HALBY GROUP

Media, Corporate and Sponsorship Sales

NEW ACCOUNT$ WORKSHOPDriving Fresh Business!

New Corporate Business: Background and Vision

I served as EVP/GM - Sports, at Westwood One and had responsibility for $70 million in ad and sponsorship revenue. We consistently hit our numbers for one reason; we generated new business!

In 2008, I opened my own consultancy, Halby Group.

Because cold call selling isn't assembly line work, I have accepted a limited number of clients. New business success requires strategic identification of prospects, fully immersed engagement, pleasant persistence in measured intervals and the most difficult attribute; patience, a seller's nightmare.

Speed merchants would suffer terrible frustration cold calling. Only the vigilant sellers excel!

Growing a roster of new advertisers takes time, passion and an unflinching belief in the product. Success is not an overnight sensation. The gestation is punishing, yet it’s ultimately rewarding.

David J. HalberstamPrincipal, Halby Group

Why new corporate business:

Beyond fresh revenue, new business represents two tangible sales qualities. First, each new account beefs up the renewal pipeline the following sales cycle. New business also produces growth by osmosis. Because corporate support is often about the company that's kept; when one new partner commits, others follow quickly. The classic example is Anheuser Busch's commitment to a fledgling ESPN, shortly after the sports network’s birth. Soon thereafter, other marketers followed in droves. The rest is history.

If entities don't embrace new business as a rallying need, they're doomed to fail!

Noah built his ark on a sunny day and the pains of World War I came out of a cloudless sky. Be prepared in good times and bad!

The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New

Accounts (December, 2015)

The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorships Sales: Developing New

Accounts is a first of its kind publication.

There's no such training book today, certainly one in granular detail. It's a cold calling step-by-step tutorial; where to start

and how to close. It also addresses the emotional rollercoaster that new business

sellers face every day of their working lives.

The foreword is written by the esteemed and highly successful Dr. Bernie Mullin.

Sampling of comments about:

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SPORTS MEDIA AND SPONSORSHIP SALES: DEVELOPING NEW ACCOUNTS

Ben C. Sutton, Jr., Chairman and President, IMG College"Having paralleled Halberstam's career in media and sponsorship sales, I've watched with great respect and admiration his approach and success over the years.  For young sellers, there is great coaching in "Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Getting New Accounts."  And for more experienced professionals, terrific lessons on taking the next step.“

Peter McLoughlin, President, Seattle Seahawks"Sponsorship sellers, especially those who are just starting out in their careers and have to develop new business, can make good use of Halberstam's Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Getting New Accounts. It is full of helpful instruction and inspiring case studies.“

Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group:“If the subject were to be taught at a collegiate level, David Halberstam would be the PHD professor when it comes to sports media and sponsorship sales.He not only knows the business, but the people and the skill sets necessary to be a success in the field.  This book is an excellent opportunity for people to learn from a master.”

Keith Wachtel, Executive Vice President, Global Partnerships, NHLHalberstam's The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New Accounts clearly summarizes the tried and true strategies and methodologies for cultivating and, more importantly, closing new business. Whether it's someone entering the sports sales marketplace for the first time, or a veteran who's looking for a renewed focus and more efficient approach, this book will serve as a superb resource. 

Training Approach

On the cold-call training and presentation front, Halby has worked with Westwood One, MLB Network, Nova Southeastern University, IMG College, ESPN Radio, City University of New York, Cumulus Media, Washington Redskins Radio Network, MLB Network, SecureWatch24 and others.

Halby does not take a hit and miss approach.

It's more than just making a presentation to a group. Halby is prepared to help sellers identify leads. Halby will dig into the trenches with them, evaluate, tweak, tighten direction, increase seller call volume and help the sales troops and their employers make more money.

Cold calling can’t be sanitized. It's completely consuming. Halby gets deeply involved.

Workshop Overview:

•Specific step by step instruction and stimulation

•A written sales training curriculum

•Copies of book, The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New Accounts, (December, 2015)

NEW- BUSINESS

SALES WORKSHOP

CURRICULUM

Developing New Corporate Business!

I- Qualifications necessary to cold call

Having the stomach and desire, the nose of where to go to chase new business and a commitment to stay organized

II- Organization

Because account activity is fluid, it is essential for all sellers to commit to impeccable organizational practices

Instruction on how to remain vigilantly on top of things

The benefits of CRM's (Customer Relationship Management) and how they're used by cold callers

III- Identifying targets

Where and how to find prospects:

• Train your mind, eye and ear to glean information and ideas

• Develop a feel for where to go and how to find targets

• Learn to match the core competencies of the product you're selling with a prospect's needs. Think both creatively and practically

• The importance of reading; from the local business pages to Barron's and tons of other publications

• Knowing the prospect’s business - what makes it tick

• Always Think: How can your product help the prospect?

IV- Understand the assets you have in the sales process before your first call

Like a coach using allotted timeouts, know the assets you will use to maintain interaction with prospects and how to use them efficiently. There are communication resources, trinkets, research, PowerPoint, the telephone, email, sponsor events and more. Always have something left in you hip pocket

V- The importance of remaining visible on social media

Prospects buy from experts not from sellers. Become the expert

VI- Maximizing the power of the CRM. Information is power!

VII- Exercises for cold callers

Skill development: Practicing pitches by presenting in front of a mirror and listen to yourself pitch on a recorder

VIII- Preparation for first communication

Never pick up the phone or send an email to a prospect you don't know before you're fully prepared

What's the theme of your first communiqué?

What's your unique story?

IX- First communication

How do you reach out? Snail mail? Email? Telephone, LinkedIn or other means. We’ll learn from key marketers what they prefer

Review what key advertisers have to say about the overall communication subject, from executives at Wal-Mart, State Farm, IBM, UPS, Amtrak and others

X- First time conversations

What to say and how to say it. Always be mindful of your goal; you're trying to get a face-to-face appointment. Practice techniques

How to deal with silence and rushed prospects

Breaking barriers of unwillingness

XI- Presentation

Psychological preparation, what to include in a pitch, what to bring with you, what to do if the prospect isn't there when you show up

How to command a room

How to galvanize a group of media functionaries

XII- Objections and rejection

Dealing with emotions and gathering your strength

Overcoming adversity on tough days

Accepting the fact that failure and rejection are a prelude to success.

How not to let setbacks temper your enthusiasm

A sampling of the many who've overcome rejection from Oprah Winfrey and Frank Gehry to Michael Jordan and Christopher Columbus, from Dr. Seuss to Gil Hodges and from FedEx to ESPN

XIII- Lessons from leaders

From the Pope to Yogi Berra, from President Clinton to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, from pilot Sully Sullenberger to Warren Buffett and from Phil Jackson to Peyton Manning, glean and learn. It will make you a better cold calling seller

XIV- Tricks and tips

A potpourri of broad and situational advice, from building trust to getting through gatekeepers

Anticipate. The devil is in the detail. ( e.g. Don't take the Visa client to lunch and pay with your MasterCard)

Interesting and challenging experiences in the sales trenches

How to be disarming

XV- Cold call successes

Inspirational new business stories of sellers who converted soft variables into millions in cash, including famous cold calling naming rights deals like Nextel for NASCAR, Moda for Rose Garden in Portland and Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Others include signage sales to Wise Potato Chips and Reynolds Wrap for the Yankees radio broadcasts

Many other heartwarming and inspirational success stories

XVI- Role playing

Staying on your toes year-round

XVII- Breakout - local vs. national accounts

Working the triangle -Local/regional - agency, regional client, national client

Working the triangle - National - planning, buying and client

Training -Year Round Availability (Optional):

Work face to face and regularly with each of the company's sellers

• Halby will be available as a sounding board to each seller!!

• Be visible, visit sales offices and get to know sellers personally

•Lead generation (Sponsorship and media)

•Enrich Pipeline (Traditional and digital)

•Cover all spenders in marketplace (Consumer and business)

•Leave NO STONE unturned - obvious and not so obvious leads

•Scour addata and other sales-lead directories

•Brainstorm with each seller and mentor through thick and thin, one on one, prospect by prospect

•Develop sellers' emollient writing skills to break walls of resistance

•Participate in companywide or office-specific internal sales meetings, by phone or in-face as regularly as possible

First things first for Halby to do:

Review and appreciate capabilities, deliverables and core competencies

Understand sales structure, packaging architecture, successes, failures and unique opportunities

What are standard objections, challenges and issues to overcome

What are sales priorities

Take a deep dive into the CRM!

Identify targets selectively

Go through a complete and thorough sales presentation

Understand digital tentacles

Review list of corporate supporters- both consumer and business to business accounts

Get a handle on cross-section of corporate, advertiser and sponsor support

First things first (Continued)

What are exclusivity limitations? Who are the tire kickers and the naysayers?

Spend time on the phone with sales managers

What is the range of categories?

Where are the frustrations?

Which accounts/leads have a nasty firewall that have been a bear to get through?

Learn sales staff roster

Observe cold callers in action

Get management’s thumbnail of each seller and the accounts they handle

Step Two:

Share observations with sales management

Tweak and Customize Sales Workshop Curriculum

Step Three (beyond sales workshop):

Get into the trenches with the sellers:

Improve quality of each cold call

Increase quantity of cold calls

Improve organizational methods, account-by-account

Keep identifying prospects

Enhance communication and presentation skills

Results: More closed new business!

Step Four (Optional)HALBY IN THE TRENCHES

Examples of direct new national business developed by Halberstam/Halby Group for consulting clients

•Ace Hardware•Amtrak•Barbasol

•Can-Am/Bombardier•Dick's•GoRVing•Hanes •Sylvania•Lee Jeans

•O'Reilly Auto Parts•Outback Steakhouse•Snyder Pretzels•Sports Authority

•Subway•Toyota

•Valero Gasoline•Valvoline•Volvo

•Werner Ladders

“Eagerness, empathy and volume: How to warm up to cold calls”

Excerpted from Sports Business Journal Written by David J. Halberstam

June 16-22, 2014

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1. Confidence.A belief that you can open new doors and can convert soft conceptual variables into hard cash. It requires a bone-deep nerve, which, if you nurture, will serve you well throughout your career. Selling is an art. It’s not a science. 2.FIaming emotions. Believe in the power of the product you’re selling, the history and tradition of the institution you’re representing. Have the obsession. Have the drive. 

3. Bring it.Brim with enthusiasm for every presentation, every day. Like a Broadway actor, your 100th pitch should be performed with the same eagerness and excitement as your first. Your audience shouldn’t sense it’s your 100th time. You have to be emotionally invested in the mission. 

4. Selling ideas. Sell with the heart. Sell with the stomach. Appeal to a sense of civic pride and the unequaled spirit of sports. Other programs and events like news on television are often full of calamities that advertisers want to avoid. You’re selling something truly special.

5. Fresh relationships. There’s something very refreshing about cold calling every day. You never know whom you will get to know or the people you’ll meet. There’s something exciting and enlightening about the unknown. 

6. Lasting fulfillment.When you get the order after canvassing

7. Coping with rejection.There will be many failures for every hit. Be bold, tough-skinned and impervious to unreturned calls and unanswered emails. Life is about expectations. Don’t expect a returned call or a reply to an email. If so, there won’t be thwarted expectations. Don’t allow setbacks to temper your enthusiasm. Keep moving.

8. Volume.It’s a numbers game. You’ll have to make a ton of calls every day. Remain focused and spend your time efficiently. You’ll need a handle on how many calls it takes to close a piece of business. If it takes 20 calls to get one sponsor or advertiser and you’re hoping to close five, you’ll need to make 100 calls. There are no shortcuts. There are no excuses not to make tons of calls. In the words of my first boss, “Excuses serve those who make them.”

9. Scout your prospects.Prospect by prospect, find out who the real decision-makers are. Don’t pitch some discouraging underling who has no power to give you the order. Start at the top. CEOs and marketing vice presidents appreciate the value of sports. 

10. Put yourself in a prospect’s shoes. Be creative. Years ago, Hebrew National’s slogan was, “We answer to a higher authority,” meaning observance of kosher restrictions. The slogan suggests that Hebrew National attempts to appeal broadly, to kosher and non-kosher alike. So the seller of St. John’s basketball in densely populated New York concocted the idea that Hebrew National, a kosher dog, would stand out while sponsoring a traditional Catholic school. It worked. Hebrew National did it. 

11. Keep your eyes open. When you drive around town, mark down new businesses and prospects that you come across. Use your Smartphone to record leads. Train your mind and eyes to do so. Go to the local drugstore, department store or supermarket and scout the aisles. Check out the products. See if there’s a local distributor of these products that you can pitch.

12. Reach out in measured intervals. Just as a coach conservatively allocates his timeouts, you do the same. Plan how you’ll expend the communication assets at your disposal: a typed letter (yes, snail mail in 2014 can occasionally work, too), a handwritten note, a phone call, an email, tickets, invitations to a sponsors’ function, a letter from an announcer or from one of the coaches to the prospect.