Earlier this year, esteemed sales trainer Charlie Chislaghi decided to retire and end the many years of the Travels with Charlie roadshow. I thought I would use the column to honor someone who literally reshaped sales training in professional sports and thank him for his contributions.
In the early days of the NBA team marketing and business operations division launch, it was determined that the first area we would target for improvement was ticket sales and attendance. We felt that this was the most impactful way, as a full house makes a team more attractive to the media and corporate partners. At the time, there were very few teams having inside sales teams, and most salespeople sold all of the products and renewed ticket accounts. Thus, we were advocating increasing the size of ticket sales departments dramatically and all of these new salespeople would need to be properly trained. At the time, we were advocating for sales specialists: full-season tickets, partial plans, group sales and creating theme nights to attract single-game buyers. Our goal was to attract buyers to the frequency escalator that Bernie Mullin had developed and put into practice — this approach would help the teams grow their ticket base in size and ultimately in terms of lifetime value. Overseeing business operations at the Pittsburgh Pirates in the late 80s, Mullin watched Charlie develop his skills there. Later, Mullin would reach out to him to fulfill our commitment of providing sales training at no cost to the teams that expressed interest.
Around 2001, TMBO was trying to build credibility with the teams and begin the development and growth that Commissioner David Stern had envisioned. It was important that our first initiative be successful, have a measurable impact and attract the attention, interest and ultimately the support of the teams. Based upon Mullin’s experience with Charlie, we all agreed to bring on Charlie as a sales training consultant.
Charlie Chislaghi received a customized version of his trademark Tommy Bahama shirt from Nic Barlage (left) and Buffy Filippell.teamwork online
According to Mullin, “Charlie Chislaghi is one of a kind. As a mature professional later in life he changed his career to sport sales and service and began working at the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a successful start he found his true calling, and became one of the best in the world. What Charlie added to us as a consultant at TMBO was helping us get every team on board and perform at significantly higher sales levels than ever before.”
Charlie’s impact was almost immediate. The Heat, Magic, Cavaliers and Suns were early adapters and embraced what Charlie brought in terms of his approach to sales training and his feedback to leadership. Charlie was warm, personable and non-threatening in his interactions with young staffers and team leadership. However, he had a singular focus and a dedication to his method and approach that was unwavering. He was a sales training evangelist on behalf of the NBA and soon the majority of all NBA teams (followed by WNBA teams) had bought into the concept of sales training and sales specialists (and later retention specialists) and expanded their sales teams according to the model sales organization that TMBO had developed and presented to them.
Drew Cloud, longtime sports sales executive, was the director of sales when we sent Charlie to the Phoenix Suns. Cloud reminisces: “As much as I valued his sales training, I LOVED when Charlie came to my teams because he brought an injection of enthusiasm and energy. Selling is tough, and Charlie always managed to inspire all of us — even in the most challenging situations.”
Cavaliers CEO Nic Barlage was trained by Charlie at the Phoenix Suns early in his career. Then he employed Charlie as a sales trainer when was leading the sales and service area at several teams. In Barlage’s view, “Charlie is one of those infectious personalities that permeates positivity and opportunity. His career work around training and development has laid the foundation for so many careers in sports and entertainment. Our industry is a better place due to Charlie’s influence and impact.”
Recently, Jim Kadlecek, founder of the Mount Union Sport Sales Workshop; Buffy Filippell, founder of TeamWork Online; and Barlage honored Charlie for his 24 years as a sales trainer. According to Kadlecek, Charlie came to the University of Mount Union 18 years ago to speak to a class. After it was over he said that wasn’t enough time to cover the topic of sales, so they came up with the concept of the workshop, which became an annual event attracting recruiters from professional sports leagues from throughout the U.S.
Kadlecek eloquently summed up how people feel about Charlie by stating: “‘Sales is an honorable profession when done honorably’ is a phrase that I have repeated many times after first hearing it spoken. Charlie lived that slogan in every aspect of his life — he does all things honorably. I’m grateful for that conversation that we had years ago that has resulted in a countless number of individuals starting their careers in sport sales thanks to Charlie’s willingness to give of his time. He will be sorely missed but his impact will continue for many years to come.”
Charlie and I share a common bond — natives of Pittsburgh and appreciation for a great meal. Charlie helped TMBO get off on the right foot just as he did with so many young men and women embarking on their careers in sales that have now become managers and even club presidents. Thanks for traveling with us, Charlie. We are all better for it.
Bill Sutton (billsuttonandassociates@gmail.com) is a professor of practice at the University of South Carolina, director emeritus of the Vinik Graduate Sport Business Program at USF and principal of Bill Sutton & Associates. Follow him on X @Sutton_ImpactU.
Questions about OPED guidelines or letters to the editor? Email editor Jake Kyler at jkyler@sportsbusinessjournal.com
