Selling Smart in a Down Economy
Many wise people have said that you cannot allow things to affect you in which you have no control. Easier said that done with the poor economic state that sports and entertainment organizations operate in as we head into 2009. You are competing for an ever-shrinking dollar. Many people just don’t have disposable income right now. And if they do, they are scared that their job could be the next one cut. What can you do to keep butts in your seats?
In a perfect world, you would be able to allocate more money into sales and marketing since it will take marketing to more companies and more fans to get the same results. Unfortunately that is not always an option since a bad economy means that a lot of budgets are cut: less money for sales and marketing, staff cuts, etc. Most of you have no control over how much budget you are going to get. You have to get lean and mean. You have to work smarter than ever. What does it mean to work smarter? The answer to that can be very broad. Let me tackle the direct marketing side since that is where my expertise lies.
1. The first key to working smarter is being extremely focused on who your best prospects are.
I’m not talking about the educated guesses and category recommendations that we have been doing with you over the past 10 years. I’m talking about taking a full inventory of the consumers that are buying from you and perhaps more importantly, your business customers. This practice is referred to as data mining, customer analytics, marketing research and client analysis. It begins by matching your customer files against national business and consumer databases. When you match a customer account to the business database, key data can be appended/added to your customer file: type of business, size of business, hq/branch/independent, year started, etc. The same thing can be done with your consumer accounts: demographics, lifestyle clustering (Personicx, PRISM, etc.) and Disposable Spending Index (DSI) score.
After the processing is finished, reports can be generated that show exactly how your business and consumer accounts break down. The goal is to recognize the segments that you are having the most success within and increase your penetration. There are plenty more prospects out there that have the same profile. These are the companies and individuals that you should be focusing on. Sending direct mail and calling on prospects that look just like your existing buyers will help you cut down on waste. You will be able to send out a lot less direct mail which saves you printing and postage. Your sales staff will also be a lot more focused and efficient on their sales calls—quality over quantity.
The reason that I recommended a focus on businesses is because it is a lot easier for a business to find budget than it is for a household to find disposable income for entertainment. A company still needs to entertain their clients and reward their staff regardless of the economy.
2. You are going to have to sell more partial plans to get the same season ticket equivalents.
That means down-selling rather than losing a customer completely. It is also important that you have a nice variety of partial plan options so a fan can find the package that fits them best. This same scenario is going on in the luxury suite market. Suite sharing is very much a reality. The same suite that one company leased for 10 years now takes 10 companies to fill each and every year.
The great thing that makes down selling OK is that the universe is bigger for companies and individuals that can afford a partial plan. There are a lot more potential customers that can write a $750 check than a $5,000 check.
3. Name capturing of anonymous fans is also critical.
These unknown fans can make up over 60% of your audience. These people are your best prospects for ticket packages since they have experience with your product. I’m sure you would much rather mail and/or call known fans than relying on buying a list based on the demographic profile of your fan base, sports magazine subscribers, etc.
Here are some ways to effectively name capture at events:
- In-Venue Registrations
- Walk-Up Compilation: credit card and zip code
- CrowdID: Using text messaging technology to identify fans
4. Networking and Referrals
- Take advantage of networking opportunities
- Ask your best customers for referrals.