Bryant Pfeiffer is listed as The Godfather on the MLS National Sales Center website. Operating out of the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., the program is aimed at recent college graduates who are passionate about both sales and soccer. It uses teaching, mentoring and real-time sales opportunities to expose the participants to the fundamentals of MLS ticket sales. Following completion of the program, the trainees are given the opportunity to interview for sales positions at MLS clubs. Pfeiffer, whose official title is vice president of club services at MLS, launched the program in July 2010. It now operates three times a year, with recent sessions receiving more than 175 applicants but only 15 to 20 selected for inclusion.
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We like to call the National Sales Center the world’s largest sales driving range. We spend a lot of time practicing.”
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Photo by: NANCY KUEHN / MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL
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About the center’s goal: Our intent is to help our clubs in the area of hiring and developing sales management. Every year, we run three unique classes that run four months, which includes over 200 hours of content. We have two coaches based in Minnesota at the campus of the National Sports Center. In addition to all the teaching content, it also serves as a call center to help our clubs as well. Last week, we executed our 1 millionth call since the program’s inception.
The methods to success: We have a unique teaching approach that we call EMR. E stands for educate, so there’s a heavy emphasis on teaching sales skills. M stands for model, so anything we teach we then demonstrate in action. Our two trainers have ticket sales leadership experience in different sports. The R stands for reinforce, so we practice skills until they stick.
The returns being seen: So far, we’ve had over 150 people who have been placed at MLS clubs. Last year’s top season-ticket seller was an alumnus of the program. At the same time, there’s a decent chunk of students that didn’t graduate from the program, and we’re just as proud of that as we are in the graduates. If we can help our clubs reduce the cost of a bad hire, that’s just another way we can help our clubs.
Laughter is the key: Our motto is “Deadly serious, but deadly playful.” Let’s face it: Sales is tough. In certain markets, it’s extremely hard. If you don’t have a sense of humor and the ability to make yourself smile, you’re going to struggle and burn yourself out. In addition to teaching the basics of ticket sales and preparing our students to be successful salespeople, we’re also trying to build confidence in these young people.
