Has it really been one month since I constructively criticized the PGA Championship for not allowing fans to bring their cell phones into its 2010 event at Whistling Straits?

It should not have been that long, because it was quickly after that blog was posted that I received a phone call from Ken Lovell, Vice President of Media Development for the PGA Tour.

With the Ryder Cup on the docket for this weekend and people thinking golf during an already predictable media-heavy football season, I decided that today was the “better late than never” time to share what Lovell told me about how the PGA is in tune with its fans’ desire to shoot photos and react to what’s going while they attend a professional golf tournament.

While I fully expected a defensive rant about what I wrote, I was wrong, not just about the PGA’s reaction, but by writing that it wasn’t in tune with a fan base that wants to share their tournament experiences via social media networks.

He also wanted to be sure that I made the distinction between the PGA Tour and PGA of America. The PGA Tour, for the record, is the membership organization of touring golf professionals that we see on television each week, and runs most of the tournaments. PGA of America is an organization of club professionals in the U.S., and it runs the PGA Championship.

Lovell told me that my post was actually timely, which could have been PR-speak (takes one to know one!), but he had facts to back it up. The week following the PGA Championship, the PGA Tour hosted the Wyndham Championship, at which it allowed fans to bring cell phones into the tournament as an experiment. He said that the test was largely about educating fans about where and when to use their phones, and not disrupt athletes and other fans.

The PGA posted extensive signage and volunteers were on-site to explain to fans that they needed to silence their phones, but could use them in designated areas which in most cases, were near concessions since that is where people tend to congregate.

“The objective of the test was to see if fans would silence their devices and use them without interfering with the competition,” Lovell said. “We’re still collecting feedback, but early indications are positive.”

The tour will conduct another trial at the Frys.com Open, which is scheduled for October 13-17, 2010 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif.

Lovell said that he could relate to fans that are frustrated when they have to leave their phones behind because of the inconvenience it would cause him if he had to forgo his main communications device.

“We definitely understand and appreciate the benefits that cell phones can bring to fans on-site as well as the challenge they can face in being ‘cut off’ from what many consider a modern lifeline,” Lovell said. “Because it could affect the fairness and integrity of the sport, we are also very concerned about the competition and anything that would have an impact on it.

Incidentally, although Lovell and I spoke about two different golf organizations and their events, he said that the PGA of America took note of the test the Tour ran “with interest” and it is considering ways to enhance its fans’ experiences, as well.

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About Gail Sideman

Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.

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With cell phones, call forwarding, and the death of the land-line in the home, most often we have no idea where our prospects might be when we’re calling them about our sports ticket opportunities.  They could be in the car, the supermarket, out on a date, or anywhere else you could imagine.

Wherever your prospect happens to be, chances are they’re near a piece of paper and a writing instrument of some kind. It’s your chance to engage them in your conversation – IF you’re good enough with using information that can lead to a sale.

While you have someone engaged on the phone, try this: ask them if they’re near a pen and paper, and ask them to write down a few things you’re going to dictate to them.  This subconsciously gets them to begin thinking creatively and positively in your direction, because they’re writing down something about you, keeping an informal “record” of your conversation, and they have a pen in their hand… which is a close cousin to signing a deal.  (Many people also think better when they have a pen in hand and are writing!)

Here’s how this might flow in an actual sales conversation:

“Do you happen to have a pen and a piece of paper in front of you?  Why don’t you grab it for a moment, because I’d like to share some numbers with you.”

“What would be an average amount of money you might spend to go out to eat with your family?  OK… write that down.”

“OK… how about a movie?  What would that cost for your family to go to a movie together?  Write that down too.”

“Is there anything else you often do together with the family?  Attend Little League games, go bowling, anything like that?  Often, that also involves going out to eat, too, doesn’t it?  OK… put that down too, and what it might cost you on average each time you go.”

“OK… so how many times would you say you might do those things over the course of, say, six months?  Put that down next to each one… now let’s add that up, and see what we come up with.” (Get a number from them)

“Very good.  So, let’s take that big number, and put it alongside the amount we’re talking about here for these tickets… which is $_____.  Understand, now, that some of that big number will be absorbed into the season tickets, now that you’ll be spending time there instead of these other places… so what we’re really doing is replacing or re-distributing the way you and your family spend your recreation dollars rather than increasing them.”

“When you look at it in black and white, the extra expense really doesn’t seem to be that much, does it?”

This is just one scenario.  Business-to-business prospects can also enter into “pen-and-paper” conversations about things like:

• Their top 3 clients, and how much revenue they bring to the bottom line (compared to the investment your tickets would be in keeping that revenue coming in)

• How much their current sales contest prizes are costing

• The number of salespeople they have, and how often each of them gets a chance to spend quality time with their clients

• Their current employee incentive programs, and how much is budgeted vs. their turnover rate, etc.

Email me with PEN AND PAPER in the subject line, and I’ll share a few other potential scenarios with you.

You can turn any telephone presentation into a multi-media sales opportunity by turning your client on to the high-tech world of pen and paper as a means of engaging them more fully.  Try it and see!

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About Bill Guertin

Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of blue-chip clients includes the ticket sales departments of dozens of teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.  He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales: How to Dominate Your Market.  Subscribe to his Sports Ticket Sales Newsletter at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla. 

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What’s the strangest thing someone has said to you as they’ve answered a call from you on their cell phone?

Sports ticket sales professionals call thousands of prospects a day, and many times we catch people in strange, awkward, or questionable situations. Here are some of the best examples of responses from sales prospects during actual calls that sports ticket sales reps have made to people on their cell phones:

• “I’m on a treadmill right now.” (out of breath)

• “I’m going into a CATscan.” (Aren’t you supposed to leave those cell phones outside?)

• “I’m teaching a gym class right now.” (he then accidentally blows a loud referee’s whistle right into the rep’s ear!)

• “I’m holding a baby in each arm.” (Hmm… how DID you answer the phone again??)

• “My kids are outside playing baseball.” (OK… and…?)

• “I’m waiting for AT&T to come to fix my phone, because I can’t hear anything.” (No comment.)

• “I’m on a roller coaster right now.” (Our games are WAY more exciting!)

• “I’m on a bus chaperoning an elementary school field trip.” (Well, turn that bus around to OUR place!)

• “I’m putting in my contacts.”

• “I’m out here in the rain trying to pour concrete.”

• “I’m a police officer on the way to a shooting.”

• “I’m in the library” (whispering)

• “I’m wheeling a beer.” (Our kind of fan!)

• “I’m at a funeral right now.” (Dude… you have GOT to get Caller ID!)

• “I’m a psychiatrist, and I’m with a patient right now.”

• “I’m about to get in the shower.”

• “I can’t talk right now… I have swine flu.” (Hmm…)

• “This is a bad time… I’m in a VERY IMPORTANT MEETING!” (shouting and hanging up loudly)

• “I can’t talk. I lost both my arms in a car accident.” (He really said it!)

• “I’m at work and I’m not supposed to be on the phone.” (So why did you answer?)

• “Bill’s actually out in left field right now playing softball… (screams into phone) BIIIIILLLL – IT’S SCOTT WITH THE STEEEELHEADS! BIIIIILLLLL!” (After all that, he never made it to the phone!)

• “I’m about to go into surgery.” (This was a Surgeon!)

• “I’m gonna have to let you go; my son is throwing a football at me.”

• “This is NOT a good time! I’m stuck in traffic and mad as hell!”

• “Hola, no habla English.”

• “The doctor wouldn’t be interested anyway; he’s in the middle of a rectal exam. Could you call back another time?” (Tell him to be sure to wash his hands!)

• “My wife won’t let me talk to you; she’s afraid you’re going to sell me something.” (Be afraid; be VERY afraid!)

• “I’m a little busy right now.” (woman giggling in background)

What do you do in situations like this? Should you continue the conversation, or try to politely end the call?
Unless they’re in the middle of something that just shouldn’t be stopped (like a funeral or a rectal exam!), I’m in favor of continuing the call. They answered the phone, so obviously they were prepared to talk to someone. I suggest continuing the conversation, perhaps commenting on what they just told you, and seeing if they respond favorably. Otherwise, I’d apologize and find out when a good time would be for me to return my call – and then I’ll be sure to follow up when I said I would, referencing that first awkward call as an ice-breaker.

What’s the strangest response you’ve ever received for an outbound sales call to a cell phone? Send it to me at bill@The800PoundGorilla.com, and we’ll create a follow-up to this topic in the future.

P.S. My sincere thanks to the many people who contributed their experiences to this article, including Steve Reed and Laura Culbertson (Minnesota Vikings), John Donovan (Houston Rockets), Stefanie Starck and B.J. Brown (Chicago Wolves), Paul Ratner (Golden State Warriors), Scott Frasnelly (Bakersfield Condors), John Bowers (Indianapolis Indians), and Isaac Satten (New Jersey Devils).

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About Bill Guertin

Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of blue-chip clients includes the ticket sales departments of dozens of teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.  He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales: How to Dominate Your Market.  Subscribe to his Sports Ticket Sales Newsletter at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla. 

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