SEAT Global Magazine - Exclusive Interviews of Global Sport Executive Issue 09 March/April 2018 | Page 72
SUCCESS PUMPING UP YOUR
STORY MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS TEAM
T HE CH A L L ENGE
To say that professional sports teams have a lot of data
to manage is an understatement. Ask any team and they
will acknowledge that adopting technology to effectively
manage this data is no easy task. Without the right
system teams can fail to connect the dots between
sales, service, marketing and finance. For the Phoenix
Suns marketing partnerships department, using the right
software and forming the right partner relationship was
crucial to their success.
For the Suns, it was important to implement partnership
management software that emphasized ease-of-use for their
staff. The clear choice was StoneTimberRiver—a company
uniquely capable of offering a best-in-breed solution
catered specifically to the industry. StoneTimberRiver
works with sports leagues and franchises to provide a
best practice CRM solution for different functions of an
organization including Ticketing, Suites, and Partnerships.
“The Deal Panel provides our
sales team with the necessary
and critical information we
need, and does so without
impairing routine job functions.
Being able to see inventory
availability, thresholds, and
pricing info in a simple interface
is important. This allows us the
ability to quickly shift focus from
specific partners to inventory
without getting lost in an
overcomplicated system that is
tough to navigate.”
— Carlissa Henry, SVP, Marketing Partnerships
“One of the biggest benefits
provided by StoneTimberRiver’s
software compared to the
alternatives in this industry is
the intuitive design on top of the
powerful functionality for our
user groups. Every process is
streamlined and simple for even
the least experienced users.”
— Ken Borkan, Director of Strategy, Operations & Research
TH E R E S ULTS
TH E A CTIO N P LA N
For Carlissa Henry, SVP, Marketing Partnerships and Ken
Borkan, Director of Strategy, Operations & Research,
it is not only critical that the team adopts the software
but is also able to pull the necessary information
out of it. The aphorism “garbage in, garbage out” is
unfortunately a common symptom of inefficient systems
in the industry. “One of the biggest benefits provided by
StoneTimberRiver’s software compared to the alternatives
in this industry is the intuitive design on top of the
powerful functionality for our user groups. Every process
is streamlined and simple for even the least experienced
users,” says Borkan.
User adoption and data integrity are always significant
challenges for any software solution. StoneTimberRiver’s
emphasis on a clean, intuitive user interface and workflow
for end users allows for easy user adoption and improved
data accuracy. The marketing partnerships business
can include intricate processes and transitions, but
StoneTimberRiver delivers a streamlined and simple
solution. The Deal Panel TM , the core of StoneTimberRiver’s
partnership solution, provides an elegant and smooth
experience for all users across the entirety of the marketing
partnerships business process. “The Deal Panel provides
our sales team with the necessary and critical information
we need, and does so without impairing routine job
functions. Being able to see inventory availability,
thresholds, and pricing info in a simple interface is
important. This allows us the ability to quickly shift focus
from specific partners to inventory without getting lost
in an overcomplicated system that is tough to navigate,”
says Henry. By partnering with StoneTimberRiver, the Suns
have improved their process flow, established transparency
among their marketing partnerships team, and bettered
their sales insights.
The Suns pipeline starts at prospect analysis and targeting,
moves to proposal building, hopefully to a contract approval,
and eventually to finance. Information at each step is valuable
for the team internally and tracked by StoneTimberRiver’s
CRM software. Providing smooth transitions and effortless
data entry ensures that accurate and timely data is captured.
For the Suns strategy and analytics staff, this means the
marketing partnerships team can spend more time on
their core competency (i.e. selling and servicing), and they
can focus on producing effective reports and analytics for
executives and other appropriate colleagues.
[email protected]