Sports Ticket Sales - First B2B Task
Hey all,
Long time lurker, using burner account because I need some advice. I work for a “power four” college athletics department with a very strong football program. I have some unique tools and challenges that I’m facing, so I thought I should share here and see what y’all would come up with.
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I currently work in the ticket office in a customer service role. This is my first job and I’ve been here for about a year. At this school, every new sales entry-level employee starts as a customer service rep where my day is usually 80% service and 20% sales focused. This will be the first time I’m dealing with outbound B2B sales.
My boss has been hinting at a promotion and I believe she’s testing me with a lead list to talk to “local businesses” to try and get them to purchase premium tickets. Most of these ticket options come with a large ($5,000 to $20,000 per year) multi year commitment.
*Resources*
I do have some unique tools at my disposal.
- I can give them a tour and set up a meeting at the football stadium (almost nobody gets a tour of the football stadium in the off-season, this would be a huge deal even for non-fans.)
- I can also drive and walk into local businesses - especially with businesses I frequent.
*challenges*
1. These are very expensive seats. I can imagine some “Mom and Pop” shops in the area can’t afford them. This is a rural school - there’s really not many large businesses in the area.
2.
Many of the larger businesses in the area already sponsor the school’s sports teams in some form. They already get complimentary premium tickets due to their sponsorship deals.
Any other business owners in the area that are football fans probably already have tickets in their personal name and not their business name. I may have a chance in convincing them to upgrade to premium seats, but I really don’t see the business selling point of bringing clients to the game when they just want to go themselves.
Although it will be easy to get in person meetings at the stadium, I imagine there’s many locals who would love to get a free tour of the stadium with no intention of buying. I feel like I’m at a Lamborghini dealership, giving test rides folks who will never sit in another Lamborghini in their life.
My question for all of you is: *what strategies and techniques should I use get past the front desk person and make it to the decision-maker?* I believe it would be extremely easy to offer a stadium tour to the business owner, however, I’m afraid most of them will take advantage of it as a fun day out to check out the stadium rather than a serious talk about premium seats.
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.