The importance of targets in sport sales- Adrian Blackburn

June 28, 2012

In life there is a saying that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. The importance of a sales team knowing exactly what is expected of them should never be underestimated.
Targets and objectives must be perfectly clear at all times. Sales people can often be busy, but not selling. This isn’t to say what they are doing is valuable it just means that if it isn’t selling it isn’t their job.
In a busy sales environment, sales boards should be visible at every turn in the office. When a sales person makes a call they should know exactly where they are in terms of individual and team targets, which games need attention and which games are coming up. This will remove all excuses.
Every call made should contribute to the achievement of these objectives and every thought they have should be focused on getting to this point. As the countdown to success continues the reward that motivates them should be obvious and be getting ever closer, whether its money, holidays, prizes or simply a pat on the back. They should be able to visualise success.
One common problem with being busy is that you’re more likely to do the wrong thing. This will lead to missed targets. Once again, busy sales people can often think that missing a target is acceptable, as long as they’re busy. However, they must take ownership and responsibility for prioritising their workload and be assertive when asked to do something that doesn’t contribute to success.
With the last point in mind the motto should always be – “What does personal and team success look like? What do I need to do to get there? What do I get if I do?”
When a salesperson doesn’t know what is expected of them, they don’t know if they have succeeded. This is where the problem of being busy makes them feel like they’re achieving.
Since I joined Bolton Wanderers, making this simple change has ensured that every member of the sales team is fully aware of what is expected of them and that they are responsible for delivering for every fixture or event.  They know each line of the expected departmental revenue and what is their expected contribution to that figure. Sponsorship and advertising sales have never been higher, which means it is really working.  No longer can anyone assume success without actually delivering it.

In life there is a saying that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. The importance of a sales team knowing exactly what is expected of them should never be underestimated. 
Targets and objectives must be perfectly clear at all times. Sales people can often be busy, but not selling. This isn’t to say what they are doing is valuable it just means that if it isn’t selling it isn’t their job.

In a busy sales environment, sales boards should be visible at every turn in the office. When a sales person makes a call they should know exactly where they are in terms of individual and team targets, which games need attention and which games are coming up. This will remove all excuses.

Every call made should contribute to the achievement of these objectives and every thought they have should be focused on getting to this point. As the countdown to success continues the reward that motivates them should be obvious and be getting ever closer, whether its money, holidays, prizes or simply a pat on the back. They should be able to visualise success.

One common problem with being busy is that you’re more likely to do the wrong thing. This will lead to missed targets. Once again, busy sales people can often think that missing a target is acceptable, as long as they’re busy. However, they must take ownership and responsibility for prioritising their workload and be assertive when asked to do something that doesn’t contribute to success. 

With the last point in mind the motto should always be – “What does personal and team success look like? What do I need to do to get there? What do I get if I do?”  

When a salesperson doesn’t know what is expected of them, they don’t know if they have succeeded. This is where the problem of being busy makes them feel like they’re achieving.

Since I joined Bolton Wanderers, making this simple change has ensured that every member of the sales team is fully aware of what is expected of them and that they are responsible for delivering for every fixture or event.  They know each line of the expected departmental revenue and what is their expected contribution to that figure. Sponsorship and advertising sales have never been higher, which means it is really working.

No longer can anyone assume success without actually delivering it.

About Adrian Blackburn:

Adrian Blackburn is the Head of Corporate Relations for Bolton Wanderers FC. Adrian is responsible for all business to business sales including matchday hospitality, sponsorship and advertising.  He has worked at BWFC for five years and also held a similar position with The Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club.  

Adding experience in the Financial Services sector he worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland as Product Development Manager for their £2 billion insurance division with a real focus on innovation with brands such as Tesco Finance, Virgin Money and Natwest.

In 2003 he graduated from Leeds Business School having studied for an MBA.

Adrian Blackburn’s isportconnect-profile-widget