Selling in the NBA

This presentation was given by Eric Cole, an inside sales manager for the Philadelphia 76ers. Eric was a member of the AMA in college and has since gone on to establish a career in sales. Eric presented on the culture of working in the NBA, especially the 76ers who are know for having one of the best environments in sports. His team focuses on five key values: commitment, development, people, fun, and hustle. While they all work hard everyday, they establish several goals that are rewarded when met. For example, they have paintball days when they meet their first goal for season tickets. Then, when they reach their second goal, they are rewarded with a weekend in New York City and the rewards keep going throughout the year. Furthermore, each employee is required to complete 76 hours of community service within the city of Philadelphia. Eric demonstrated through pictures and videos how fun and lively the corporate culure was, but also showed us how this motivated the employees to work harder. The 76ers have one of the worst standings in the league and have only won a handful of games this year, however, they continue to break the goals they set to sell for season tickets. They have taken the approach of getting to know their audience and sell experiences instead of tickets. They ask personalize questions to best understand the needs of the customers. They can then create packages that are suited to families, couples, or businesses. Eric contributes their success as a sales division to this willingness to create personalized experiences as well as their ability to go through extensive collaborative training. However, most importantly, they create a fun, energetic environment that keeps all of the sales employees motivated to work, even in this tough industry with a low performance team.