 
The

GM's

Handbook

"EXTRA INNINGS"

Additional 3 Chapters, Quizzes, Syllabuses and Group Discussion Topics.

Edited By

Troy Kirby

Chris LaReau

Kirby Publishing, LLC

Lacey, WA 98503

The GM's Handbook: Extra Innings

ISBN 978-1-947863-02-6 (E-Book Form)

Syllabuses, Quizzes and Group Topics are copyright of Troy Kirby.

Additional Content Chapters not found in the print version of The GM's Handbook are works of the individual authors, listed in each chapter. They are used with permission of each author.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing July 2018.

Published by Kirby Publishing, LLC

Lacey, WA 98503

Visit www.gmshandbook.com for more information.
Make Friendly Your Baseball Brand

Tim Volk

General Manager

Tennessee Smokies

Southern League, Double-A Baseball

About The Author

Tim Volk is the General Manager of the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League, a Double-A team.

Editor's Note: This chapter is provided by usage consent of its author, who retains copyright of this work, and serves as additional content not found in The GM's Handbook.

While I honestly do not remember what my first big sale in baseball was, I don't really think it matters. It's about selling the experience to the fan that matters. It's about making sure that every day feels like a big sale opportunity. When you focus too much on how you sold, compared to the experience that you delivered on, you rob yourself of putting yourself in your customer's shoes. They bought it because of what it gave them, not what you said the product could do for them.

There is a mentality that everyone working in minor league baseball should have: I don't believe that baseball is what we are selling to the majority of fans. No one in minor league baseball should be selling baseball solely to their customers. If we were only selling the sport of baseball, we wouldn't have a chance of being successful. It sounds terrible to admit, but it is true.

What we sell in minor league baseball is something different. It's quality family entertainment surrounding a baseball game.

I am sure that there will be those reading this who disagree with me. Some folks do not get that they are not selling baseball when they come to work for a minor league baseball team. If our fans remember the score a week later as part of their experience, we probably failed them. That is not the experience that they should be carrying with them.

A connector that allows everyone inside the ballpark to forget their troubles for a few hours and enjoy themselves without the seriousness of the world that awaits them in between the times that they are in our facility.

I'm a huge of advocate of striving to create fun and excitement with everything that happens within the ballpark. We cannot control what happens in terms of wins and losses, but we can create wins throughout the entire fan experience. Some of it becomes great theater, such as our specialty jerseys at the Tennessee Smokies which have gotten national and international attention. These stunts may only exist a couple of nights out of the 70 total baseball games that we host at our ballpark, but it doesn't matter. It's about the impact and memories that it fosters that makes the overall difference.

Our largest publicity stunt was a national sensation, Star War's Han Solo frozen in carbonite on a specialty jersey that our team wore. Think of the impact to the overall brand that it had. Not for baseball fans alone. For anyone familiar with the Star Wars films, books and comics. People who may have had nothing do with the sport of baseball paid their attention and bought tickets to experience that event.

It was well worth the effort that it took behind the scenes to create that specialty jersey. Whenever you're working with a major motion picture or theme such as Star Wars, there's a decent amount of paperwork that you can expect to fill out in conjunction with the use of trademarked imagery. Then you have to go through an approval process with the companies owning that trademark. The Walt Disney Company, which owns Lucas Film, likes to approve everything put out related to the Star Wars franchise and provide trademark authorization, even if it's for charity. By no means does this suggest that paperwork kills the creative process, it simply provides evidence of how much preparation you have to have in order to pull something like this off.

A major portion of the creative process happens with your designer as well. Our graphics artist is part of our front office, and we expect him to go wild with potential designs. This means a couple of drafts of each specialty jersey image per night, then the office is polled on their favorites, and we select the best one. Then comes the paperwork, the approvals, and then delivery to the fans. Everything is about selling fun, creating enough of an experience that everyone attending doesn't care if the team won or lost, because they earned a ticket to great theater. It makes it worth the effort of trying to pull off, but your organization has to have that mentality in place. They aren't coming for a baseball game, they're coming for quality family entertainment. And something completely different found nowhere else.

Specialty Jerseys Are Only A Component

It's not about the specialty jersey. It's about the unique situation that you are creating. The specialty jersey is a lever to get people's attention toward your brand. If you aren't doing specialty jerseys, but doing mascot races, it's the same thing. It's about drawing enough attention toward your ballpark that it brings in money for charities that you partner with. And put butts in seats. Yes, that has to be part of it. Whatever you do with your creation of theater, it has to generate ticket sales. Otherwise, it isn't developing anything worthy of your attention.

Specialty jerseys are about capturing the quick attention of the consumer. If it becomes complicated, if it takes forever to disseminate, then it doesn't work. When you create a specialty jersey night based on a movie, it is important that you focus on one famous scene from that film. Or a character. Don't try to do too much. Simplification is often the greatest form of sophistication. And when you simplify, more people get it, and buy tickets as a result.

If you are trying to do something for a university, as we do for the University of Tennessee, we look at their current sports jerseys and team colors for inspiration. All of this has to go back to supporting the overall mission of getting the consumer to want to purchase the jersey after they are worn. This money goes back to charity. And if you do not have people wanting to purchase the specialty jersey, because you decided to go way too outside the box with your design, then you failed to simplify the message. And you then aren't living up to the mission of what you were originally trying to do.

One example of continuing to live up to the expectations of the fans buying the jersey is when we do UT Night, where all of the specialty jerseys are auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Pat Summit Foundation. We don't mess with the brand. We do something that everyone can understand. That a UT alumnus or fan would see and want to buy. And we do it for the right reasons. The night is so popular that we also do a specialty t-shirt for UT Night, where a portion of the proceeds to back to the foundation as well. Don't expect massive per caps to happen across the board on your regular merchandise on those nights, but it's about the theater, and the fact you offered a specialty product that helped create that family entertainment experience.

Being A MiLB GM

The general manager position has always been one of the roles that I strived to earn when I was first entering minor league baseball. Now, being a general manager, I feel that I have to continue to earn the position every day, in order to keep it. I think it's a mentality that keeps me focused on self-improvement daily. Long ago, I saw what the difference was between the title and the actual role of general manager. My impression was that the position had everything to do with the business of baseball. Focusing on sales, human resources, and understanding how fans think.

I strongly feel that a general manager is only as good as the staff around them. Either you put people in the right positions as staff members or you do not. And if you do not, you will not be successful either as a general manager or as an organization. The role is about knowing what people are good at, what they won't succeed at, and preventing failure. If a general manager cannot get the best effort out of their staff, it reflects as poorly on the general manager as it does the staff. Part of the staffing effort is also discovering cohesion, seeing which staff can work together and who cannot. I'm a big fan of staffing those in the front office who earn their freedom to make their mark in certain areas of the organization, and believe in those staff members enough to support their efforts throughout the process. Thus far, I have not been disappointed.

Everything is about the efficiency of resources. When I look back at a deficiency of my own, it was in college. I didn't network enough. It took years for me to learn the skill set of talking to other people, understanding and engaging with them, and developing solid lifelong relationships that could be beneficial to me today as a general manager. At the time, I didn't realize that there were so many different resources around me, ready to be accessed. To this day, I wonder how it would have changed my journey in minor league baseball had I only looked to the people to the left or right of me in college, networked with them until I had deeper relationships. That's a lot of missed opportunities for people who may have put in a "good word" for me during a job interview, or someone that I could have helped along the way. Until I got older and promoted into the role of general manager, I didn't consider how important networking back in college was.

There were other things that I learned along with way in lieu of networking. Branding was one of the most important. Every minor league general manager should have a brand promise when it comes to their organization. The Tennessee Smokies' brand promise is being "America's Friendliest Ballpark." Think about what that entails. A facility that projects a feeling reflected in its fans. It's a goal and mission that our organization has. Every minor league baseball team should develop their own goal and mission, otherwise they fail themselves. It doesn't have to be a direct copy of the Smokies' goal and mission, but their team does need to have one that works for them, as well as their community.

"America's Friendliest Ballpark" is not only a goal and mission, but a mindset. It is about developing an expectation for every full-time and part-time staff member who represent the team's brand. We want them to understand their role within the organization, do the best job possible within that role, and avoid undermining the efforts of their co-workers during the process. No one should ever believe that they are the smartest person in the room. As general manager, my title doesn't mean that I am always the best handyman to fix every issue on staff. I also don't believe that I am always right, simply because I express my opinion on a matter. And with our culture, no one else has to believe it either. We want the best point of contact for every position, with those skilled the best to do the best, without interference, in order to set up our organization for success.

Venue Workers Are Part of Your Brand

It is amazing how few organizations factor their part-time workers in their brand promise. These folks aren't invisible when it comes to your fans. They are front-line ambassadors who can project positive or negative energy on your brand daily. When the Tennessee Smokies host our three annual job fairs each March, we focus on making sure that the right part-time seasonal workers are part of our organization. We hold these job fairs on Friday nights or Saturday mornings, weeding out those candidates with red flags immediately.

Most of the red flag candidates will out themselves; they'll confess to having previous issues in customer service roles, be unable to provide references or won't know their work availability until the week of our games. This may seem overly critical for a part-time role, but these workers affect our brand and there needs to be a constant standard set for "America's Friendliest Ballpark." We don't expect every candidate to show up wearing a suit and tie, but it is a big red flag when they arrive in a stained t-shirt and sweatpants. To me, this is an indicator of how low this candidate values their own personal brand, and what little consideration they will provide toward the organizational brand if they are a touch point for your fans at the ballpark.

When you are running a job fair, it is important for every job description to be broken down in a handout for your potential gameday workers. This is about offering each of your part-time seasonal candidates a better understanding of what positions are available, what the expectations for those positions are, and who we are looking for. I consider it a smart move to hold all seasonal worker job fairs at the ballpark itself. It gives each job candidate the image of knowing where they will work. We advertise our job fairs online, through social media and local media partners, in order to draw out the best candidates available.

Each of your departments should have their own specific training available for part-time workers when they are hired. No one should be left in the dark about how to handle their job. This includes providing each new part-time hire with a handbook to look over, as well as to sign that they've read it. Inside the handbook, there should be clear expectations from the organization on staff attire, demeanor toward fans during each game and the history of the franchise. Part-time workers need to have it made clear on how they can positively or negatively affect the organization's brand.

Most fans won't interact with the majority of the front office staff. But they will definitely remember the interaction with the food and beverage staff. They will recall whether the usher smiled or was friendly to them. And they will also know whether the ticket taker was happy or sad. While there are going to be special issues from time to time that crop up, it should never be a constant with a part-time employee. And when the organization is hiring and addressing expectations up-front, you can cultivate a part-time seasonal staff that cares as much as your full-time staff members in the front office do.

While I've never had a situation where a part-time worker has impressed me enough to promote them to full-time status, that doesn't mean it isn't possible. It just hasn't happened yet. We rely on our full-time supervisors to monitor our part-time staff, and handle any conflicts or issues between fans. Any interaction should generate a positive outcome and if it doesn't, that's an issue that needs to be resolved immediately. Our supervisors put a constant expectation on our part-time workers that every engagement with our fans should result in the utmost respect being conveyed regardless of what was said.

We don't sell baseball at the Tennessee Smokies. At least, we don't sell the sport of baseball alone. We sell that quality family experience. Whether it's through our specialty jerseys, our outside events, or ticket packages. We do it through our part-time workers who treat their jobs as if they are full-time staff, in both how they carry themselves and how the fans interact with them. We have that branding of "America's Friendliest Ballpark" to live up to, daily. We do it by constantly believing in our culture, not thinking that they are absolutely correct on every idea because of our title. Because we don't sell baseball here. We sell a unique friendly experience found nowhere else on the planet. Even if one of our promotions is frozen in carbonite.

Editor's Note: This chapter is provided by usage consent of its author, who retains copyright of this work, and serves as additional content not found in The GM's Handbook.
The Relationship Cost of Relocation

KL Wombacher

President

Hillsboro Hops

Northwest League, Short Season Single-A Baseball

About The Author

KL Wombacher is the President of the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League, a Short Season Single-A team.

Editor's Note: This chapter is provided by usage consent of its author, who retains copyright of this work, and serves as additional content not found in The GM's Handbook.

I never thought that I would ever be good at sales. In 2002 with the Yakima Bears, I was taking months to get comfortable making cold calls. I was terrible on the phones. But it forced me to change up my strategy. I shifted to performing drop-ins on businesses. I took one-ounce bags of leftover cracker jacks and stapled my business cards to them. My door-to-door efforts generated more traction than cold calls. And my confidence grew with each sale.

What I learned from 2002 that I still find relevant in 2018 is that I'm a lot stronger in person than over the phone. People have different skills in sales. My phone game isn't anything near as good as what I can do when I meet you face-to-face, talk over the potential of working together, and build that personal relationship with you. Now, I try to meet all of my prospects and current clients face-to-face in order to overcome the challenge of selling them over the phone.

Walking into companies has actually been a great revenue generator for me. My best success in 2002 was walking through the doors of Oakwood Homes, a manufactured home business. And I almost didn't walk in. But I challenged myself to do so, with a goal of walking into every business within a six block radius that day, no matter if I believed they were a prospect or not. I had been through the business doors of three other manufactured homes companies earlier that month, none of them expressing any interest in buying from the Yakima Bears.

The Oakwood Homes example is a great lesson that I carry with me today. Never let past failure determine future success. As soon as I entered the Oakwood Homes business center in 2002, the manager greeted me, excited because he was a huge baseball fan. We talked baseball for 30 minutes, and I exited Oakwood Homes with the largest sponsorship sale of my career to that point. If I had not pushed myself to walk into that place of business, I may not be in baseball today. Forcing yourself to set a goal, but also overcome obstacles, is how you succeed at anything.

Mentors Matter

I owe most of my career to the former general manager of the Yakima Bears, Bob Romero, who gave me a shot as an intern in 2001 and taught me the business of baseball. He taught me how to really care about the people that you work with, and to care about the fans. When I moved to Yakima, Washington to work for the team in 2002 as a full-time staffer, I didn't know anyone in town. Or for a hundred miles. That could have been an isolating experience, but Bob made it easier on me. He and his wife had me over for dinner, making me a part of their family when I didn't have one close by.

It is incredible to look back, realizing how lucky I was to have a great mentor and friend in the business. Everyone needs that in order to succeed. Fewer people get that opportunity at all and some refuse to be open to mentorship. Bob took me to the baseball winter meetings in 2002, back when he didn't have to. Those sojourns from Yakima at 4:30 a.m. to drive to the Pasco airport meant meeting at Bob's house at 4:15 a.m., where Bob had woken up early, made breakfast casseroles for us to devour, before heading off onto the snow-covered highways on a one-hour venture to the Pasco airport.

You don't get to choose the mentors that you have. I've had more than Bob mentor my progress in this business, but the memories of working for him and what he offered to me are valuable staples of where my career has gone since. The Hillsboro Hops owner, Mike McMurray, is a great provider of guidance to me currently, often with personnel issues. His intelligent management experience provides me with an analytical, thoughtful approach toward issues that I require perspective on. That's what mentors often do, allow you to see the forest from the trees.

Everything about mentorship is what you receive from it and whether that helps you grow. I've learned to be even-keeled in my emotions, how I react to situations, avoiding overreaction. My first reaction is normally the wrong one. It has taken me years to learn that when I am upset, that I should type out a few responses, deleting them all. I now avoid sending e-mails when I am mad. This lesson is a teachable moment continually for me, but it shows that growing as a leader is never a finished process.

Something Relocating This Way Comes

I used to be a little harder on our staff, thinking that I was challenging and motivating them. Instead, I was turning them off. Positive feedback is much more valuable of a motivating tool, and if they aren't self-motivated, nothing you say to them will ever change that mindset. Comfort level has something to do with it as well. I know who I am, I know my flaws, and don't concern myself with fitting in the framework of how others want to view me. That's a big growth step for anyone; knowing what you and the organization that you work for are capable of. A lot of our industry is looking backwards. Looking at what other teams have done and try to copy them. We have tried to change our mindset to focus on the future. What hasn't been done before? What can we do that is new and will be copied by others later?

It is difficult to think about my time in Yakima with the Bears, because we had a lot of great fans. The problem was, we didn't have enough of them. There was also little sense of community pride. When I moved to Yakima in 2002, people who I met for the first time would openly question why someone would relocate there. It was a comment that continued to catch me off guard, but I never realized what a significant sign it was to experience such a lack of community pride.

Conversely, when I came to Hillsboro, Oregon to negotiate the agreement to relocate the Yakima Bears into what would become the Hillsboro Hops, everyone that I met, and I mean everyone, would tell me that I was going to love living in Hillsboro. It didn't matter if the person saying that was a hotel receptionist, restaurant goer or city manager. They all were proud to be living in Hillsboro and wanted me to know how great of a community it was that they had helped build there.

Even if the community pride aspect was glaringly different between Yakima and Hillsboro, it didn't make the team relocation any easier. It was a tough move. Moving a minor league team from Yakima, Washington to Hillsboro, Oregon was only a 205-mile distance, but the emotional toll was far greater on every fan, staff member and myself. It was the most difficult thing to conduct in my career and something I hope never to repeat ever again.

I dreaded going to the ballpark every night in Yakima after the decision was public. The personal connection built between fans and yourself cannot be understated. It made the relocation situation very challenging and an emotional drain. Every night, fans came to myself and other staffers, sharing their love of the Yakima Bears, expressing how important the team was to them, to their childhood, and the memories that they made as a family at the ballpark. Now, we were taking that all away. Made it all tough to hear, and even now, hard to think about.

I know what it is like to lose a team as a fan. I grew up an NBA Seattle SuperSonics fan. You support them through thick and thin, then something beyond your control happens, and they are gone. Sports is a business where people believe the business represents the community in ways that normal businesses can't or don't. And while it is easy to say that a team relocation boils down to a business decision, it never feels that way. It's like a gut-punch for the fan in that community where the team has departed for better pastures to represent a city somewhere else that you've never heard of. All you know about that place is that it has your team, changed its colors, logos and nickname, and is playing in a new ballpark while yours sits empty over the summer.

Hillsboro made it easier on me as an executive because of their enthusiasm as a community. Every road trip the team made would mean a journey for me to Hillsboro to start selling our relocated team to the new community. It was the potential of a new market being opened up, excited to have us, while leaving the old market of Yakima behind. It doesn't mean that I've forgetten about the feeling of relocating a team out of Yakima. Every new relationship I formed in Hillsboro came with the cost of several relationships in Yakima, both personal and professional. It's a guilty feeling of being a part of something unfair to the general fan that will probably never leave me.

I still feel guilt about ripping away a team from a community that had been supporting it for 23 years. It may have been the right decision at the time from a business perspective, and turned out to be an amazing business decision even today, but it doesn't mean the fans deserved it. As an industry, we preach to each community that we want fans to have ownership in their team, supporting them through attendance and sponsorship. They invest their money in our teams over the years. But then, they lose the team when the financial reasoning is good, even if the heart-strings argument isn't. It sucks to be a part of something that showcases the difference between fandom and business. That's the sports industry in a nutshell. It's all fun and games until you look at the bottom line of the balance sheet, and at that point, a community may get hurt.

Turning Out The Lights On Yakima

We spent three years in Yakima trying to develop a ballpark solution first. It doesn't make the relocation issue any less hurtful. But we did try and we tried our best. We were very upfront with our staff throughout the process. When we switched our focus to Hillsboro, which is part of the Portland, Oregon metro market, staff members were involved with all of the starts and stops of trying to relocate. They had first-hand knowledge of everything happening with our organization, and our long-time front office staff with three or more years of employment, had the opportunity to move with the team. During our final years in Yakima, only six or seven staff members remained, but we involved them and wanted them to feel as if this were a family decision that they were a part of.

The process of a Yakima ballpark plan got stalled and the community knew that the writing was on the wall. Our organization prematurely announced a project in Vancouver, Washington, and at that point, we had a lot of explaining to do. We took the same approach with fans and sponsors that we did with our front office staff; we were upfront with them, pledged that we would operate the franchise as we always had until the day we left. We did not make a lame duck season attempt as some teams do. We went through two seasons with rumors swirling, and although it was tough, we still had a good amount of supporters who stuck with us.

Even during the last game that we played in Yakima, we kept our word and operated the business as usual. I couldn't tell you the score without looking it up, because that didn't matter. It's the emotions of that last night in Yakima that stay with me today. After saying goodbye to our team and some fans, I ventured out onto the field with my wife and 1-year-old daughter. The ballpark was empty, the lights still on and we just ran around with our daughter in the outfield. I had put 12 years in Yakima trying to make it work. Time, energy, sweat, blood and now tears into a franchise that was leaving its community behind for another one in Hillsboro.

While the ballpark wasn't the greatest, it was our ballpark in Yakima. We took care of it. We were completely responsible for it. And we took pride in that fact. We took more pride in the Yakima ballpark than we do now in a brand new facility in Hillsboro. The biggest reason for doing so was that the Yakima ballpark needed so many upgrades. It was continually about putting lipstick on a pig. But it was our pig. We owned it.

Hello, Hillsboro

There is no playbook to relocation. I wish there was one. If you build a franchise that cares about your fans like you should, relocating away from that community should be tough. Because there is a mutual investment by your organization and by the fans in what baseball really means in that community. You really grow to care about the people who work for you, sponsor your team and buy your tickets to watch that team play. And it all sucks to have to leave it behind. The only way to deal with it emotionally is to accept that relocation is occurring and move on. You have to show empathy, be extremely grateful for all of the past support from fans and sponsors over 23 years, and the fact that they supported you to the end, even when they didn't have to.

That move was tough emotionally, leaving Yakima behind. But it also became a great experience as our organization entered Hillsboro. The great thing about starting a franchise is that you have no history to compare it to. Everything is fresh and new. Some people made attempts to compare us to the Triple-A Portland Beavers who had been in town from 2001-10, then relocated to Tucson for three years, before becoming the El Paso Chihuahuas. But the reputation of the Beavers didn't stick for our organization and we earned a clean slate from the community.

We weren't in downtown Portland. We were in Hillsboro, a community now over 100,000 people with several high-tech companies. Hillsboro is known as Silicon Forest. And our organization had a brand new ballpark and we play at the Class A-Short Season which is not a Triple-A schedule. Our strategy was to price competitively, market specifically to audiences with a firm commitment on no ticket discounts or complimentary tickets.

We were very disciplined even when media companies wanted complimentary tickets to give out to listeners and readers in contests. We said no to all of these promotions despite the fact that they would have brought us needed visibility for our new brand. We concerned ourselves with the long-term effects of the short-term decisions. All of our decision-making goes through a five-year filter process. Sometimes, even a ten-year filter process. If we do this action today, what affect will it have on us in five or ten years?

Our goal was to think like fans when we developed new ticketing products and promotions. Our first season in Hillsboro, we developed a mini-plan where fans could select their own games. It was challenging on the fulfillment side, because we had such a small staff, but we made it work. The key to our strategy was to focus on service more than sales in year one. Being a new team with a new ballpark, our phones were generally expected to ring a lot, meaning people were coming to us instead of us going to them. So it was important that they were provided the best service possible to draw them into our franchise immediately and keep them committed long-term.

Community Advocacy

I am a strong advocate of being out in the community a lot. And I mean, at the opening of everything. Whether it's a big event or a small one, your brand needs to be there. Whenever you think you are out in the community a lot, get out there some more. People need constant awareness of your brand. Hire a full-time mascot performer or rotate it through the office so every staff member has to jump in the suit a few times a week. Go to every little league opening day, youth baseball tournaments and set up speaking engagements with every service club annually so you can talk about all of the exciting new things that your organization is doing. Making personal connections with people is much more valuable than running ads trying to convince people to buy tickets.

Always have a handout so that people can take your logo and message with them; whether it's a signed photo of your mascot, a pocket schedule or even a business card. Let them carry your brand. The more information that you get into people's hands, the more opportunity you are creating for them to support your team. Mascots are powerful brand ambassadors and just about every team underutilizes them in the off-season. Our philosophy has been to support the community before you can expect them to support you. You as a team can initiate the support you need from active fans, but it needs to be genuine first.

It comes down to the culture that you build and the vision that you have, especially with a smaller staff. With a smaller staff, everyone is treated like a member of the family. There aren't big departments that employees can hide in when they are under-performing. You are around all of your staff members all of the time, even when you are at your most vulnerable with emotions. This can lead to friction sometimes as personalities clash, but that's where a strong culture comes into play. People need to be encouraged to disagree, but discouraged from making that approach negative. Either bring constructive criticism to the table or you are merely projecting gossip.

Our smallest staff in Yakima was four people, and it was a huge challenge, but also a huge opportunity for growth. The general manager, myself and two interns ran that entire operation throughout the season in Yakima. Long hours, plenty of mistakes, but we worked our tails off, providing a sense of accomplishment that came from a season where we sensed we could take on anything. It allowed me to oversee parts of the business at a young age which accelerated my maturity and confidence. Small operations sometime allows big things to happen.

Being a small staff allows you to remove your ego from the equation. Either you get it done with them or it will not get done at all. Managers needs to be enablers, allowing their staffs to succeed, and allowing their staffs, not the managers, to get the credit when the job is done right. The best manager looks in the mirror for blame and out of the window for credit. The problem managers face is that they sometimes feel threatened that a strong staff member might take their job, therefore managers tend to horde credit in order to avoid being replaced. That is negative thinking at its core. Credit should be used as motivation toward doing a better job yourself and improving your staff. But it all comes down to whether you can check your ego at the door when you enter each morning.

I meet regularly with each staff member in group settings, but also in one-on-one sessions. We lay out goals that each person helps set so we can track progress toward those goals. This is about continually asking each staff member what they want to achieve in their career with the focus on helping them blaze a trail to get there. This is done throughout the year and updated each year because paths change as people change and get more experience. Our goal is to keep as many of our front office employees as we can to grow the business and we have to provide them with opportunities and growth to keep them happy and challenged. I like to solicit feedback from each person to see how they view their progress. From there, I try to offer insight that normally compliments what they are seeing themselves.

It took me a long time to get good at sales. To understand what I was good at and maximize my efforts at doing so. It doesn't mean that the rest of the experience was easy. Far from it. But it came down to relationships, developing them in a setting to where both I and the people that I met with were comfortable with each other. Your entire sales career doesn't have to be done over the phone, making 100 phone calls a day. But you do have to have a sales career. You merely have to find out a different way of doing sales, if selling over the phones isn't your thing. All of us sell our organization.

Editor's Note: This chapter is provided by usage consent of its author, who retains copyright of this work, and serves as additional content not found in The GM's Handbook.
May Your Rebuilding Be Relentless

Chip Maxson

General Manager

Sacramento Rivercats

Pacific Coast League, Triple-A Baseball

About The Author

Chip Maxson is the General Manager of the Sacramento Rivercats of the Pacific Coast League.

Editor's Note: This chapter is provided by usage consent of its author, who retains copyright of this work, and serves as additional content not found in The GM's Handbook.

No matter the stage you are at with a team, you are constantly rebuilding the brand. You should honor the past, show respect to those who sold for the team before you, but the rebuild of the brand never sleeps. Too many of us halt changes because we do not want to appear disrespectful of those who came before us. In truth, everything you've read in the book signifies how nothing stays the same for long. Because if it does, your fans do not show up, and you don't have a job. Baseball is a business. And what you did successfully three years ago doesn't save your poor results today. Nor should it ever.

I encourage people to avoid snap judgments on the situations that they are in when they arrive at a new team. Never judge a book by its cover because looks can be deceiving. It's what lies under the hood that counts. And whether you can get buy-in from the bottom in order to make the changes you need to rebuild the brand successfully.

Appearance clichés are not hard to come by but my favorite has to be "you can put lipstick on a pig, but in the end, it is still a pig." I feel that is what so many people in sports do. They try to dress up the big nasty pig to impress people but, in the end, why? Whether you are in your 15th year or your first year, you need to do things the right way. Even if you aren't the general manager yet, and merely starting your career, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you are willing, able and focused on putting forth the best effort in being part of the solution for the franchise in whatever your role is at the franchise you work at. You set the tone, and others will follow.

For some reason we all still love big numbers, even if they are made up. Let me be honest, I am not trying to single anybody out as I have plenty of skeletons in my closet too. What I would like to do is point to something more important than inflated attendance, and that is Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciations and Amortization (EBITDA).

As the general manager for the Sacramento River Cats, Forbes' most valuable MiLB franchise, my job has zero to do with player decisions and 100 percent to do with making money. I don't receive a bonus for leading the league, Triple-A baseball, or MiLB in attendance. Like anybody running a business, my job is to make more money and increase EBITDA.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up playing baseball and was blessed to play through college. I am a fan at heart and promised my younger self that when my playing days came to an end I'd try to work at a ballpark. And here I am, working at a ballpark every day, running a very high profile small business which gives me the opportunity to give back to my community in a variety of ways. I'm living my dream, but it's business, not a game.

MLB's 31st Franchise

One of MiLB's most successful franchises on and off the field, the River Cats have led MiLB in attendance 11 of 18 seasons, won back-to-back PCL Championships twice and two Triple-A Championships. The winning ways were happening on and off the field as Art Savage bought the franchise, built Raley Field in West Sacramento and brought baseball back to Sacramento in 2000. Savage had been a sports executive in the NBA and NHL and early on, the River Cats were known as MLB's 31st franchise. It is still common to see the River Cats draw crowds larger than some MLB clubs.

I joined the River Cats at the end of the 2012 season and despite all of the success, there were several key issues I knew I would have to deal with quickly. It started and ended with culture so I came up with a plan that I hoped would create a winning culture that could not only change the River Cats but also impact people and the places they would go beyond the walls of Raley Field.

Culture – one of those ambiguous buzz words in business today, culture is the greatest manager you will ever meet. Culture is always changing and while, you, as an executive, can impact culture, you are often the last to really understand it.

Leadership – Steve Jobs put it best, A talent attracts A talent but the River Cats were in need of A talent.

Business strategy – there was no clear goal or approach, no training or strategic plan. Instead, there were plenty of quick fix Band-Aids that did not work.

Product – Raley Field was built in 2000 and had plenty of seats and suites yet there were no premium experiences or social places that fans look for today. It was time to build.

Culture Wars

Culture will manage more than you or your managers. Read that again. And again.

You may ask your ticket sales team to make 100 calls per day or to set 15 appts a week. Guess what, even if that is what you say yet everyone else is making 25 calls and setting 5 appts, what do you think the new person is going to do?

On the flip side, if the office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. yet everyone shows up at 7:30 a.m. and works past 6:00 p.m., what do you think the new person is going to do?

You and I want a hard working and winning culture. What do your managers think? Do they buy into you or do they fall into the "want to be liked" trap? What about your top performers? Are they backing you or telling others not to listen? What do their actions say?

When I started in Sacramento, the rumors were swirling and everyone thought the Sacramento Kings would be moving to Seattle. Employees were jumping ship over there right and left and the River Cats had open arms for NBA trained sales people. There had been a lot of turnover and not much strategy or direction so the idea of experience was extremely attractive.

I was welcomed with open arms thanks to my 10 years of industry experience. The ticket reps loved hearing my war stories of cold calls, battling in meetings, and getting kicked out of office buildings. Glory days!

What was not welcomed as much was the written-out business strategy that detailed weekly call and appointment expectations or the 26-page sales pitch I asked them to memorize. To make it worse, I stopped allowing flip flops and shorts in the office and asked them to shave and look like a professional. Even the weekly one-on-one meetings were scripted to make sure reps set goals and were held accountable to them. I finally went over the top when I changed the commission structure and bonus plan to incentivize new business and growth.

I don't know if I have ever been or will ever be so naïve again. I thought the team would like me, buy in, and start having success right away. I disrupted everything and turned it over to a new manager to run it just as I had set it up. That was my plan so that I could turn my attention to other parts of the business like corporate partnerships and marketing. Little did I know the manager was not interested in holding reps accountable and cared more about being a friend. This was leading straight towards a mutiny attempt. Seriously, the reps were talking about how they could run me off so they could go back to the old way.

I was working late one evening and the owner came into my office. She started asking me how things were going and then she finally let on to a couple of conversations that she recently had. The first was with the ticket manager – a manager, who had the freedom to walk right into the owner's office and share thoughts and feelings. This manager told the owner that she was concerned with my new way and that it was not the best practice according to what the Sacramento Kings were doing. She went on to say that the staff wanted me to be let go.

The second conversation was with a wise and trusted industry consultant I'll call Chuck. My owner brought the conversation with the manager up to Chuck and asked him what he thought. Chuck said that he was extremely disappointed with the manager for going behind my back to the owner and that, in fact, what I was trying to implement was actually best practice. Chuck added that he felt we had a lot of house cleaning to do.

I look back on that conversation as the major learning point in my career and turning point for the River Cats. With the owner's blessing, it was clear some major leadership changes needed to be made. You see, although I had hired some new people, they were spoiled by the others. It was three months later and we were still stuck in the same spot.

Over the next month, I let go of the Inside Sales manager and moved the Ticket Sales manager into a service role where she could be autonomous without the stress of managing. She wanted to be liked and many of our long-time season ticket members loved her. Placing her in management was a disservice and she was much happier and actually did a great job and sold quite a bit in this new role.

As soon as we made the management changes, I pulled the ticket sales team together and let them know that I was not going anywhere. I laid out the plan, again, and let them know that if they did not meet expectations for calls, meetings, or sales they would be placed on a performance improvement plan, a step before termination.

I had to create accountability if I had any hope of changing the culture. Of course, it only took a day for the accountability to be challenged. One of our top group sales reps, someone who came over from the NBA, made only 2 phone calls the entire day. I called him into my office a little before 5:00 p.m. and asked him what he had done all day. He simply said that he didn't make enough calls. He understood I would have to write him up and put him on a performance improvement plan (PIP). He turned in his resignation the next morning.

Shortly after the first resignation, a couple more followed. Luckily we had been collecting resumes and I was able to hire someone for our corporate ticket sales team pretty quickly. I sent our sales pitch to this individual two weeks before he started and asked him to have it memorized by his first day. He said he would but he did not. We went through several days of onboarding and I asked him to pitch me again on a Friday. Guess what: He still didn't have the pitch memorized, not even close. I told him to memorize it and that he would pitch me first thing Monday morning.

I prayed over the weekend that he would knock it out on Monday. By this point, we were heading into our biggest sales quarter, a couple of months before the season and I was severely understaffed. We needed each person to buy in, carry their weight and more. I was going to be disappointed.

True to my word, first thing on Monday I gathered the corporate ticket sales team, turned on the video camera, and had the new guy pitch me in front of the others. He could barely get started and kept laughing when he screwed up. Before I could say anything, one of our veteran guys jumped all over him, exclaiming that this was not a joke and was not funny. The other two added that they are working too hard for a new guy to come in and not give just as much effort if not more.

The new guy quit, less than a full week on the job, and I could not have been more excited. You see, for the first time I saw culture take over. The three guys who had survived the transition were buying in and wanted to make sure anyone new did the same. Culture had arrived and was managing!

What Is Leadership Anyway?

John Maxwell can define leadership a lot better than I can and you should probably read some of his books. Here's what I know about leadership, I have wanted to run through a brick wall for some people I've worked for and then there are others who I couldn't stand. I've tried to identify certain characteristics in those guys who I would do anything for and I'm trying to replicate it. At the same time, I'm also trying to look truthfully in the mirror to see what I'm doing that reflects more of the other guys. And in the end, I always look back to the Good Book as Jesus demonstrated servant leadership despite the performance of others and we are still feeling the impact of his leadership today. Jesus has also sold a bit more books than John Maxwell.

Leadership is the most significant influencer on culture and business success. A good leader will encourage loyalty and bonds of trust by looking out for the best interest of his or her employees. Unfortunately, loyalty and trust are developed over time, not overnight. So, to get started, I believe the best first step is what I alluded to earlier, hire A talent, as it will attract more A talent. You see, the people you hire, and unhire, will define your culture and will either move you forward or set you back.

In Sacramento, we didn't have the A talent to begin with so I knew I had to focus on being the best leader I could be, come up with a great business strategy (which I'll outline next), and then sell the vision of where the company was headed.

First, I reached out to a network of people who I considered A talent and sure enough, a couple of names popped up. From there, I wanted to find someone like-minded, someone who believed in the same business approach that I did. Finally, did they have the following characteristics:

Hard-working: this person will make the extra call, stay the extra hour and do what is asked of them and more.

Competitive: this person has the inner-drive to be the best. The idea of good enough doesn't set well with this person as they take pride in their job and the team.

Teachable: this person is humble and wants to learn the right way to do things. Already having a great work ethic, they will study and strive to learn and grow.

Personality: we are all created differently and with different skill sets. However, sales and marketing comes down to our ability to develop relationships with others. Our personalities must show that we love our jobs and draw others towards us and the River Cats.

People are people. Sometimes you may think you have hired A talent but then you get a curveball thrown at you. I have made my share of hiring mistakes but have, for the most part, been able to avoid any significant culture setbacks. I have to thank the owner of the River Cats for encouraging me from day one to hire "my people" and to get rid of the ones who are not.

When asked what the worst part of my job is, 100 percent of the time my answer is firing people. I feel like I can coach anyone and make them better. The reality is not everyone wants to be coached. Not everyone is like-minded in their approach to their job and career. The scary part is, you as the leader, are often the last to see issues with an employee, their co-workers see it first. The longer it takes for you to identify a bad apple, the more your integrity and leadership is put into question by the other employees.

Do you see where I am going with this? I understand budgets, deadlines, and sales goals but, please, hire slow and fire fast. Even if it means you are understaffed, take the time, protect your A talent, and be patient in finding more A talent. You will be better off in the long run.

Let me also say that I've never regretted letting anyone go. In fact, the regret was often that I waited too long to do it. And so far, nobody I have fired has had to live on the streets. More often than not, the employee terminated was disgruntled for a reason and was relieved to be released from the stress and challenges they were facing.

To put a bow on leadership, my approach was to systematically hire and train leaders in our highest revenue producing areas first. I started with ticket sales and then went onto corporate partnerships, marketing, and most recently food and beverage as we just took that in house. Now, six seasons in, we have been able to develop leaders, promote from within and have several Revenue Leadership teams that meet weekly to discuss business and leadership strategy.

Maximize Your Business Strategy

Business strategy is more than a budget; it includes guiding principles that provide direction, helps you navigate tough decisions, and provides guardrails to keep you from chasing every new idea or whim. I believe next to leadership, a strategic business plan is the most significant tool for success.

At this point, I have to give credit to one of my mentors, John. John shared his business strategy notebook with me early in my career and I have mirrored it for every job I've had since. After my first interview with Sacramento, I put together a strategic plan outlining my goals, departmental approach, and accountability practices. I wanted to begin managing from day one so that expectations could be discussed and managed.

The idea of creating a business strategy may sound intimidating but don't let it be. I'm never the smartest guy in the room and in fact, I only remember one thing from business school, the Keep It Simple, Stupid principle (K.I.S.S.). I try to keep everything I do simple and therefore manageable. I've learned that complexity is the enemy of strategy and success so simple it is.

Can you guess how I start my business strategy? Yes, with a focus on leadership and leadership development. From there, I like to focus on three keys to success.

Keys to success

  1. EBITDA maximization
  2. Maximum value association
  3. Market impact

EBITDA Maximization \- EBITDA maximization will be the key across the board. This means increasing sponsorship sales, suite sales, ticket sales, food and beverage revenue, merchandise revenue, parking revenue and non-baseball related revenue while keeping costs within an expected and controlled range.

I almost left that last part out about costs. You see, too many people fall into the trap of simply trying to cut costs. I feel those people don't really know how to run a business. However, it is foolish to simply waste money so I left it in.

I believe understanding your trends and planning to strategically grow are the best ways to maximize EBITDA. This comes down to studying your numbers (analytics) and planning to make money (people and products).

Let me start with the buzz word right now, analytics. First, smart people have been studying numbers and trends for years so let's not make this more than it needs to be. I believe everyone should know their renewal rates, average sales per sales rep, monthly sales trends, marketing ROI, and where your fans are coming from (zip codes). Armed with that information, if you simply take the time to look at these numbers you'll be able to set a realistic budget and create a marketing plan.

On the ticket side, how many sales reps should you have? I like to draw a 30-mile radius around the ballpark and find out how many businesses have 10+ employees. Divide that number by 1,000 and that is the number of sales reps I go with. Maybe that is 5, 10, or 15 full time ticket reps depending on the market.

Again, nobody should be afraid to hire more staff. Follow the numbers. I know that my typical first year ticket rep will operate at 22 percent cost, meaning they will make 4 – 5 times more than I will pay them, including commissions and payroll taxes. That's a pretty good return, right? The return gets better as the reps stick around. A second or third year rep drops to an 8 percent - 15 percent cost despite paying them a lot more. Again, don't be afraid to pay your reps. The numbers show the longer you keep them the more money they will make you.

On the marketing side, we are looking for a 4:1 ratio on our ad spends. We do this by avoiding large branding campaigns (billboards) and focus on targeted campaigns. In these targeted campaigns, we will use source codes and promo codes to allow us to track the ROI. By tracking the ROI you'll know what ads are performing best and when an ad has run its course. The heats maps will also tell you where to run your ads and what medium to use.

The numbers game should go beyond ticket sales and marketing. How many people should you staff each night? How many food & beverage (F&B) employees should you bring in? How many box office staff should work on a specific game? What should your food par levels be when you open gates? Trends will tell you all of this if you take the time to look at them.

I'll touch on products more in a bit but let me mention them here as well. I mentioned the importance of knowing ticket renewal rates above. When I landed in Sacramento, there was a huge push towards flex plans. I looked at the numbers and started scratching my head, why? Flex plans sounded great, people could come whenever they wanted. Simple and easy, right? Wrong, at least that's what the numbers were saying. The renewal rate on flex plans was 25 percent less than a regular ticket membership that had specific games attached. When you stop and think about it, that makes perfect sense.

Don't get caught up in trends, emotion, or the whining of tickets sales staff. Look at the numbers and decide what is best for your bottom line. What I saw was our top product was killing us. The flex plan seemed easy to sell, however, without a date on the ticket, people are less likely to actually come out to a game. Why should they come tonight when there is always tomorrow? Sometimes tomorrow never comes and the season is over and there are a bunch of unused vouchers. For those who decide to use their vouchers, they all want the big fireworks nights and have to wait in a long ticket line to exchange their voucher. Is that a good experience? And what about the family who had to wrangle all the kids and shows up 30 minutes after the game started. They paid for a higher priced ticket but that section is now all sold out so they have to take something less.

Am I making my point? The numbers tell a true story and they will help guide you on which products to push and which products you may need to eliminate or change. Don't be afraid to listen to the numbers. Remember, your job is about making money. To maximize EBITDA you need people renewing and showing up to games. The more butts in seats, the better the experience, the more money people spend, the more valuable your partnerships become, the larger your database and the more you can market non-baseball events to people.

Do The Math On Free Tickets

Maximum Value Association – Maximum value association means people will be willing to pay top dollar for Sacramento River Cats products as they see tremendous value associated with them.

Traditionally in Minor League Baseball, teams have slowly killed themselves by cutting off their lifeblood, ticket sales, by flooding the market with free or reduced priced tickets. While a large gate number looks nice and makes the concessionaire happy, the market is now trained to never purchase a ticket at full price again. Would you buy jewelry at full retail price or a car without a promo?

Here are some stats to back this up:

Average ticket price: $22 Free ticket: $0

F&B Per Cap: $18 F&B Per Cap: $18

Parking Per Cap: $3 Parking Per Cap: $3

Merch Per Cap: $2 Merch Per Cap: $2

Total spend per ticket sold: $45 Total spend/free ticket: $23

Average show rate per free ticket = 12 percent

Do the math. In order to make the same amount of revenue from a sold ticket, you have to give away 17 free tickets. We are also assuming that the person who comes to the game with a free ticket will spend as much as someone who paid but that assumption does not typically hold.

Let me illustrate this further as a lot of people will say they want the hot dog money. Going back to EBITDA maximization, we need to remember there is a top line and bottom line. Most F&B agreements will pay out an average 33 percent of revenues back to the team. A $6 hot dog will only pay out $2 in profit so you need to sell 11 hot dogs to make the same as 1 ticket sold.

The same idea holds true on the corporate partnership side. Some teams roll the dice and will sell the same piece of inventory for a different price based on how hard the partner negotiates and usually how close to the season it is. Nobody likes open inventory but what happens if two partners start talking and they find out they each paid a different price?

Yes, you must always be willing to walk away in order to maintain your pricing integrity. After all, a typical sports market only has a couple of options and often a MiLB market may only have one or two sports options. Don't forget that as this gives you leverage.

The other option, instead of just walking away, is adding value. We were trying to renew Toyota a couple of years ago and we presented them a package that doubled their price, a value we felt pretty strongly about. I remember walking into the corporate partnership offices to a bunch of gloomy faces. They said Toyota didn't see the value. Great! I exclaimed. They didn't say no to the price they simply wanted to see more value. We created some new inventory and they loved it. Value maximized and deal doubled!

So what adds value? It doesn't have to be too crazy. Here are a few of our go to options:

Food – the real cost of a hot dog, chips and soda is around $1.50. The perceived value is much higher.

Limited Edition Hats – everybody loves a cool hat and you can promote it as a $20+ value. The real cost, $1.75.

Limited Edition T-shirts – again, everybody loves a cool tee and you can get them for $3.

Autographed bats and balls – tremendous value and typically no cost, or $3 for a logo baseball.

Old Promo Inventory – we all have extra bobbleheads taking up space in a closet. These are great to throw into a ticket deal for added value.

Experiences – working at a ballpark has some awesome built in experience opportunities for ticket sales or the wow factor for a partner.

Tours that take fans on-field pre-game

Watch fireworks from the field

First pitch

Batting practice on a non-gameday

Membership Events – we switched to a membership model a few years back and eliminated giving away $120,000+ in discounts and gift cards as renewal perks. We now spend $30,000+ to put on year round events that allow us to get face-to-face with our members creating significant touch points (which increase likelihood to renew) and providing us with new sponsorship inventory.

Leadership lunches with a business focused speaker.

Under the Lights – on-field party with casino games, a band, dance floor and complimentary food and drink.

Various autograph and meet-the-team events.

Family holiday photo on field.

The list goes on and on but I want to circle back to the multiplier effect I referenced. Our goal is to make sure anything we do creates value but also touches on EBITDA Maximization as well as Market Impact. You saw this in the example above where we shaved costs on the ticket sales side by creating the membership platform. The strategy behind this had multiple levels:

Eliminate renewal discounts (these people are the first to renew anyway)

Add value to membership plans (renew 25 percent higher than flex plans)

Create significant year round touch points to increase renewal likelihood, especially on first year members.

Create new partnership inventory

Direct B2B didn't exist with games alone

Another great example I'll share is a 13-game ticket plan. Based on research by Dr. Kirk Wakefield at Baylor University, the tipping point at which a fan goes from being casual to avid is about one game per month, or five games over the course of the season. As an avid fan, loyalty increases meaning they will spend more at the ballpark on F&B and merchandise, they are more likely to buy and renew a membership, their unaided partnership recall increases and they become more likely to spend money with partners of the team.

Understanding that, we built a plan with the goal of getting fans to at least one game per month by targeting our biggest nights, helping to create that "sold out" mentality. In addition, we wanted to impact the market by giving the fans what they wanted. We asked them to vote on our premium giveaway items and then guaranteed them to purchasers of this new package. The voting allowed us to begin engaging fans before the holidays during a typical slow media time for MiLB clubs. In addition, we planned to keep a few of the giveaway items back to use as incentives to purchase at least $50 in our Team Store. Finally, after building this marketing plan, Subway couldn't wait to jump on board as the official sponsor.

Look at all of the revenue areas impacted.

Ticket sales – new inventory consisting of 13 game plan

F&B – boosted attendance on our biggest nights

Marketing/Single Game – fans purchased tickets to receive giveaway items

Merchandise – Even if fans were not one of the first 2,500, they could still receive the giveaway by spending $50 in our team store.

Market Impact – social promotion and voting kept us relevant during a slow time.

Remember, perception is reality. Your fans will either perceive tremendous value with your product or they will perceive no value at all. It is easy to give away tickets and hope for the best but I encourage you to plan for success. Look at ways to build value that impact other areas of the business and add to the bottom line.

Social Media

Market Impact – Market impact refers to the full reach and impact on your region made by your organization. This means that there is a premium placed on your corporate partnerships, suites and tickets but that there is also a premium placed on community activation and involvement.

With the absence of big TV deals and star athletes, MiLB teams must rely on community activation and involvement. Many teams do a tremendous job through school programs and youth leagues. Free school assemblies and sending your mascot to youth baseball and softball opening days are necessary.

Street teams are a great way to be visible at community events and also provide opportunities to bring partners outside the walls of your ballpark. I just mentioned partnerships, but how else do you capitalize on your community opportunities? Ask your fans.

Each year we survey our fans to find out a variety of information. Each year, we continue to hear that fans receive information about games and events through email and by visiting our web page. Both were significantly higher than social media. This makes perfect sense. You read emails for information, not for fun. You go to most websites for information and to get news (side note, I think we need to change our website to be more interactive and social, but that's another topic...). We use social media sites for interaction and entertainment.

Armed with this knowledge, we want to make sure we use every community event as an opportunity to give back but to also grow our database. Yes, it costs money to send out our mascot and street team but each event provides an opportunity to grow your database. Growing your database means more opportunities for tickets sales. And now we are back to getting the individual buyer out to at least a game each month. The cycle begins with engaging the fan for the first time.

It's easy to see how community events lead to revenue opportunities but what about social media? As I mentioned, fans tend to interact with us on social media more for entertainment than ticket information. When it comes to entertainment, content is king. And when it comes to content, video is king. And when it comes to video, live video is king.

Let me stop right here as I know MiLB teams are stretched thin and employees wear many different hats. I understand the fear of adding headcount but it needs to be said, it is time to have a person working for you full time focused on social media. With the slow death of printed news and the importance of click bait, gone are the days of being local media darlings. Now more than ever, everyone is fighting for media relevance and we need to do the same and what better way than through social?

Social media algorithms are set up to provide the consumer, our fans, with the most relevant information to them. This means they will see more content similar to what they are interacting with. If teams are not year round providing relevant and entertaining content they will fall off feeds and interactions will disappear.

In 2017, I was able to take our team over to Facebook to meet with their sports marketing team. I was incredibly humbled as they showed us the best content in the world. It was awesome and there was a combination of planned content as well as organic. There were videos that looked professionally done and then others that were shot on an iPhone. Now, when I say videos, gone are the days of long produced story lines. Short and sweet wins the day. A 7-second video can actually be more impactful and receive more views than a 5-minute highlight reel.

Surprisingly, the actual sports content was not as much as you would think. People love people, surprises, military, puppies, babies and we love to laugh. That probably doesn't surprise anyone reading this but are you incorporating it into your social content?

I love using Bar Stool Sports as an example. Half of their content is guy humor and has nothing to do with sports yet they have a cult following. They take funny content from others and share it. Maybe it is time for teams to take that approach?

Back to Facebook, I also learned a lot about lead generation and best practices for running contests that grow your likes and database. Do you see where this is going?

Our goal with social media now is to entertain first, year round, so that we grow our following and stay relevant. We will then run fun contests using a lot of the added value opportunities detailed above in order to get a name and emails into our database. Lead generation targets our most active fans and asks them if they would like to come out for a tour to see ticket products they are interested in. Simple and very effective.

Give Them What They Want

What do people want when they come to a River Cats game? Maybe that's not the right question. What do people want when they are enjoy an evening out? That is the question I asked myself when I started in Sacramento. As I mentioned, the stadium was built in 2000 and was heavy on seats and suites. In order to equip our sales people to be as successful as possible, I needed to make sure they had the best product available. In order to maximize EBITDA, I needed to make sure we had the right products all around.

I talked to other teams in the market. I talked to other teams across the country. I read the Sports Business Journal. I also spent some time looking at how our current products were selling – tickets, suites, F&B, and merchandise.

In general, people are looking for experience and value. When it comes to food, we are more nostalgic, wanting beer and a hot dog. There is also an uprising of local euphoria.

I found the experience and value piece significant with tickets, suites and sponsorships. Let me start with tickets. With all of those seats and suites, we were lacking a premium experience as well as a social, fun and interactive experience. Initially, my thought process was to look for low-yield spaces and to try and turn them into higher yields. Thankfully, a mentor corrected my thought process and suggested I look for zero-yield areas first and turn them into higher yield – a very important paradigm shift.

During my second year, my goal was to do just that by adding 4Topps seating behind home plate replacing seldom used seats and an all-inclusive club on a roof and over air. These options would give us the premium inventory we were missing and make a significant impact to the bottom line. I worked up a P&L for each project using examples from previous ballparks I had worked at and presented my ideas. I was given a green light as long as I was able to cover the costs before construction by preselling a couple 4Topps and securing a naming rights partner for the new club space.

We got to work and quickly sold two 4Topps on 3-year agreements to cover the costs of the project. The Legacy Club, on the other hand, was taking longer. We had a few interested partners but the construction timeline was getting tight. We decided it would be best to push the project for another year. This did allow us to secure a naming rights partner, plan a sales campaign beginning with ticket renewals and properly promote the club. As much as I didn't want to wait, delaying the project was the right thing to do.

Since the addition of the 4Topps, we have tripled the original install and created new partnership inventory by selling naming rights to the area. The Legacy Club hosts 400 members each night to a premium experience and it has given us a space to sell for special events year round.

Now the focus is on adding social spaces to the ballpark that will allow fans to get lost in the experience and forget they are even at a baseball game. A recent craft beer alley took an Ops storage area and turned it into a cool hangout serving great local craft beer. The naming rights sold quickly and we sell several hundred thousand dollars of craft beer in this area that used to store paint and stanchions.

On the sponsorship front, I've already mentioned how we created new inventory, selling ticket packages and new areas of the ballpark. The team had always been strong on the sponsorship front but I felt by adding some activation elements we would be able to boost the spend of some current clients while adding a few new ones.

We were already very successful with fireworks on Saturdays so we added them to Fridays as well and sold these in packages. We also built out a garden area and created media opportunities around the planting (inviting schools out to plant) and harvesting as we donated the product to a non-profit partner of a major partner. In addition, we created some drive to retail promotions and capitalized on those social media enter-to-win contests by selling partners on them.

Finally, we added an 8' x 120' LED board above our left field wall, creating new digital and entertainment inventory. Again, I had to figure out how to cover the costs of this new board so we upsold current clients, charging a premium to be on this piece of inventory and then bumped the price tag of all new business that would include digital elements on this board.

I also mentioned suite sales as this was an area that left me scratching my head. Many of our suite agreements had additional cleaning fees and then a separate maintenance fee. There was no consistency in the pricing as one client may be paying several thousand dollars more or less than the suite next to them. To be honest, the agreements were cumbersome for us to manage so I can only imagine how the suiteholders felt. We quickly cleaned these up and added some value and actually increased the price but we were able to sell more.

Value, value, value, that is what people are after. I learned the number one reason companies don't renew a suite agreement is due to the cost of food. In many cases, your subcontractor is not going to discount their prices so we decided to raise prices but offer a food credit. In addition, we threw in a few more events and eliminated the additional fees. We found that the ability to hold a corporate meeting at the ballpark was a huge value.

Looking at the math, we increased suite prices approximately 25 percent, included additional events and a food cred, and gave them the ability to host a meeting at the ballpark. If they took advantage of everything, our costs would go up maybe 50 percent of that increase. For example, if we raised prices $10,000 and the client took advantage of every event and food credit, we would be hit with $5,000 in additional expenses. We ended up 50 percent on the good side, were able to sell more suites and were able to renew at a higher rate.

Rebuild With Wisdom

As I'm writing this chapter I'm in my 15th season of MiLB. I have been blessed to work for some very smart and savvy individuals and I've tried to learn as much as I can from them. I've also been very blessed to work for some great organizations that have allowed me to learn and try some new things. I'm guessing that 10 years from now I'll look back and chuckle as I read this chapter with 10 more years of wisdom. The reason why, we should keep learning and implementing what we learn.

That's my challenge to you. I hope that my experience in Sacramento to this point, joining a storied franchise in a great market yet not being afraid to implement necessary changes, encourages you.

To the current sports executive, please take time to step back, identify the direction of your franchise, and be courageous and strategic enough to implement necessary changes.

To the young sports professional just starting your career, don't be afraid to dream big and please understand how much you can learn from a mentor. Find several, be humble, and start soaking up their wisdom so that you will be prepared to lead others when the time comes.

To the aspiring college student, don't be afraid to work harder than the person next to you. Do an internship. Read books from those who have been successful. Network and establish your priorities.

To the sports fan, thank you! I am one of you and you are the reason I get to go to a ballpark every day for work! We wouldn't be here without you.

The process of rebuilding never stops. I encourage you to read the "GM's Handbook" repeatedly over the years. Doesn't matter if you are an account representative, a general manager or team president. There are nuggets of information in each chapter, helping you rebuild your brand. Because everyone is rebuilding in sports. From season to season, regardless of where they are in their career. So, start your rebuilding today, and be relentless in your pursuit of revenue generation.

Editor's Note: This chapter is provided by usage consent of its author, who retains copyright of this work, and serves as additional content not found in The GM's Handbook.
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EXTRA INNINGS

Quizzes

Syllabuses

Group Discussion Topics

Abramson Chapter Questions

  1. Following Lou Schwechheimer's advice about staying even keeled, your highest level of emotion should be ________ and your lowest should be _______

  1. 60 and 40 
  2. What are the keys to managing employees? 
  3. Know who they are, what they want, and who they want to be. Key to invest in them, engage their personalities, and push them to success 
  4. Aside from the fundamental aspects of management, such as revenue, expenses, operations, etc. what should your main focus be? 
  5. People in the organization and office culture 
  6. As a manager or supervisor, at what point are you no good to your organization and employees? 
  7. The moment you cease personal growth 
  8. Abramson cautions about getting into minor league baseball simply because of a love for the sport. Why? 
  9. Will be different than what you expect and can be desensitized to the game 
  10. What is the difference between a MLB General Manager and a MiLB GM? 
  11. MLB: player ops, scout players, statistics, etc. MiLB: sales, sponsorship, promotions, operations, etc. 
  12. How can staff energy towards promotions be affected by team building? 
  13. Everyone feels they are in a fun environment aiming for something bigger. Everyone is involved and fosters new ideas 
  14. What two skills are important in ascending the organizational ladder? 
  15. Mental organization and an organized presentation 
  16. What are the day responsibilities vs. night responsibilities for a GM? 
  17. Day: emails, meetings, deals, calls, etc. Night: pitching in, talking to fans, meeting with sponsors 
  18. What must you want to do if you truly desire to be a MiLB GM? 
  19. Supervise people 
  20. What do most millennia's that have worked for Abramson hope to get out of their position with the team? 
  21. Voice an opinion, be included in the process, share goals and a vision, have greater flexibility, and receive recognition and feedback

Birling Chapter Questions

  1. What is Birling's interview structure at job fairs for the Durham Bulls?

  1. Basic questions: days required, time commitments, etc. 
  2. Situational questions to understand how they handle customer service scenarios 
  3. Questions specific to game day position 
  4. What are two first impression traits that show someone may not be a good fit for an organization? 
  5. If they don't smile or possess negative body language 
  6. What are three things Birling learned from his mentors? 
  7. Never let anyone outwork you. Sometimes you need to play for a tie. Learn to delegate. Never be afraid to take risks. Empower your staff by treating them well. 
  8. In terms of security, what does Birling suggest? 
  9. Hiring outside companies who specialize in background checks and hiring uniformed officers 
  10. How can a mascot keep a team relevant during the offseason? 
  11. Mascot is at all community events; schools, charity events, parades, etc. 
  12. What is the "trick" some parents feel occurs with Kids Clubs?
  13. Feel tricked into buying tix because kid was given a free voucher 
  14. Birling believes a specific rewards strategy is a big reason why the Durham Bulls have the most mini-plan holders in the MiLB. What was this rewards strategy and what did they eliminate to reach it? 
  15. Eliminated giving out "X" amount of giveaways to first fans in door. Changed to giving these giveaways to fans who made a purchase of 8 or more games in a mini-plan.

Bostwick Chapter Questions

  1. What is value the net result of?

  1. Allocation of resources and what is received in return 
  2. Name some of the giveaway items discussed by Bostwick that can be used again and create value:
  3. Insulated lunch box, pillow case, baseball hat, winter hat, replica jersey, t-shirts 
  4. What two things do ticket purchasers want when it comes to weather impacted games that is key for all organizations to provide? 
  5. Transparency and consistency 
  6. Competition for attendance has moved from how many other teams play in your market. What competition do teams face today? 
  7. Hike, movie, restaurant, hanging at home

Conkel Chapter Questions

  1. How can you add value and finish deals on premium areas?

  1. Making buying process as smooth as possible, including items and experiences normal seats won't get such as: extra parking passes, promo items before they're given away, first pitches, on-field promos, mascot at office 
  2. What is the best and easiest way to get referrals for premium areas? 
  3. Take great care of current premium ticket holders 
  4. How can you eliminate sticker shock and those that aren't serious buyers of premium areas? 
  5. Give all info and prices up front 
  6. How does Conkel and the Iowa Cubs stage a suite for potential buyers and why do you feel this is effective? 
  7. Peanuts, popcorn, soda, beer, PA and TV of past games. Gives true sense of what a game will be like 
  8. Catering costs in premium areas are typically high. How can you insure most clients will not have problems with the price? 
  9. High quality food and drink that comes in large quantities and has great service 
  10. How can you utilize limited parking as an asset in premium inventory? 
  11. Give suite and club ticket holders parking passes closest to stadium
  12. What are some service touch points that can be utilized for perspective and current clients? 
  13. Premium ticket holder holiday party, premium ticket pick up party, drop off gifts to homes and businesses

Dittrich Chapter Questions

  1. When a team resorts to giving out free tickets, what does it show the fans in terms of value?

  1. Shows that it is a "worthless product" and has such poor value that you can't sell any tickets to it and people are foolish to buy tickets 
  2. What consumer dilemma is created when you offer free tickets? 
  3. Whether the event is worth your time to attend at all 
  4. Why do fewer people actually redeem a free or discounted ticket? 
  5. Why would they waste their time on something no one is willing to pay for? 
  6. What is the typical redemption rate on free tickets? 
  7. 10% 
  8. Dittrich has a "strikeout" policy when free tickets are handed out. According to Dittrich, what are the three strikes? 
  9. 1: partial and full season ticket holders feel they have wasted their money. 2: single game fans who can't afford games will just wait for the free nights. 3: Concessions decrease on free nights and per capita concessions goes down totally 
  10. Dittrich did use the "dreaded 'discount" on some group sales. When did he implement this discount? 
  11. If the company was buying weekday tickets 
  12. How can free tickets hurt corporate sponsorship? 
  13. Question value of sponsorship, if this was right for their money, if they are getting the ROI they want. 
  14. What is Dittrich's strategy of "making our product have value without the benefit of star-power?" 
  15. Quality sales effort, good communication while delivering the product, and delivering a good entertainment with quality and cleanliness.

Eiseman Chapter Questions

  1. What was the difference in fanbases for the Thunder (hockey) and the Stars (baseball)

  1. Thunder: transplants from Chicago and Detroit, as well as non-hockey fans wanting a good time. Stars: Older or young families from Las Vegas who had been there for generations 
  2. What are the economic differences between minor league baseball and minor league hockey? 
  3. MiLB controls the venue and can thus do outside venue, control parking, control food, etc. Minor League Hockey is just a tenant that competes for dates in the venue, don't have pouring rights, take on player payroll. 
  4. What is the mistake that comes from the 100 calls per day model? 
  5. It mistakes volume for results. If you call 100 people but don't get a meaningful convo out of it there is no point 
  6. At what dollar limit does Eiseman find it imperative to meet with people face to face? 
  7. $1,000 
  8. Why does adding more group sales reps not always equal more group sales? 
  9. There are only so many groups to cultivate sales from 
  10. Eiseman explains multiple ways to have meaningful contacts with account holders so that the only communication isn't looking for payment. What are some of the touch points listed?
  11. Spread team news before it is public knowledge, such as trade or coach change. Also positive news about the org 
  12. Name the two common signs that show a renewal isn't likely:
  13. Usage down, main clients not attending
  14. How can a GM get buy in and ownership from managers? 
  15. Show them how to run the business, keep everything transparent, give as much info as possible 
  16. How can "The Eiseman Ticket Renewal System" be of use to General Manager's? 
  17. Strategize what is required to win over some accounts that are deemed lost and target specific codes to focus on. 
  18. Eiseman discusses multiple ways to improve a season ticket holders odds of renewing. Name three of them:
  19. Seat visits with client, placing client on video board and taking and taking image, participate in half-inning promos, kids run on bases. Take pictures of all these events and send to season ticket holder 
  20. What commission package does Eiseman believe leads to taking care of existing business or finding a replacement through cultivation? 
  21. Make renewal and new business sales identical

Franks Chapter Questions

  1. What was a time you did not reach a goal, but were able to rebound from it, similar to Frank's first time applying to the Grizzlies? How can this serve as motivation moving forward?

  1. Open Ended
  2. When changing MLB affiliates, some local fans may believe the team is leaving. How did Franks try to show the Fresno community that the Grizzlies were not truly leaving once they became an Astros Affiliate? 
  3. TV and media, meet the Astros dinner, tons of PR. 
  4. What are the basics a team must stick to when changing affiliates? 
  5. Focus on family, fun, and affordable entertainment 
  6. How can you keep a minor league brand alive when an affiliate change occurs? 
  7. Commit to your market and don't get too wrapped up in the affiliate 
  8. When do you eliminate the value you bring to an organization? 
  9. When you marginalize your duties or eliminate what you're willing to do 
  10. In what ways did the Fresno Grizzlies treat their fans "two steps better than fair" with their new ownership? 
  11. $1.2 mil in renovations, drop draft beer to $5, and donate ballpark up to 100 times a year to non-profits 
  12. Many teams host "Hispanic Heritage" games to reach the cities Hispanic demographic. What are Frank's thoughts on Hispanic inclusion vs. outreach? 
  13. Including them in the community is better than outreach, as it shows the two are separate 
  14. The Fresno Grizzles ticket office sells full menu. How does Franks insure not every sales rep goes to sell premium? 
  15. Specific sales goals for each category

GColeman Chapter Questions

  1. What factors that cause organizational success are controlled by a MiLB GM?

  1. Hire talented, creative, and hard-working people. Make ballpark welcoming, treat attendees as home guests, make experience so fun they want to return ASAP. 
  2. How can promotions give a perception of scarcity to fans, despite the season being 70 games long? 
  3. Only one game may feature a specific promotion or specific entertainer they want to see 
  4. Coleman discusses four different categories of promotions. Name and define all four:
  5. Price Promotion: discounts that create value for all and don't devalue a product. Stay away from discounted tix, unless the discount is overridden by sponsors and the price of season tix is still better. Mainly food or beer 
  6. Value-added promotions: hat, t-shirt, jerseys, bobble-head, player autographs, fire works, live music. Create value to ticket. Carry cost so there must be an increase in sales from the promo 
  7. Tapping into tribes: Targeting specific segments of people, ex. Dog owners, movie fans, music people, etc. 
  8. Popular Culture Movements: events that are currently popular, movies and licensed characters, deflategate, cancer movement, etc. 
  9. Coleman lists some of the local competition the Erie SeaWolves battle against. What are some of the competition sources and how do they combat them? 
  10. Competition: community festivals, holidays, graduation, HS football. Combat: complement these events with a community event or market to a local audience not likely to attend the competing event 
  11. Name the six guiding questions the SeaWolves consider before selecting promoitons:
  12. Does the promotion encourage fans to purchase more sooner
  13. Does the promotion have broad appeal 
  14. Does the promo have deep appeal 
  15. Does the promo provide more value than the price of admission
  16. Does the promo provide a shareable experience? (in terms of social media)
  17. What's the risk of not doing this promotion
  18. Name three of the tools and options teams can utilize to introduce and highlight their promotions: 
  19. Press release, press conference, social media, website, advertising
  20. Where can minor league teams look to draw inspiration from while planning promotions? 
  21. Dates and holidays, movies and TV, pop culture anniversaries, local celebrities and anniversaries, causes, current events and trends, 
  22. Coleman lists off a variety of lessons that he has learned throughout his career building promotional schedules. Which lessons stick out most for you to understand and learn from? 
  23. Take risks to get rewards, some promos don't yield results, focus resources where it counts, say it again, promos are for the fans, borrow from other teams

Hudson Chapter Questions

  1. In Hudson's first season with San Bernadino, what balance did he believe would best hit their cost numbers?

  1. Minimizing waste as much as possible and raising prices 
  2. In Hudson's nacho example, how did they make sure they still had specialty items at each concessions location but still managed to minimize waste? 
  3. Instead of super nacho with steak or chicken, use pulled pork if already used in that location 
  4. How did Hudson's event notes help limit waste? 
  5. It gave projections as to how much to prepare rather than cooks just going based off of what they think they will need or what happened the night before 
  6. What are the four ways that Hudson accounts for food? 
  7. Sales, spoilage, comp, or waste 
  8. How does Hudson make sure he is getting the most competitive price from food suppliers? 
  9. Update inventory price sheets once a month with new invoice price. Once or twice a year looking at pricing from other supplies 
  10. In entertainment food and beverage, what is the best way to show value to customers? 
  11. Through quality, not necessarily price 
  12. Hudson believes there is only a vocal minority who complain about the concessions prices and that most people who attend an entertainment venue expect to pay a little more for concessions and can accept that. Because of this, a lower quality product at a lower price point is not always the best option. What does Hudson believe patrons absolutely don't want when visiting a concessions stand? 
  13. Pay a little more and still receive a subpar product 
  14. According to Hudson, what is the best combination of staffing for concession stands? 
  15. NPO's, constant hired and trained staff, and staffing agencies 
  16. What is the key to keeping and maintaining quality non-profit groups to staff concessions stands? 
  17. Pay them well, be fair with them, and make sure they are making money in the process 
  18. What did Hudson implement to make sure his concessions stands had less turnover and also received more referrals of new staff to hire? 
  19. Raising wages $.50-$1 above minimum wage 
  20. In sports and entertainment concessions, what is the general goal for the amount of registers compared to seats? 
  21. 1 register per 100-125 seats

Byrnes Chapter Questions

  1. In order to be a successful manager, what order should your priorities be?

  1. Focus on best interest for the organization, then your team, then yourself. 
  2. In Byrnes 10 years of managing people in Minor League Baseball, what is the best thing you can provide for an employee? 
  3. Perspective 
  4. What should minor league baseball always be about creating? 
  5. An experience for fans to enjoy with friends and family 
  6. When hiring, Byrnes discusses how candidates must be a great character, culture, and professional fit. What is the OKC Dodgers hiring process to ensure each candidate fits these traits? 
  7. Teamworkonline and local/professional networks for candidates. Two separate people do screening and phone interviews before going to hiring manager. Then brought into Skype or in-person interview where they interact with many people who they'd work with. 
  8. Byrnes believes it is crucial to make new hires excited to work for the team. Once someone accepts a position, how does she do this? 
  9. Package overnighted with team info, info on city, relocation guide, letter with info. Emails from leadership about how excited they are to have them work. Once they arrive they receive first week schedules, have a lunch, sit down with team prez, meetings with department heads and a presentation on org. Have desk fully prepared with business cards and other essentials. 
  10. How does Byrnes believe you can truly help an employee that wants "more"? 
  11. Ask questions, learn of intentions, and have a good understanding of why someone wants something 
  12. If a manager is considering terminating an employee, what do you need to consider of yourself as a leader? 
  13. Either you made a bad hiring decision, the person wasn't trained or managed effectively, or they didn't understand the reality of the position they were hired for. 
  14. How much time in your day should you allow for each person you directly manage? 
  15. 30 mins 
  16. What are Byrnes 5 key things to building more perspective in order to be a great manager? 
  17. Remember not everyone is like you 
  18. Perspective is key
  19. If your employees aren't doing their job, it's your fault 
  20. Your performance directly impacts the overall goals of the org 
  21. Never ask someone to do something you wouldn't

Lorenz Chapter Questions

  1. How does ticket sales turn into a "team win" for the organization?

  1. Without people in the gate, corporate sponsors won't renew, merchandise and concessions goes down and parking won't make much
  2. Why does Lorenz believe it is important for a sales person to be a part of their community? 
  3. Makes you different, gets you in the community and in front of people, shows you're a good person 
  4. When employees decide to leave a team, how can you make sure a client feels comfortable with the transition? 
  5. Having the client have multiple interactions with a variety of front office staff members so they know they'll be taken care of 
  6. The Fort Wayne host a high-end picnic and networking event for their corporate sponsors. They also invite 25-50 prospective clients to this event. How do the current clients do the selling to the prospective clients? 
  7. Meet current sponsors and hear first hand the benefit of being a sponsor 
  8. Name some of the "little things" Lorenz discusses that helps make a renewal inevitable:
  9. Hand-written thank you's, t-shirts and hats to clients kids, get them down for BP, give a pre-game dugout or field tour
  10. Lorenz loves giving stadium tours. What are some of the opportunities created when giving a client or prospective client a stadium tour? 
  11. Introduce team members in a friendly fashion, friendly sales and buying atmosphere 
  12. Lorenz compares the sales process to dating. In what ways are they similar? 
  13. No one closes a deal in the first meeting, or if it does it most likely won't last. Long term plays with face to face meetings
  14. Lorenz believes meeting a client face to face at the ballpark is important for a first meeting. What are some of the "sweat equity" things that should be done during one of these meetings? 
  15. Chef prepares ballpark staple for lunch, welcome sign on scoreboard for client with name and company name, listen to what is wanted, facility tour with interactions with staff, don't offer one-size-fits all options, eat overlooking the field 
  16. What are issues that can arise if a sales representative doesn't ask about budget early in the relationship? 
  17. Price is either too high, or so low they question the value of the partnership 
  18. Lorenz compares retail to selling sponsorship, just at a smaller level. What is the attempted offer to clients for both positions? 
  19. The ability to create a buying decision that resonates with the consumer making the choice of what they want by speaking their needs and securing their transaction immediately by exceeding their expectations of those needs
  20. Once a company signs a corporate sponsorship deal with your team, what are some things you should do to engage them and welcome them to the team, and can help lead to a renewal once the contract is up? 
  21. Have owner, president, or GM write a handwritten thank you welcoming, welcome on social media, send pic of signage being installed, send a pic of installed sign, deliver a professionally taken framed photo of the signage, hand deliver season tix, give hats, shirts, and peanuts to the office, 
  22. Name a few of the "unexpected" touch points Lorenz utilizes with clients:
  23. Deliver donuts, cookies, team-branded calendars, team picture frames, have mascot appear at office, invite to golf, eat breakfast, send birthday cards, holiday cards, send congrats for other deals 
  24. Define Lorenz's acronym P.E.A.R.L. and discuss what each letter means to you:
  25. P: Passion
  26. E: Engagement
  27. A: Attitude
  28. R: Relationship
  29. L: Leader

Olerud Chapter Questions

  1. What is the best way to build buzz around a rehab start with your fanbase?

  1. All media available: social media, press release, e-blast, web post, direct client emails. Get on radio and newspapers 
  2. The Potomac Nationals are only based 17 miles from their parent club, the Washington Nationals, which Olreud calls a double edged sword. What are the positives and what are the negatives in being this close? 
  3. Pros: tap into local market, promote farm system, big rehab starts. Cons: when scheduled on same dates, Washington got the fans 
  4. What are some of the creative ways a minor league team can promote that major league teams can't? 
  5. New logos and name changes, allowing fans to vote on these changes, extra use of mascot 
  6. One of the RailRiders most successful nights are military appreciation nights. What does Olerud suggest doing when hosting one of these nights? 
  7. Form partnerships with local military groups, military discounts, honor specific service men and women
  8. Food and beverage deals have good value in the minor-league model. How can you use these nights to gather information and educate the "casual fan"?
  9. Get info and data on the type of people coming to these nights, as well as educating on value of season tickets
  10. Fireworks nights are always important promotions for MiLB teams. How do they help generate ticket sales and maximize revenue? 
  11. More pre-sold and walk up sales, people stay in seats the whole game so they spend more money 
  12. Olerud believes bobble heads are still a "magic bullet" in terms of making an impact on attendance, but they do not move the attendance needle entirely on their own. What other promotions does he add to bobble head nights that make them a big success? 
  13. High profile bobble head of former player, have them there, sign autographs and bobble heads, put these players in "bobble head HOF" and unveil a 7 foot bobble head of them

Rojas Chapter Questions

  1. Rojas believes that finding and knowing your passion is extremely important. What is your passion and why do you want to work in sports?

  1. Open ended
  2. Rojas makes a list ways a person could help a team excel while applying their passion. What are they and which apply most to you? 
  3. Business leaders to see opportunities and help our teams reach overall business objectives 
  4. PR staff, creative force behind websites, souvenir programs to press 
  5. Take mascot, players, and staff into community and create a positive impact 
  6. Creative and artistic minds in marketing and social media 
  7. People who love to sell, reach goals, and fill stadium 
  8. Organized and detailed finance staff 
  9. Rojas explains that telling your goals to work in sports to your family can help you make connections. Make a list of family members you can share your goals with who can help you reach your goals:
  10. Open ended
  11. Rojas' first job in sports was an usher with the Pawtucket Red Sox. While some may not consider an usher as a very important position, why does Rojas consider it an important role? 
  12. Front line of the team, true reflection of the org, can be the only team rep a fan meets
  13. Rojas gives a good insight into everything involved in being a General Sales Manager. List and explain what he was responsible for in this position:
  14. Personal Sales- selling tix 
  15. Team Sales- oversee sales team, setting goals, create and implement strategies, implementing sales tactics
  16. Administrative: interns, finding diverse employees, hire and fire, hire ushers 
  17. Special Events: oversee special events that occur at ballpark. Examples: star wars day, ladies night, "Baseball in Education" days, Bicycle day giveaway, Back to school-back pack giveaway and celebration, PawSox 5K
  18. Hispanic Heritage nights are very popular in Minor League Baseball. How did Rojas build these nights with the Pawtucket Red Sox? 
  19. Reach to Latino community organizers, Spanish speaking djs, Latino newspapers, advertising on Latino TV/Radio, bring in telenovela personalities, Latin food and drink, Latino on field performances 
  20. Rojas and the entire Baby Cakes organization had a lot of criticism over their name change from the Zephyrs. After it was all said and done, what were some of the benefits that came from the name change? 
  21. 500 guests at unveiling event with local and national celebs, big national discussion, won logo mania content, merchandise up and sent around the nation

Shelton Chapter Questions

  1. What is the equation for ticket revenue?

  1. X Sales Reps (Y Attrition Rate) X Dollars per rep = Ticket Revenue 
  2. What are the 3 key tenants to Shelton's Business to Consumer sales program? Explain each:
  3. Begin Season ticket campaign early: the earlier you go on sale with season tickets, the more you will sell. The earlier you are also helps number 2 happen 
  4. Get face to face: Meet with them face to face and give a good experience to help close the sale 
  5. The Exploding Ticket: offer the rest of the current season for free in exchange for signing up the entire next season 
  6. Shelton and his sales staff held an arena tour event for potential season ticket clients. What was included in these email and how did they make the pitch after the tour? 
  7. Locker room, weight room, offices, bench. Take up to presidents suite and have them pick where they would want to sit. Move them to that location and paint the picture of season tix there in pitch 
  8. What is the difference between Shelton's "exploding ticket" compared to "papering" discussed by Dittrich? 
  9. Shelton's ensures there is a sale for a full season where papering just gives tickets and no one buys in return 
  10. Describe the DISC Assessment utilized by utilized by Shelton when hiring sales reps. Which letter does he believe will "ask for the sale every time"?
  11. D: Dominance
  12. I: Influence
  13. S: Steadiness
  14. C: Compliance 
  15. Best sales: D
  16. What is the motivation of and "individualistic" worker and what is the motivation of a "utilitarian" worker? 
  17. Individualistic: leader board motivation 
  18. Utilitarian: money motivation and control of earning potential

Taylor Chapter Questions

  1. Group sales is not about "an outing." What are group sales reps actually selling?

  1. An event that is a benefit to them 
  2. Taylor trains his group sales staff to not necessarily look for specific categories as prospects in group sales, but rather draw group sales circles around people they meet. What is the benefit of that? 
  3. Everyone is in a circle of influence of at least 10 people you don't know. Prospect with these groups and the new people 
  4. Many teams focus on low price to sell to groups, while Taylor wants the account representatives to supersize groups as much as possible. What are some ways they try to do that? 
  5. Ask how to bring out hundreds of people, bring out for multiple games
  6. Taylor tries to reward his group sales people to show appreciation. Name some of the rewards that are offered: 
  7. Salary, commission, and tiered bonus structures for sales achievement, contests, prizes, time off, nice meals
  8. What is the great leading question that Taylor believes can generate a group sales effort? 
  9. Who else would like to have as much fun at the ballpark as you are? 
  10. According to Taylor, groups care less about pricing and more about the experience they receive at your event. What are some ways that Taylor gives a great experience to groups? 
  11. Hold flag on field for national anthem, create tunnel for team to run through, take field with team, post-game opportunity with team, only ones on field after game to play catch or run bases 
  12. What is the job of the group sales rep when helping the group leader plan their event? 
  13. Make it as easy as possible to manage, build relationships, and find alternate points of contact in the group 
  14. When appropriate, Taylor has group sales staff tag along with the mascot at community functions. Why does he do that? 
  15. Mascot creates a fun, warm, connection with the community, then asking if they have thought about brining their group out to a game

Venuto Chapter Questions

  1. Why does Venuto state you should hire diverse people in terms of personality and background? What is the benefit of this?

  1. Greater wealth of past experiences, better brainstorming, creativity, and collective attitude 
  2. When hiring even an entry-level position, how many interviews, phone and in person, does Venuto conduct? 
  3. 2 separate phone interviews with 2 different people a face to face 
  4. What are the 3 parts of an interview and how much time should be left for part three? 
  5. Scour prior work history, share info on the company, let candidate ask their questions 
  6. 15% of interview for interviewee questions 
  7. What are ways to show if a candidate believes the position their interviewing for is "just a job"
  8. Done research, ask team specific questions on market, team, personnel, or ownership 
  9. Name the three valuable lessons that working in a restaurant provides to candidates hoping to work in front office sports: 
  10. Serve others and have great customer service, work as a team to achieve, meet small deadlines 
  11. How can a car be an indicator of how a candidate will be in the workplace? 
  12. The worse the car at an entry level position shows the person is not entitled and most likely will be a better employee 
  13. What are some of the interview red flags that are discussed by Venuto? 
  14. Sense of entitlement, not believing what you believe, not enough examples in work experience, not enough personal examples, not enough quality questions, negativity about former employer, not dressing up 
  15. How many of a candidates recommendations should positively check out and how many of the recommendations should be a former supervisor? 
  16. 2 recommendations check out and 1 is a former supervisor 
  17. What two reasons for promoting from within stand out for Venuto? 
  18. 1. Employees know you will look for their growth and development and will thus stay loyal. 2. You know what you're getting 
  19. How can you remove an underachiever in a department without terminating? 
  20. Reassign to a new role 
  21. What is the question you must ask before firing someone and in which scenario can you not terminate an employee? 
  22. Ask: is it a will or skill issue? If it's skill you must provide the training for them to develop that skill 
  23. Explain the appropriate process of firing an employee: 
  24. Understand state rules and laws on firing. Document mistakes with dates. Create performance improvement plan (PIP), bring to employee and explain what they are not doing correctly, show them how to correct these issues and explain they must start doing correctly now. Give the employee a date of when improvement should be complete, have employee sign PIP, and explain termination could be on the table if improvement is not completed 
  25. When is this process of firing an employee not needed? 
  26. If an employee does something unethical 
  27. How can you work to save the dignity of a person you are firing? 
  28. Don't discuss with anyone on staff, especially peers. Keep conversation minimal, tough but kind. Have a witness present 
  29. What are the three options when a person leaves your staff and what must you be sure of with each option? 
  30. Let person stay the full two weeks: make sure they continue good work and are positive during this time 
  31. Allow the person to leave right away: understand burden on staff in taking over the work 
  32. Allow the person to leave right away and pay two weeks: be sure of burden on staff and budget 
  33. How does the philosophy of "you couldn't get promoted unless you had someone ready to take your role" build staff development and office culture? 
  34. Meant a person had to train and develop someone in order for you to get promoted. Helped top employees become teachers, growers, delegators, and developers 
  35. How can a manager help end gossip in the workplace? 
  36. Have high expectations that: all employees act with a strong representation of the company at all times, and letting employees have opinions on non-work matters such as celebrity news 
  37. Venuto likes the idea of putting "time limits" on how long an account rep can hold onto a prospective account. What is involved in these "time limits"? 
  38. After account rep first contacts prospective client a time limit begins before they have to make a sales pitch, followed by a timeframe to close the account. If the account says no or the time limit runs out, the account moves to a new account rep 
  39. What is the benefits of stretch goals in sales? 
  40. Provide a base goal, then give a stretch goal for the sales rep to hit and if they do they receive a higher bonus or commission 
  41. What information and in what ways should you communicate with your supervisors? When should you communicate good news? 
  42. Find what they want to know and how they want to receive the info. Do just that when giving info. Always communicate good news when you can as people love hearing good news 
  43. Goals should be challenging, yet realistic. What occurs if goals aren't realistic? What occurs if goals aren't challenging? 
  44. Aren't realistic: feeling of inadequacy and hopelessness 
  45. Aren't challenging: staff won't grow and develop 
  46. How should a manager handle individual goals vs. rewards? 
  47. Individual goals are private with manager while rewards should be public to encourage others to do well 
  48. According to Venuto, what leads to staff knowing what is expected of them and having a strong desire to achieve? 
  49. Consistency in goal setting, goal evaluating, accountability, and rewards

Course Syllabus - "Sports Careers"

This course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sports professionals using "The GM's Handbook" as a resource.

Course Materials:

Kirby, T (2018). The MiLB GM's Handbook. Kirby Publishing; Lacey, Wa.

Bradberry, T (2009). Emotional Intelligence 2.0. Talent Smart; San Diego, Ca.

Patterson, K (2011). Crucial Conversations. McGraw-Hill; New York, Ny.

Supplemental Text:

APA manual:

This introductory fall course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sport, recreation, and health administrators and managers. By introducing the students to the significant literature, key methodologies, and major questions currently confronting leaders and managers, the course seeks to develop the basic skills necessary for success.

This class will help students:

\-- Understand concepts and functions of management related to various sectors of the sport industry

\-- Appreciate the components involved in organizational theories, managerial conceptualizations, and human resource management of sport organizations.

\-- Explain various definitions in sport management such as leadership, sport marketing, sponsorship, economics, finance, budgeting, decision making, and experiential learning;

\-- Develop an understanding of the relationship between physical education, recreation, and service professions as they influence and affect recreational sport programming and administration.

\-- Develop an awareness of problems, issues, and trends in today's sports administration.

\-- Establish a sound research background in the sport administration knowledge base.

\-- Plan, lead, organize, and evaluate sport events;

\-- Identify main issues in ethics, diversity, liability and risk management, sport law, and facility management in sports.

Sports Careers – Fall Semester

Week 1 - Discovering Your Baseball Why

Week 2 - Create Your Own Opportunities

Week 3 - Never Give Up On Your Goal

Week 4 - From Bottom To Top

Week 5 - Retention Means Reinvestment

Week 6 - Respect The Process

Week 7 - The Relationship Cost of Relocation – KL Wombacher

Week 8 – Emotional Intelligence 2.0: "Hiring Employees"

Week 9 – Crucial Conversations: "Managing Others"

Week 10 – Final Exam

Course Syllabus - "Sports Careers"

This course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sports professionals using "The GM's Handbook" as a resource.

Course Materials:

Kirby, T (2018). The MiLB GM's Handbook. Kirby Publishing; Lacey, Wa.

Bradberry, T (2009). Emotional Intelligence 2.0. Talent Smart; San Diego, Ca.

Patterson, K (2011). Crucial Conversations. McGraw-Hill; New York, Ny.

Supplemental Text:

APA manual:

This semester course is designed to prepare graduate/undergraduate students as future sport, recreation, and health administrators and managers. By introducing the students to the significant literature, key methodologies, and major questions currently confronting leaders and managers, the course seeks to develop the basic skills necessary for success.

This class will help students:

\-- Understand concepts and functions of management related to various sectors of the sport industry

\-- Appreciate the components involved in organizational theories, managerial conceptualizations, and human resource management of sport organizations.

\-- Explain various definitions in sport management such as leadership, sport marketing, sponsorship, economics, finance, budgeting, decision making, and experiential learning;

\-- Develop an understanding of the relationship between physical education, recreation, and service professions as they influence and affect recreational sport programming and administration.

\-- Develop an awareness of problems, issues, and trends in today's sports administration.

\-- Establish a sound research background in the sport administration knowledge base.

\-- Plan, lead, organize, and evaluate sport events;

\-- Identify main issues in ethics, diversity, liability and risk management, sport law, and facility management in sports.

Sports Careers – Fall Semester

Week 1 - Discovering Your Baseball Why

Week 2 - Create Your Own Opportunities

Week 3 - Never Give Up On Your Goal

Week 4 - From Bottom To Top

Week 5 - The Supervisor Grind of Adapt or Die

Week 6 - Slow to Hire, Quick To Fire

Week 7 - Retention Means Reinvestment

Week 8 - Respect The Process

Week 9 - Creating A Friendly Vibe – Tim Volk

Week 10 - May Your Rebuilding Be Relentless – Chip Maxson

Week 11 – Emotional Intelligence 2.0: "Hiring Employees"

Week 12 – Crucial Conversations: "Managing Others"

Week 13 – Leadership Concepts For Sports Business

Week 14 – Career Goal Setting

Week 15 – Final Exam

Course Syllabus - "Sports Marketing"

This course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sports professionals using "The GM's Handbook" as a resource.

Course Materials:

Kirby, T (2018). The MiLB GM's Handbook. Kirby Publishing; Lacey, Wa.

Veeck, B (2009). Thirty Tons A Day. Ivan R. Dee; Chicago, Il.

Patterson, K (2011). Crucial Conversations. McGraw-Hill; New York, Ny.

Supplemental Text:

APA manual:

This continuing winter course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sport, recreation, and health administrators and managers. By introducing the students to the significant literature, key methodologies, and major questions currently confronting leaders and managers, the course seeks to develop the basic skills necessary for success.

This class will help students:

\-- Understand concepts and functions of management related to various sectors of the sport industry

\-- Appreciate the components involved in organizational theories, managerial conceptualizations, and human resource management of sport organizations.

\-- Explain various definitions in sport management such as leadership, sport marketing, sponsorship, economics, finance, budgeting, decision making, and experiential learning;

\-- Develop an understanding of the relationship between physical education, recreation, and service professions as they influence and affect recreational sport programming and administration.

\-- Develop an awareness of problems, issues, and trends in today's sports administration.

\-- Establish a sound research background in the sport administration knowledge base.

\-- Plan, lead, organize, and evaluate sport events;

\-- Identify main issues in ethics, diversity, liability and risk management, sport law, and facility management in sports.

Sports Management – Winter

Week 1 - The Supervisor Grind of Adapt or Die

Week 2 - Slow to Hire, Quick To Fire

Week 3 - Creating A Friendly Vibe – Tim Volk

Week 4 - Selling Baseball Isn't Enough

Week 5 - Free: The Foulest Word of All

Week 6 - Moving The Attendance Needle

Week 7 - Work With What You Got – Allan Benavides

Week 8 – Crucial Conversations: "Managing Others"

Week 9 – Thirty Tons A Day: "Venue Management"

Week 10 – Final Exam

Course Syllabus - "Sports Marketing"

This course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sports professionals using "The GM's Handbook" as a resource.

Course Materials:

Kirby, T (2018). The MiLB GM's Handbook. Kirby Publishing; Lacey, Wa.

Simmons, G (2014). Me, Inc. Dey Street Books; New York, Ny.

Veeck, B (2009). Thirty Tons A Day. Ivan R. Dee; Chicago, Il.

Supplemental Text:

APA manual:

This continuing semester course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sport, recreation, and health administrators and managers. By introducing the students to the significant literature, key methodologies, and major questions currently confronting leaders and managers, the course seeks to develop the advanced skills necessary for success.

This class will help students:

\-- Understand concepts and functions of management related to various sectors of the sport industry

\-- Appreciate the components involved in organizational theories, managerial conceptualizations, and human resource management of sport organizations.

\-- Explain various definitions in sport management such as leadership, sport marketing, sponsorship, economics, finance, budgeting, decision making, and experiential learning;

\-- Develop an understanding of the relationship between physical education, recreation, and service professions as they influence and affect recreational sport programming and administration.

\-- Develop an awareness of problems, issues, and trends in today's sports administration.

\-- Establish a sound research background in the sport administration knowledge base.

\-- Plan, lead, organize, and evaluate sport events;

\-- Identify main issues in ethics, diversity, liability and risk management, sport law, and facility management in sports.

Sports Revenue – Spring Semester

Week 1 - Passion Creates Brand Advocates

Week 2 - Feeding Fan Ballpark Experiences

Week 3 - Market Your Assets Off

Week 4 - Service Clients Like A Madman

Week 5 - Enhancing Product Value

Week 6 - Sell Events Not Outings

Week 7 - Selling Baseball Isn't Enough

Week 8 - Free: The Foulest Word of All

Week 9 - Moving The Attendance Needle

Week 10 - The Relationship Cost of Relocation – KL Wombacher

Week 11 - Work With What You Got – Allan Benavides

Week 12 – Me, Inc: "Running A Business"

Week 13 – Thirty Tons A Day: "Venue Management"

Week 14 – Creating A Sports Marketing Plan

Week 15 – Final Exam

Course Syllabus - "Sports Management"

This course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sports professionals using "The GM's Handbook" as a resource.

Course Materials:

Kirby, T (2018). The MiLB GM's Handbook. Kirby Publishing; Lacey, Wa.

Simmons, G (2014). Me, Inc. Dey Street Books; New York, Ny.

Patterson, K (2011). Crucial Conversations. McGraw-Hill; New York, Ny.

Supplemental Text:

APA manual:

This continuing winter course is designed to prepare undergraduate/graduate students as future sport, recreation, and health administrators and managers. By introducing the students to the significant literature, key methodologies, and major questions currently confronting leaders and managers, the course seeks to develop the basic skills necessary for success.

This class will help students:

\-- Understand concepts and functions of management related to various sectors of the sport industry

\-- Appreciate the components involved in organizational theories, managerial conceptualizations, and human resource management of sport organizations.

\-- Explain various definitions in sport management such as leadership, sport marketing, sponsorship, economics, finance, budgeting, decision making, and experiential learning;

\-- Develop an understanding of the relationship between physical education, recreation, and service professions as they influence and affect recreational sport programming and administration.

\-- Develop an awareness of problems, issues, and trends in today's sports administration.

\-- Establish a sound research background in the sport administration knowledge base.

\-- Plan, lead, organize, and evaluate sport events;

\-- Identify main issues in ethics, diversity, liability and risk management, sport law, and facility management in sports.

Sports Management – Winter

Week 1 - The Supervisor Grind of Adapt or Die

Week 2 - Slow to Hire, Quick To Fire

Week 3 - Creating A Friendly Vibe – Tim Volk

Week 4 - Selling Baseball Isn't Enough

Week 5 - Free: The Foulest Word of All

Week 6 - Moving The Attendance Needle

Week 7 - Work With What You Got – Allan Benavides

Week 8 – Crucial Conversations: "Managing Others"

Week 9 – Me, Inc: "Running A Business"

Week 10 – Final Exam

Group Discussion Questions For Each Chapter

  1. What did you like most about this chapter?
  2. What did you like least about this chapter?
  3. What feelings did this chapter evoke for you?
  4. What did you already know about this chapter's subject before you read it in this book?
  5. What new things did you learn from this chapter?
  6. What questions do you still have?
  7. What aspects of the chapter author's story do you most relate to?
  8. Were there points where thought they shared too much?
  9. Why do you think this chapter author chose to tell this story?

Group Discussion Questions For The GM's Handbook

  1. What value does the book place on relationships?
  2. How did the book define leadership?
  3. What was importance did the book place on personal goals?

## Contents

  1. Book Information
  2. Tim Volk
  3. KL Wombacher
  4. Chip Maxson
  5. Academic

## Landmarks

  1. Cover

