00 in sponsor revenue alone with the average sponsorship being around $7,000.00. I have also been very successful with corporate events, and premium seat sales and rank number one in the sale of Diamond Deck and Legends Club 10-game plan inventory.
Event Marketing - another part of my job with the Skeeters is to make sure we sell every seat for every game. At our team we start by trying to find a game entitlement sponsor for every game, such as the mother's day game. Not only am I responsible for taking 100% care of my client, their hospitality needs and execution of the game. I must also fill the ball park on their night. For the mother's day game I worked with the sponsor to build hype through Facebook, various media outlets and a mascot appearance at their store; worked with my "mother-friendly" sponsors such as European Wax Center and Massage Envy to set up a mother's day brunch in our party suites and help push tickets; wrote the entire game script, including PA reads and the instructions for the post-game diamond dig on the field; and played host for the sponsor and their guests on the day, among various other things. I was the director of the entire event, A-Z and coordinated efforts with everyone on my team to put on a great event. In the end the sponsor was thrilled and I was commended on a job well done. This was my first game entitlement sponsorship and not only did it go off without a hitch, but we had almost 500 women participate in the post-game dig which is more than any other team in our league. The game was also a sell-out. I have continued success with many other games including our Baseball in Education days presented by Smart Financial Credit Union, our Memorial Day and Independence Day celebrations presented by CHRISTUS - US Family Health Plan, Bark in the Park presented by City of Sugar Land Animal Services and much more. My game-day producer (the sound guy/AV, lord of the press box) even asked all the other sales reps to start modeling their game-day execution process after the one that I created from scratch. I may only get credit for the sale of a sponsorship, but I work my butt off to make sure the game is a sell out and that it creates a buzz in the community. I believe I have played a huge role in helping a brand new, start-up minor league ball club become 4th in the nation in attendance as well as smash the numbers of any other team in our ownership group. With all these events I also generated invaluable PR for the team. I secured free publicity through several media outlets including Houston Pet Talk magazine, Houston KPRC, KHOU, and NGEN radio. I even coordinated all appearances and scripted them as well.
I also planned another important sales event we had at the ball park before opening day. I handled this event from start to finish. We hosted VIP clients and those who were in the 50%-90% range as far as investing in premium seats. I created the guest list, the invitation, coordinated the itinerary, the gift bags, the menu, and the ticket distribution. I hosted many happy clients on the day and so far that event has generated over $10,000.00 in new business from my clients alone. Even though I am constantly bogged down with operational duties, I have maintained consistent, strong sales numbers each week.
Phone sales – I have made thousands of sales calls while working for companies including the Texas Rangers, the Houston Texans, and the Sugar Land Skeeters. I am very comfortable on the phone. I know how to engage people and get them interested in what I am selling as well as carry on a friendly conversation. I am professional and I understand the importance of customer service. My goal is to make sure that I am extremely knowledgeable about my product so that I can answer any question and handle any objection that is thrown at me in order to close the deal. I also strive to exceed as well as manage client expectations.
Working with Clients – As part of the S3 program and my corporate sales experience, I have learned and practiced the “sales process”. I have learned how to uncover needs and handle objections. Most importantly, I have learned how to read different personality styles which determines how I approach a prospect. One of the most challenging things in sales is the close. Because I have had so much experience closing myself, and experience observing other sales professionals, I am comfortable asking a client the tough buying questions. Part of the S3 curriculum is our “Sponsorship Challenge”. I worked on a team to create a sponsorship deal for State Farm with the San Antonio Spurs. We were judge by executive employees from both organizations. This project taught me a lot about client expectations. I have been on countless sales meetings, calling on a variety of clients with different budgets and goals. I have seen how enthusiastic relationship-builders consistently have success and how lack of preparation and poor people skills never lead to a sale.
Integrity and Growth – at Baylor we placed a heavy importance on ethics in business, relationship building, and preparation for handling ethical dilemmas. I have experience with such dilemmas due to my involvement in office culture and ethics classes I have taken. I strive to be an honest person of integrity that my manager and colleagues can rely on to be a leader. I never lie about my numbers or say a deal is coming in unless I truly believe it is. I follow the rules even when others don't for their own personal gain. I also constantly challenge myself to grow and learn by taking advantage of every resource I have. I will sell any inventory you put in front of me and I will accept any challenge you hand to me. I will go out of my way to take on additional responsibilities so that I can learn and grow outside of my normal job description.
Here is a more detailed description of the experience on my resume and how it has prepared me to tackle a new challenging career position.
B2B Sales- I hit the ground running at the Sugar Land Skeeters in October of 2011. The team originally hired me to do group sales. However, their intent was to not launch group sales until December. There was inventory to be sold and I was anxious to start making sales and establishing relationships in my new community. With my VP's permission, I began researching and prospecting new clients for sponsorship. Within less than 2 weeks I found a local jeweler to sponsor the Mother's Day Diamond Dig where they donated a 1ct diamond to be buried in the infield for one lucky lady to find. I made the first call, set up the initial meeting, pitched the idea, created a proposal, negotiated the deal and got the contract signed. I have since established myself across the Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, and greater Houston market as a corporate sales representative for the Skeeters. I have also made connections with major agencies such as Marion Montgomery, Inc. I now have countless corporate clients and contacts and have since generated nearly $200,000.00 in sponsor revenue alone with the average sponsorship being around $7,000.00. I have also been very successful with corporate events, and premium seat sales and rank number one in the sale of Diamond Deck and Legends Club 10-game plan inventory.
Event Marketing - another part of my job with the Skeeters is to make sure we sell every seat for every game. At our team we start by trying to find a game entitlement sponsor for every game, such as the mother's day game. Not only am I responsible for taking 100% care of my client, their hospitality needs and execution of the game. I must also fill the ball park on their night. For the mother's day game I worked with the sponsor to build hype through Facebook, various media outlets and a mascot appearance at their store; worked with my "mother-friendly" sponsors such as European Wax Center and Massage Envy to set up a mother's day brunch in our party suites and help push tickets; wrote the entire game script, including PA reads and the instructions for the post-game diamond dig on the field; and played host for the sponsor and their guests on the day, among various other things. I was the director of the entire event, A-Z and coordinated efforts with everyone on my team to put on a great event. In the end the sponsor was thrilled and I was commended on a job well done. This was my first game entitlement sponsorship and not only did it go off without a hitch, but we had almost 500 women participate in the post-game dig which is more than any other team in our league. The game was also a sell-out. I have continued success with many other games including our Baseball in Education days presented by Smart Financial Credit Union, our Memorial Day and Independence Day celebrations presented by CHRISTUS - US Family Health Plan, Bark in the Park presented by City of Sugar Land Animal Services and much more. My game-day producer (the sound guy/AV, lord of the press box) even asked all the other sales reps to start modeling their game-day execution process after the one that I created from scratch. I may only get credit for the sale of a sponsorship, but I work my butt off to make sure the game is a sell out and that it creates a buzz in the community. I believe I have played a huge role in helping a brand new, start-up minor league ball club become 4th in the nation in attendance as well as smash the numbers of any other team in our ownership group. With all these events I also generated invaluable PR for the team. I secured free publicity through several media outlets including Houston Pet Talk magazine, Houston KPRC, KHOU, and NGEN radio. I even coordinated all appearances and scripted them as well.
I also planned another important sales event we had at the ball park before opening day. I handled this event from start to finish. We hosted VIP clients and those who were in the 50%-90% range as far as investing in premium seats. I created the guest list, the invitation, coordinated the itinerary, the gift bags, the menu, and the ticket distribution. I hosted many happy clients on the day and so far that event has generated over $10,000.00 in new business from my clients alone. Even though I am constantly bogged down with operational duties, I have maintained consistent, strong sales numbers each week.
Phone sales – I have made thousands of sales calls while working for companies including the Texas Rangers, the Houston Texans, and the Sugar Land Skeeters. I am very comfortable on the phone. I know how to engage people and get them interested in what I am selling as well as carry on a friendly conversation. I am professional and I understand the importance of customer service. My goal is to make sure that I am extremely knowledgeable about my product so that I can answer any question and handle any objection that is thrown at me in order to close the deal. I also strive to exceed as well as manage client expectations.
Working with Clients – As part of the S3 program and my corporate sales experience, I have learned and practiced the “sales process”. I have learned how to uncover needs and handle objections. Most importantly, I have learned how to read different personality styles which determines how I approach a prospect. One of the most challenging things in sales is the close. Because I have had so much experience closing myself, and experience observing other sales professionals, I am comfortable asking a client the tough buying questions. Part of the S3 curriculum is our “Sponsorship Challenge”. I worked on a team to create a sponsorship deal for State Farm with the San Antonio Spurs. We were judge by executive employees from both organizations. This project taught me a lot about client expectations. I have been on countless sales meetings, calling on a variety of clients with different budgets and goals. I have seen how enthusiastic relationship-builders consistently have success and how lack of preparation and poor people skills never lead to a sale.
Integrity and Growth – at Baylor we placed a heavy importance on ethics in business, relationship building, and preparation for handling ethical dilemmas. I have experience with such dilemmas due to my involvement in office culture and ethics classes I have taken. I strive to be an honest person of integrity that my manager and colleagues can rely on to be a leader. I never lie about my numbers or say a deal is coming in unless I truly believe it is. I follow the rules even when others don't for their own personal gain. I also constantly challenge myself to grow and learn by taking advantage of every resource I have. I will sell any inventory you put in front of me and I will accept any challenge you hand to me. I will go out of my way to take on additional responsibilities so that I can learn and grow outside of my normal job description.